Browne, William

(1591-?1643)

   Born in Tavistock, Devon, he graduated from Exeter College, Oxford. In 1613 while studying law at the Inner Temple, London, Browne published the first book of Britannia's Pastorals (a narrative poem in three books, reminiscent of Spenser's Faerie Queene). He then collaborated with friends on The Shepherd's Pipe (1614), and wrote the Inner Temple Masque (performed January 1615). He dedicated the second book of Britannia's Pastorals (1616) to the earl of Pembroke, in whose service he remained for the rest of his life; the third book was published posthumously. One of his best known poems, "On the Countess Dowager of Pembroke," is a tribute to his patron on her funeral. His love of his native Devon is expressed in "A Devonshire Walk." Some of his other poems: "A Hapless Shepherd on a Daye," "A Sigh from Oxford," "A Welcome," "Fairest, When I Am Gone, as Now the Glass," "Memory," "Ode," "Praise of Spenser," "Sing Soft, Ye Pretty Birds, While Cælia Sleeps," "Song," "The Inner Temple Masque," "The Rose," "The Siren's Song," "Thirsis' Praise of His Mistress," "Venus and Adonis," "Visions."

   Sources: Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, 2006. English Poetry: Author Search. Chadwyck-Healey Ltd., 1995 (http://www.lib.utexas.edu:8080/search/epoetry/author.ht ml). Poemhunter (www.poemhunter.com). Poems of William Browne. Gordon Goodwin. 1894. 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 Oxford Anthology of English Literature Vol. I. Frank Kermode, and John Hollander, ed. Oxford University Press, 1973. 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.