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William Shenstone's reputation has been dependent upon parts. He has been seen as a tasteful gardener who wrote verse, or as a poet who was also a landscape gardener. Until now, no one has studied his gardening, his daily activities, and his poetry as equal. expressions of one basic aesthetic view--the purpose of the present study.The Leasowes, Shenstone’s parental estate, became a popular tourist attraction during the early part of the century. There, tourists were able to leave their coaches and walk upon gravelled paths through "improved" nature. The paths followed the contours of his land, and Shenstone added small adornments like seats, urns, and statues. However, the Leasowes was a marked contrast to formal gardens of his time: Shenstone allowed no conspicuous display of his art.As a man retired from ambition but not from usefulness, Shenstone became an exemplar of "taste," a quality inherent in a select few, but with an ethical proviso. The tasteful man was able not only to live a genteel life, but was also obligated to act benevolently. These beliefs upon which Shenstone acted were derived from neo-Platonic philosophy, most notably that of the Earl of Shafteshury. The tasteful ran of the time was able to express his talents in various social and artistic ways. Shenstone, not surprisingly, became instrumental in editing Robert Podsley's final three volumes of his Miscellany, and he would probably have been named co-editor with Thomas Percy in the Reliques had death not prevented him.Shenstone cannot be considered a major poet not only because his other activities kept him from writing any massive number of works, but also because the good poetry he did produce was quite limited. He seemed, once past his apprentice state, never to be able to develop a unique voice combined with consistent artistic excellence. In short, his reputation as a poet must depend upon a relatively small canon and upon an even smaller number of verses that can he called poetry.Throughout his life, William Shenstone was concerned with art. It is not too much to say that he so merged art and life that, for him, the two could not he separated: his daily activities became minor productions and he strove for simplicity in art. Shenstone's aesthetic view was not original, but it was eclectic. He was fully aware of classical traditions, but he also knew the major aestheticians of his age--Shaftesbury, Addison, Hutcheson, Hume, Purke, anca Gerard. Shenstone's basic aesthetic--that the best art is that which conceals itself--was applied consistently to everything that he produced.