Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Pennsylvania, 1944. / "Photocopy." Bibliography: p. 172-180.

This dissertation is a biographical and critical study of Dr. Mark Akenside, an important but often overlooked eighteenth century author and editor. The discussion is limited to Akenside's literary career and those details of his life which help a reader understand his poetry and prose. Akenside's writings on medical subjects are excluded, but every effort has been made to update and improve upon Charles Houpt's Mark Akenside (1944), which, until this time, was the most complete and authoritative work on this paradoxical poet-physician.The study begins with a brief biography. Following an account of Akenside's birth and education is a discussion of his relationship with Jeremiah Dyson, his truest friend and greatest benefactor. Some notice of Akenside's successes and failures as a physician is given, and anecdotes which reveal the contradictions in his personality are presented.The argument that Akenside's life and work are paradoxical continues as the second chapter focuses on a consideration of scholarly assessments of Akenside. The study refers to critical opinions expressed in the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries. A wide difference of opinion about the merits of Akenside is noticed in each century, and the justification for the present study becomes clear as one sees the need to re-evaluate all the primary and secondary sources.A full chapter is devoted to the study of Akenside's contributions to the Gentlemen's Magazine. Compiling credits from Houpt and Pailler, the chapter theorizes that as many as twenty poems in Cave's magazine may be assigned to Akenside's canon. The relative merit of the poems is considered, and copious quotations from them are included.Akenside's work with The Museum is the subject of the next chapter. In The Museum Akenside reveals his talents as an essayist and editor. The chapter discusses four prose essays credited to Akenside, providing observations on their strengths and weaknesses.Chapter five continues the close analysis of Akenside's literary pieces. The poems on Curio, the inscriptions, and "Hymn to the Naiads" are labeled as poems of special notice, not because they are works which earn Akenside great fame, but because they embody characteristics which reappear in his most famous works.A separate chapter is devoted to an analysis of the odes. In addition to providing a close reading of each ode, the chapter calls for recognition of Akenside as an influential lyrical poet. Akenside's correction of Cowley's mistaken imitations of Pindar should earn him the credit often assigned to Gray and Collins.The final chapter treats Akenside's most important work: The Pleasures of Imagination. This chapter analyzes the doctor's theory of psychology by giving a close reading of his description of the powers of the imagination. By using such powers, one discovers pleasures, and Akenside's catalog of the primary and secondary pleasures is discussed. Finally, the chapter considers the reasons for Akenside's preference for poetry rather than prose. The didactic purpose of the poem calls for literature which elevates the mind and the spirit, and poetry is best suited for such a purpose.In forming a final evaluation of Akenside, the dissertation makes no extravagant claims. Akenside is a minor literary figure, but his innovations in lyrical poetry and his successes in blank verse make him significant. Of interest to any reader are the paradoxical qualities of his life and work. Like Janus, Akenside seemingly faces both sides of all issues, and each reader must decide which face reveals the true personality of the doctor.