Charles Cotton was born on 28 April 1630 at Beresford Hall, near Alstonefield, on the Staffordshire side of the Peak District, and died in London on 16 February 1687. He belonged to that striking generation of English writers whose lives were shaped by civil war, regicide, Restoration, religious division, and the gradual reorganization of literary culture around print, patronage, and metropolitan fashion. Yet Cotton’…
“Let me tell you, here are some colours, contemptible as they seem here, that are very hard to be got; and scarce any one of them, which, if it should be lost, I should not miss and be concerned about the loss of it too, once in the year.”
Neighbourhood:
Cavalier Poets, Light Verse Poets, Love Poets, Nature Poets, Restoration Poets
Emotional landscape: Longing, Sorrow, Despair
Thomas Otway, born on 3 March 1652 and buried on 16 April 1685 after his death in London on 14 April, lived only thirty-three years, yet he secured a place among the most affecting dramatists of Restoration England. In an age remembered for its polished wit, sexual comedy, heroic rhetoric, and political quarrels, Otway brought a distinctive intensity to the public stage. His finest plays, above all The Orphan and Ven…
“I love You, I dote on You; Desire makes me mad, when I am near You; and Despair, when I am from You.”
Neighbourhood:
Death & Mortality, Dramatic Poets, Love Poets, Restoration Poets
Emotional landscape: Longing, Tenderness, Sorrow
