Brome, Alexander

(1620-1666)

   Royalist attorney in the lord mayor's court and in the court of king's bench, and poet who opposed the Rump Parliament in England (or Long Parliament, called by Charles I, which lasted from 1640 to 1660). After the Restoration (of Charles II in 1666), Brome concentrated on writing. His gaiety and wit won him the title of the "English Anacreon." His "Songs and Poems" were collected in 1661 with commendatory verses by Izaak Walton and others and a dedication to Sir J. Robinson, lieutenant of the Tower. A second edition in 1664 is prefixed by a letter signed "R.B." (probably the initials of Richard Brathwaite, see entry). He was a contributor to, and editor of, translations of Horace published in 1666. Some of his other publications: Songs and Other Poems, 1661. The Cunning Lovers, a comedy, 1654. Some of his poems: "Against Mourning," "Love, Drink, and Debt," "On the Death of King Charles," "Plain Dealing," "The Answer to the Curse Against Ale," "The Clown," "The Prisoners," "The Resolve," "The Riddle."

   Sources: Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, 2006. Encyclopedia of Britain. Bamber Gascoigne. London: Macmillan, 1994. The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org). The National Portrait Gallery (www.npg.org.uk). The New Oxford Book of Seventeenth Century Verse. Alastair Fowler, ed. Oxford University Press, 2004. The Oxford Book of English Verse. Christopher Ricks, ed. Oxford University Press, 1999. The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000. The Penguin Book of Renaissance Verse 1509-1659. David Norbrook, ed. Penguin Books, 1992.