Warner, William

(1558-1609)

   Born in London, he was educated at Magdalen Hall, Oxford, but did not take a degree. As an attorney in London, he was friends with the poets Michael Drayton, Henry Carey, the first Baron Hunsdon (see entries) and Carey's son, George, the second Baron. Warner died unexpectedly at Amwell in Hertfordshire, and was buried there. He published Pan, His Syrinx (seven prose tales) in 1584, and it is thought that an English translation in 1580 of the Novelle of Bandello (the Italian short story writer of 1485-1561) was Warner's work. In 1595 he translated the Menaechmi of Titus Maccius Plaautus (c. 254-184 B.C.). His main poetical work (1586 to 1606) was Albion's England Or Historical Map of the Same Island, an epic poem of 14 books and 107 chapters from the time of Noah. Francis Meres (1565-1647) is reported to have referred to Warner as "our English Homer." Some of his other poems: "A Tale of the Beginning of Friars and Cloisterers," "Argentile and Curan," "My Mistress," "The Fate of Narcissus," "The Patient Countess," "To the Reader," "To the Right Honovrable Sir Edvvard Coke."

   Sources: Albion's England by William Warner, for the complete poem, see The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org). Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. Elizabethan Lyrics. Norman Ault, ed. William Sloane Associates, 1949. Microsoft Encarta 2006 (DVD). Microsoft Corporation, 2006. The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000.