Sir Henry Wotton was born on 30 March 1568 at Bocton Hall in Kent, into a family whose Protestant loyalties, landed status, and administrative connections prepared him for public life. He died on 5 December 1639 at Eton, having lived through the final decades of Elizabeth I’s reign, the long rule of James I, and the early, increasingly troubled years of Charles I. He is remembered in several capacities: as an ambassa…
“An ambassador is an honest man sent to lie abroad for the good of his country.”
Neighbourhood:
Cavalier Poets, Devotional Poets, Metaphysical Poets
Emotional landscape: Spirituality, Peace, Wonder
There is something peculiarly poignant about a poet who burns with such fierce satirical energy, who seems to embody the very spirit of angry, impatient youth, and who then dies at thirty years old — as if the intensity of the flame had consumed the wick. John Oldham lived only three decades, yet in that brief span he produced a body of work remarkable for its ferocity, its metrical daring, and its willingness to dra…
“I wear my Pen as others do their Sword. To each affronting sot I meet, the word is Satisfaction: straight to thrusts I go, and pointed satire runs him through and through.”
Neighbourhood:
Death & Mortality, Restoration Poets, Satirical Poets
Emotional landscape: Tenderness, Wonder, Spirituality
