AKENSIDE, Mark, English physician-poet: b. 9 Nov. 1721; d. 23 June 1770. He achieved literary fame at the age of 23 with his poem ‘Pleasures of the Imagination’ (3 vols., London 1744), didactic verse based largely on Addison’s essays on the imagination and on Lord Shaftesbury’s writings. Among his minor verse are ‘Ode on the Winter Solstice’ and ‘Hymn to the Naiads.’ Consult Buckle, C., ‘Life, Writings, and Genius of Akenside’ (London 1832).