Charles Lamb was an English essayist and poet in the late 18th and early 19th centuries best known for his Essays of Elia and the children's book Tales from Shakespeare co-authored with his sister Mary Lamb. Lamb was part of a major literary circle and befriended writers like Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Hazlitt. Though his poems received little attention, his prose writing, particularly the Essays of Elia published from 1820-1825, were very popular for their personal and conversational tone. Two remarkable essays from the collection are "Dream Children; A Reverie" about loss and family and "The Praise of Chimney-Sweepers" satirizing child

1. Charles Lamb
Introduction
Charles Lamb was an English essayist and poet. He is best known for his Essays of Elia and for the children's book
Tales from Shakespeare. The latter was co-authored with his sister, Mary Lamb. Lamb was at the centre of a major
literary circle in England. He made friends with writers such as Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Wordsworth, and
William Hazlitt. He was deemed by E. V. Lucas, his biographer, as "the most lovable figure in English literature".
Charles Lamb’s Poetry
Lamb's first publication was the inclusion of four sonnets in Coleridge's Poems on Various Subjects (1796). The
sonnets were significantly influenced by the poems of Burns and the sonnets of William Bowles of the late 18th
century. Lamb's poems garnered little attention and are seldom read today.
Lamb was a better prose writer than a poet. However, his contributions to Coleridge's second edition of the Poems
on Various Subjects showed significant growth as a poet. These poems included “The Tomb of Douglas” and “A
Vision of Repentance”. Lamb's most famous poem was “The Old Familiar Faces”. It is widely read today, being often
included in anthologies of British and Romantic period poetry. Like most of Lamb's poems, it is sentimental:
How some they have died, and some they have left me,
And some are taken from me; all are departed;
All, all are gone, the old familiar faces.
Essays of Elia
Essays of Elia is a collection of essays written by Charles Lamb. It was first published in book form in 1823. The
second volume came out in 1833, titled Last Essays of Elia. The essays in the collection first began appearing in The
London Magazine in 1820 and continued to 1825.
Lamb's essays were very popular and were printed in many subsequent editions throughout the nineteenth century.
The personal and conversational tone of the essays has charmed many readers. Lamb himself is the Elia of the
collection, and his sister Mary is "Cousin Bridget." He first used the pseudonym Elia for the essay “The South Sea
House”. Elia was the last name of an Italian man who once worked at the South Sea house with Lamb. The following
are some of the remarkable essays of Lamb.
1. Dream-Children; A Reverie
“Dream Children; A Reverie” expresses the feelings of loss and regret faced by the narrator. It is based on the
description of a place, the relationships and the feelings that have been part of the narrator’s past. The relationships of
the narrator with the grandmother and his brother have been described very clearly. This description has served to
clarify his characteristic features. They convey the theme of family relationships as well as the theme of loss. However,
it is the imaginary children of Lamb that makes the essay very dramatic.
2. The Praise Of Chimney-Sweepers
“The Praise of Chimney Sweepers” satirises the industrial revolution that entertained child labour. The essay
highlights the wickedness of the housekeepers, adult sweepers and the common people, who dealt with the young
sweepers very cruelly. Lamb's tone is one of irony and sympathy. He discusses the sufferings of the young sweepers in
a very subtle manner. There is a humanistic aspect present in the essay.
Conclusion
Charles Lamb’s gradual perfection of the essay form began as early as 1811 in a series of open letters to Leigh
Hunt’s The Reflector. However, did not write his first Elia essay until 1820. Lamb continued to fine-tune his craft,
experimenting with different essayistic voices and personae, for next quarter century.