“ In a poem written in 1745 he shows the delight in Gothic churches and ruined castles which inspired so much of his subsequent work in romantic revival. Most of Warton's poetry, humorous and serious—and the humorous mock heroic was better within his powers than serious verse—was written before the age of twenty-three, when he took his M.A. degree and became a fellow of his college (Trinity, Oxford) . He did not altogether abandon verse; his sonnets, especially, which are the best of his poems, were written later. But his main energies were given to omnivorous poetical reading and criticism. ”

“ When all criticism has been allowed for the inaccuracies of Warton's work, and the unsatisfactory nature of his general plan, the fact remains that his book is still indispensable to the student of English poetry. Moreover, much that may seem commonplace in his criticism was entirely fresh and even revolutionary in his own day. Warton directed the attention of readers to early English literature, and, in view of the want of texts, rendered inestimable service by transcribing large extracts from early writers. ”

“ In 1785 he became Camden professor of history, and was made poet-laureate in the same year. Among his minor works were an edition of Theocritus, a selection of Latin and Greek inscriptions, the humorous Oxford Companion to the Guide and Guide to the Companion (1762) ; The Oxford Sausage (1764) ; an edition of Theocritus (1770) ; lives of Sir Thomas Pope and Ralph Bathurst, college benefactors; a History of the Anliquities of Kiddington Parish, of which he held the living (1781) ; and an Inquiry into the Authenticity of the Poems attributed to Thomas Rowley (1782) . ”