Edmund Waller
Edmund Waller (born March 3, 1606 in Coleshill , Buckinghamshire , † October 21, 1687 in Beaconsfield , Buckinghamshire) was an English poet, politician and parliamentarian. He is counted among the Cavalier poets .
Live and act
Waller attended Eton College and the University of Cambridge , which he left without a degree before completing his law education at Lincoln's Inn . In 1627 he came of age and inherited a rich inheritance. He had been a member of parliament since at least 1624 (according to his own statements since 1621).
In 1643 he was involved in a conspiracy against parliament and for the king (Waller's plot), but was able to save himself from execution by willingness to testify and by paying large sums of money. He was banished from England and moved in royalist circles in Paris . In 1651 he was allowed to return to England. He wrote both poems of praise for Oliver Cromwell (1655) and, after the Restoration, for Charles II (1660).
In 1645 a first collection of his poems appeared in London. His poems Go, lovely Rose and Of the last verses in the book are still known today . He was highly regarded as a poet in his day and his heroic couplets were admired by John Dryden and Alexander Pope .
In 1631 he married a wealthy heiress to a London merchant who died three years later. He unsuccessfully courted Dorothy Sidney, whom he called Sacharissa in his poems, and married Mary Bracey in 1644.
He was a founding fellow of the Royal Society .
Web links
- George Thorn-Drury, Article in Dictionary of National Biography , Online
- Poetry Foundation
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Waller, Edmund |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | English poet and politician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 3, 1606 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Coleshill |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 21, 1687 |
| Place of death | Beaconsfield |