See also Page's Thomas De Quincey: his Life and Writings (1879), Prof. Masson's De Quincey (English Men of Letters). Collected Writings (14 vols. 1889-90).
Dermody, Thomas (1775-1802).—Poet, b. at Ennis, showed great capacity for learning, but fell into idle and dissipated habits, and threw away his opportunities. He pub. two books of poems, which after his death were coll. as The Harp of Erin.
De Vere, Aubrey Thomas (1814-1902).—Poet, s. of Sir Aubrey de V., himself a poet, was b. in Co. Limerick, and ed. at Trinity Coll., Dublin. In early life he became acquainted with Wordsworth, by whom he was greatly influenced. On the religious and ecclesiastical side he passed under the influence of Newman and Manning, and in 1851 was received into the Church of Rome. He was the author of many vols. of poetry, including The Waldenses (1842), The Search for Proserpine (1843), etc. In 1861 he began a series of poems on Irish subjects, Inisfail, The Infant Bridal, Irish Odes, etc. His interest in Ireland and its people led him to write prose works, including English Misrule and Irish Misdeeds (1848); and to criticism he contributed Essays chiefly on Poetry (1887). His last work was his Recollections (1897). His poetry is characterised by lofty ethical tone, imaginative power, and grave stateliness of expression.
Dibdin, Charles (1745-1814).—Dramatist and song writer, b. at Southampton, began his literary career at 16 with a drama, The Shepherd's Artifice. His fame, however, rests on his sea songs, which are unrivalled, and include Tom Bowling, Poor Jack, and Blow High Blow Low. He is said to have written over 1200 of these, besides many dramatic pieces and two novels, Hannah Hewitt (1792), and The Younger Brother (1793), and a History of the Stage (1795).
Dickens, Charles (1812-1870).—Novelist, b. at Landport, near Portsmouth, where his f. was a clerk in the Navy Pay-Office. The hardships and mortifications of his early life, his want of regular schooling, and his miserable time in the blacking factory, which form the basis of the early chapters of David Copperfield, are largely accounted for by the fact that his f. was to a considerable extent the prototype of the immortal Mr. Micawber; but partly by his being a delicate and sensitive child, unusually susceptible to suffering both in body and mind. He had, however, much time for reading, and had access to the older novelists, Fielding, Smollett, and others. A kindly relation also took him frequently to the theatre, where he acquired his life-long interest in, and love of, the stage. After a few years' residence in Chatham, the family removed to London, and soon thereafter his f. became an inmate of the Marshalsea, in which by-and-by the whole family joined him, a passage in his life which furnishes the material for parts of Little Dorrit. This period of family obscuration happily lasted but a short time: the elder D. managed to satisfy his creditors, and soon after retired from his official duties on a pension. About the same time D. had two years of continuous schooling, and shortly afterwards he entered
