Crabbe became well-known when he wrote a poem called "The Village" (1783). It was a long poem which described life in the country as he had known it. In 1783, he married Sarah. In 1814, he became Rector of Trowbridge in Wiltshire, where he stayed. Now that he had a family he did not feel any more need to write poetry and so he wrote nothing for 22 years. He then wrote more poems about the village community, including "The Borough" (1810). By the time of his death, he was well known and a friend of William Wordsworth, Sir Walter Scott and other important literary figures of the time.