ABSTRACT
Stephen Duck's natural poetic talent, his modesty and 'good sense', and an increasingly long list of influential friends would prove a powerful combination. Duck became, in effect, the cultural model of the patronized plebeian poet until his fame was eclipsed by Robert Burns at the turn of the century. Duck accordingly revised 'some scatter'd Verses on Poverty' into a coherent poem, and took up the subjects of 'his own labours' and the biblical story of the Shunammite woman, topics suggested to him by Stanley and his wife respectively. Duck became a literary celebrity in London throughout the latter months of 1730. Many unsympathetic critics over the years have been pleased to gloss Duck's suicide as the inevitable result of his deracination. Davis ultimately concludes that Duck suffered from some form of insanity, the cause and definition of which remain unknown.
