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Thomas Medwin (1788–1869) was an early 19th-century English poet and translator, who is chiefly known for his biographies of his cousin Percy Bysshe Shelley and his recollections of his close friend Lord Byron. ==Early life== Thomas Medwin was born in the market town of Horsham, West Sussex on 20 March 1788, the third son of five children of Thomas Charles Medwin, a solicitor and steward and Mary Medwin (née Pilford). He was a second cousin on both his parents' sides to Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822), who lived two miles away at Field Place, Warnham, and with whom Medwin formed a childhood friendship that continued into adulthood.〔Captain Medwin: Friend of Byron and Shelley by Ernest J Lovell Jr. University of Texas 1962〕 He was from a prosperous rather than a wealthy family that expected their sons to work for a living, and to this end he attended Syon House Academy in Isleworth between 1788 and 1804, the ''alma mater'' of Shelley from 1802 to 1808. Medwin related that at Syon House Shelley and he remained close friends, forming a bond that was close enough for Shelley to apparently sleepwalk his way to Medwin's room.〔Life of Shelley by Thomas Medwin (1847)〕 Following a further year in a public school, Medwin matriculated at University College, Oxford in the winter of 1805, but left without taking his degree. Initially Medwin was articled as a clerk in his father's law firm in Horsham. Medwin showed considerable aptitude in the study of foreign languages and was to become fluent in: Greek, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, French and Portuguese and began writing poems, including a contribution to ''The Wandering Jew'', a poem attributed to Shelley. The young Shelley and Medwin met during their respective holidays and took part in typical pursuits of the times, which in their case included fishing and hunting. This was the age of Romanticism, and the two young friends were also pursuing with some success female liaisons, including that of their cousin Harriet Grove, with whom Shelley was deeply committed by the spring of 1810 (not that this appears to have lastingly affected Shelley, given his elopement with Harriet Westbrook in 1811). Medwin's father's wish for Thomas to follow the law was rejected by his son, causing a quarrel, the consequence of which was that the younger Thomas was largely omitted from his father's will executed in 1829. There was a period of drift in Medwin's life whereby he attempted to live beyond his means as a gentleman, accumulating considerable debt that appears to have been paid by his family. His activities involved a great deal of carousing and gambling at his club in Brighton 〔 and generally spending money on collecting art. Shelley recalled Medwin as painting well and "remarkable, if I do not mistake, for a particular taste in, and knowledge of the ''belli arti'' – Italy is the place for you, the very place- the Paradise of Exiles… If you will be glad to see an old friend, who will be glad to see you…come to Italy"〔Percy Bysshe Shelly. Private letter to Medwin The Works X, 141.〕 Medwin's financial situation could not continue as it was, and by 1812 he had decided on a living as a commissioned soldier, albeit one with social pretensions, in the 24th Light Dragoons. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Thomas Medwin」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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