Bunyan, John

(1628-1688)

   Bunyan's father, a traveling mender of pots and pans from the village of Elstow, Bedfordshire, though poor, ensured his son had an education. John followed his father's trade until he joined the parliamentary army during the English Civil War (1642-1651). In 1648 he experienced a religious conversion and became a powerful preacher and writer. After the Restoration, he was jailed for eleven years because he did not have a license to preach. Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners (1666) is his spiritual autobiography. The Pilgrim's Progress (1678)-rich in imagery and symbolism, an allegory of the Christian's journey through life-was popular then, and still is. A window in Westminster Abbey was dedicated to Bunyan in 1912. He wrote many other books and poems. Some of his poems: "Christian Loses His Burden," "My Little Bird," "Neither Hook nor Line," "Of Beauty," "Of the Boy and Butterfly," "Of the Cuckoo," "The Author's Apology for His Book," "The Pilgrim Song [He who would valiant be]," "Upon Death," "Upon Fly-blows," "Upon the Snail," "Upon the Horse and His Rider."

   Sources: A Literature of Sports. Tom Dodge, ed. D.C. Heath and Company, 1980. 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.html). Everyman's Book of English Verse. John Wain, ed. J.M. Dent, 1981. 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 Penguin Book of Bird Poetry. Peggy Munsterberg, ed. Penguin Books (1984) Westminster Abbey Official Guide (no date).