English writers. JOHN GOWER, born in the first half of 14th century; died in London about 1400. Wrote the Confessio Amantis, in English verse. ROBERT LONGLAND, born in Shropshire about 1330; died about 1400. Wrote the Visions of Piers Plowman, an allegorical poem in English verse. JOHN LYDGATE, born about 1375; died about 1461. Wrote the Story of Thebes, Fall of Princes, and History, Siege, and Destruction of Troy, in English verse. SIR THOMAS MORE, born in London in 1480; beheaded at the Tower in 1535. Wrote the Utopia, in Latin, a description of an ideal republic. WILLIAM TYNDALE, burned as a heretic, near Antwerp, in 1536. Translated the Bible. MILES COVERDALE (1499-1580), translated the whole Bible into English. JOHN SKELTON, born about 1475; died 1529, at Westminster. Wrote Why come ye not to Court? a satire on Cardinal Wolsey, and the Boke of Colin Clout, attacking the Church. SIR THOMAS WYATT, born at Allington Castle, Kent, in 1503; died in 1538. Wrote some amatory verses and satires, among the latter the Town and Country Mouse. Also some prose writing on State affairs, and letters to his son. EARL OF SURREY, born about 1516; executed 1547. Wrote several love sonnets, and translated parts of the Eneid. He is the first writer of English blank verse. writers. EDMUND SPENSER, born 1553, in London; English died 1599, at Westminster. His chief work is the Faerie Queen, a long allegorical poem in defence of chivalry. CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE, flourished 1562-1592. Wrote dramas. Chief works, The Jew of Malta, and Faustus. SIR PHILIP SIDNEY, born at Penshurst, Kent, 1554, killed at the battle of Zutphen, 1586. Wrote the Arcadia, and the Defence of Poesie. SAMUEL DANIEL (1562-1619), wrote several Masques, and an address to the Countess of Cumberland. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, born at Stratford-onAvon, in 1564; died there 1616. Wrote tragedies and comedies, the most famous of which are : Macbeth, Lear, Hamlet, Othello, Tempest, Henry IV., Merry Wives of Windsor, Henry VIII., Romeo and Juliet, etc. RICHARD HOOKER, born about 1553, at Heavitree, near Exeter, died at Bishopsbourne, Kent, in 1600. Wrote The Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, being a defence of the constitution and discipline of the Church of England. BEN JONSON, born at Westminster, 1574; died there, in 1637. Wrote several comedies, among which the most celebrated are: Every Man in his Humour, Every Man out of his Humour, and The Alchemist. Also several tragedies, Sejanus, Catiline, etc. JOHN DONNE, born in London, 1573; died there 1625. He wrote satires; also a number of eloquent and witty sermons. English writers. FRANCIS BACON (Lord Verulam), born 1561; died 1626. Wrote several philosophical treatises among others, the Novum Organum; was the author of the inductive system of philosophy. Also wrote essays on general subjects. JOHN SELDEN, born at Salvington, in Sussex, in 1584; died in London, in 1654. Wrote Table-Talk, and a Latin treatise on Natural Law. THOMAS HOBBES, born at Malmesbury, Wiltshire, in 1588; died in 1679. Wrote the Leviathan, De cive, De corpore Politico, essays on civil government. SIR THOMAS BROWNE, born in London, in 1605; died at Norwich, in 1682. Wrote the Religio Medici, and Inquiry into Vulgar Errors. ABRAHAM COWLEY, born in London in 1618; died at Chertsey, Surrey, in 1667. Author of several metaphysical poems and lyrics. SIR JOHN DENHAM, born at Dublin, in 1615; died in 1688. Wrote a poem called Cooper's Hill. FRANCIS BEAUMONT AND JOHN FLETCHER flourished 1586-1615; were joint authors of several dramas; among others, The Knight of the Burning Pestle, etc. SIR WALTER RALEIGH wrote political treatises, and a history of the world (1552–1618). MICHAEL DRAYTON, born at Harshull, in Warwickshire, in 1563; died in 1631. Wrote some pastoral poems, and the Polyolbion, a descriptive poem on England's natural products and legends. writers. JAMES HARRINGTON, born in 1611; died 1677. English Wrote the Oceana, an imaginary account of a commonwealth of which Oceana is the imaginary name. ANDREW MARVEL (1620-1678), wrote The Rehearsal Transposed, etc. ISAAC BARROW (1630-1677), wrote some celebrated sermons. ROBERT HERRICK, born in 1591. Wrote the Hesperides, a collection of sacred and love poems. EDWARD HYDE, Earl of Clarendon (16081674), wrote A History of the Rebellion, i.e., Civil War. JOHN MILTON, born in London, in 1608; died there in 1674. Wrote Paradise Lost and Regained, Comus, Samson Agonistes in poetry; The Eikonoclastes, Defence of the English people, etc. in prose. JEREMY TAYLOR, born 1605, at Cambridge. A writer on theology; chief works, Holy Living and Holy Dying. SIR JOHN SUCKLING, born at Whitton, in Middlesex, in 1609; died in France, 1642. Author of several poems and plays; among others a ballad called The Wedding. PHILIP MASSINGER, born at Salisbury in 1584; died in London in 1640. Wrote plays, among others, The City Madam, Fatal Dowry, Bashful Lover, A new Way to pay old Debts, etc. ROBERT BURTON, born at Lindley, in Leicester, in 1576; died at Oxford, in 1640. Wrote the Anatomy of Melancholy. English writers. EDWARD LORD HERBERT, of Cherbury, born in 1581, at Montgomery, in Wales; died in 1648. Wrote the Life and Reign of King Henry VIII. GEORGE HERBERT (1593-1632) wrote The Temple, and other poems. SAMUEL BUTLER (1612-1680). Author of Hudibras, a humorous satire on the puritans, after the style of Don Quixote. JOHN DRYDEN (1631-1700). Translated Wrote Absalom and Achitophel, and Hind and Panther,—the former a political, the latter a theological, satire in verse. WILLIAM WYCHERLY (1640-1715), celebrated comic play writer. Author of Plain-dealer, and Country Wife. JOHN LOCKE (1632-1704), philosophical writer; chief work, An Essay on the Human Understanding. JOHN BUNYAN (1628-1688), wrote Pilgrim's Progress, an allegorical prose work, describing the life of a Christian under the figure of a journey. RICHARD BAXTER (1615-1691), presbyterian minister; chief works, The Saint's Rest, and A Call to the Unconverted. GILBERT BURNET (1643-1715), Bishop of Salisbury. Wrote History of my own Times and History of the Reformation of the Church of England. JOSEPH ADDISON (1672-1719), Essayist, editor of the Spectator, and author of several short poems. |