William Tasker

Tasker's published works included: •. 2nd edition 1779, 3rd edition with other poems, 1779. Anonymous. • The most important of the other poems was An Ode to Curiosity: a Bath-Easton Amusement (2nd edition 1779), which had been previously published as "by Impartialist." •. Anonymous •. Anonymous •. 2nd edition, with additions, 1779. Anonymous •. Reproduced in the bishop's works (1781 edition), volume i. pp. cxxxi–iv. * •. 2nd edition in 3 volumes. 1790–3 • Most of Tasker's published poems were reproduced in this edition, which also included letters on the anatomy of Homer. * •. 2nd edition 1798 •. Twice performed in March 1797 at the Exeter Theatre. *

• Illustration — Nereus Prophecy: A Sea-Piece (1779) Tasker thought the results of the Seven Years' War (1754–63) had only been the growth of corruption and luxury at home. He wrote several poems on the Anglo-French War (1778–83) in which he represented the Earl of Sandwich, First Lord of the Admiralty, as being at the centre of a selfish and corrupt network. Tasker saw the action by Admiral Augustus Keppel at the Battle of Ushant as a great victory, which he celebrated in his poem Nereus's Prophecy: A Sea-Piece Sketched off Ushant (1779). The cover of this poem has a cartoon in which Sandwich and Hugh Palliser are showing hanging from a gallows, laden with emblems that show they are guilty, while a seated courtesan weeps over their fate. In A congratulatory Ode to Admiral Keppel (1779) he wrote of Keppel, whom he saw as representing the interests of the honest trading community in England, This Keppel knew; yet stepp'd he forth Conscious of Honesty and Worth: He saw, he fought, he led His squadron on – though disobey'd, He never dream'd he was betray'd, Or trembled for his Head. In his Elegy on the Death of David Garrick (1779) Tasker celebrates the artistic genius of Garrick, Shakespeare and Reynolds, and implicitly links it to the warlike genius of the nation. In his Ode to the Warlike Genius of Great Britain (1780) he urged Britain to wake up and defeat the aggressors. The ‘Ode to the Warlike Genius' was dedicated to Lord Amherst. Some new stanzas were spoken before the king at Weymouth. The Gentleman's Magazine said the poem was "well-calculated to rouse the martial spirit of the nation". He complemented the Duchess of Devonshire in the poem for wearing riding dress at the Cox-heath military camp, calling her the "Genius of Britain". The Gentleman's magazine called Tasker's play Arviragus, a Tragedy (1796), written during the French Revolution, a "bold attempt towards a national drama", and pointed out the contemporary relevance, The Gentleman's Magazine quoted The War-Song of Clewillin, The British Bard in March 1797. The poem called on the soldiers to "Rush on the foe without dismay, | Like roaring lions on their prey." In the years that followed the magazine would praise Tasker's work as "so well calculated to animate loyal Britons against invaders, and to inspire the necessary unanimity and concord... exceedingly well adapted to the present times; since it breathes a three-fold spirit of Poetry, Loyalty, and Patriotism." the Gentleman's Magazine serialised the 1780 Ode to the Warlike Genius of Great Britain over nine editions from December 1798 to August 1799. In the poem, Tasker says the role of the divinely inspired bards is to "Inspire the sons of Mars in dreams, | And fire their souls in warlike themes."