Somervile's publications were
The Two Springs (1725), a fable;
Occasional Poems (1727);
The Chace ("The Chase") (1735);
Hobbinol, or the Rural Games (1740), a burlesque poem describing the
Cotswold Games; and
Field Sports (1742), a poem on hawking. In the eyes of
John Aikin, a little later, "He is strictly and almost solely a descriptive poet…Little occurs in his writings that indicates a mind inspired by that exalted enthusiasm which denotes the genius of superior rank. His versification is generally correct and well varied, and evidently flows from a nice and practiced ear… His Chase is probably the best performance upon that topic which any country has produced." But by the time of
The Cambridge History of English Literature (1913), the attitude is plainly dismissive: "Much of his verse is poor doggerel in the form of fables and tales, dull and coarse after the usual manner of such productions". Such a judgment might certainly be applied to a performance like "The Fortune Hunter", in which
La Fontaine's fable of
The Man who Runs after Fortune (VII.12) is expanded into five cantos that ramble over sixty pages. Other fables have a more subtle agenda, however. Though they may be Aesopic at base, often the original storyline is modified so as to make a contemporary statement. The situation of the ancient fable of
the lion, the boar and the vultures has been given the modern context of
bear-baiting in which the dog and bear contestants suddenly gain an insight into how their virtues are being exploited in ways that harm rather than benefit themselves. Again, the story of
The Trumpeter Taken Captive takes place against a background of contemporary Anglo-French military rivalry and is directed against those who stir up war, from which they profit without taking part. Both fables were written at a time when
Robert Walpole was commanding popular support for a pacific foreign policy and accord with the spirit of the time. The fashion for fable-writing was at its height when Somervile produced his. Though there is some novelty in his approach, his discursive talent was better suited to
The Chace, the work for which he is best remembered. That poem was also only the period's third georgic poem on an English subject, having been preceded by
Cyder (1708) by
John Philips and
Rural Sports (1713) by
John Gay. It consists of four cantos, the first of which introduces the subject and covers the management of hounds. The second canto deals with hare hunting and the third with fox hunting, while the fourth covers otter hunting and the breeding and care of hounds. The poem passed through many editions, some of the later including the two poems on country pursuits that followed it. Among the illustrators of the poem have been
Thomas Bewick (1796);
Thomas Stothard (1800);
John Scott (engravings based on paintings by
John Nott Sartorius, 1804); and
Hugh Thomson (1896). == Images for Somervile's sporting poetry ==