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Herrick, Robert, English poet

(Encyclopedia)Herrick, Robert, 1591–1674, English poet, generally considered the greatest of the Cavalier poets. Although he was born in London, he spent most of his childhood in Hampton. In 1607 he became appren...

Herrick, Robert, American novelist

(Encyclopedia)Herrick, Robert, 1868–1938, American novelist, b. Cambridge, Mass., grad. Harvard, 1890. He was professor of English at the Univ. of Chicago from 1893 to 1923. Herrick wrote realistic social novels ...

Hamilton, William, English poet

(Encyclopedia)Hamilton, William, 1704–54, English poet, b. Scotland. He is best known for the poem “The Braes of Yarrow” (1724).

King, William, English poet

(Encyclopedia)King, William, 1663–1712, English poet. He supported the Tory and High Church party. He is noted for his humorous and satirical writings, which include Dialogues of the Dead (attacks against Richard...

poet laureate

(Encyclopedia)poet laureate lôˈrēĭt [key], title conferred in Britain by the monarch on a poet whose duty it is to write commemorative odes and verse. It is an outgrowth of the medieval English custom of having...

Cavalier poets

(Encyclopedia)Cavalier poets, a group of English poets associated with Charles I and his exiled son. Most of their work was done between c.1637 and 1660. Their poetry embodied the life and culture of upper-class, p...

Blair, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Blair, Robert, 1699–1746, English poet and clergyman. His literary reputation rests solely on his didactic, blank-verse poem on death, The Grave (1743). ...

Southey, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Southey, Robert souˈᵺē, sŭᵺˈē [key], 1774–1843, English author. Primarily a poet, he was numbered among the so-called Lake poets. While at Oxford he formed (1794) a friendship with Coleridg...

Mannyng, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Mannyng or Manning, Robert, fl. 1298–1338, English poet, b. Brunne (modern Bourne), Lincolnshire; also called Robert of Brunne. He was a monk in the Gilbertine order. Mannyng is known chiefly for hi...

English literature

(Encyclopedia)English literature, literature written in English since c.1450 by the inhabitants of the British Isles; it was during the 15th cent. that the English language acquired much of its modern form. For the...