The Deserted Village
Videos
Page
The Deserted Village is a poem by Oliver Goldsmith published in 1770. It is a work of social commentary, and condemns rural depopulation and the pursuit of excessive wealth.
Title page of the first edition
Oliver Goldsmith by Sir Joshua Reynolds (c. 1770)
The Deserted Village, engraved by Francesco Bartolozzi after a painting by Francis Wheatley. This image was used in the edition of Goldsmith's poem published in 1800 by F. J. du Roveray.
Depiction of the parson, from an illustrated edition of the poem produced by the Dalziel Brothers
Oliver Goldsmith
Videos
Page
Oliver Goldsmith was a well-known Anglo-Irish novelist, playwright, dramatist and poet, noted for his novel The Vicar of Wakefield (1766), his pastoral poem The Deserted Village (1770), and his plays The Good-Natur'd Man (1768) and She Stoops to Conquer. He is thought by some to have written the classic children's tale The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes (1765).
Portrait 1769–70 by Joshua Reynolds
A plaque to Oliver Goldsmith at the Temple Church in London, where he was buried.
A statue of Goldsmith at Trinity College, Dublin