Dekker, Thomas

(?1570-1632)

   Little is known about Dekkers's life, other than he lived in London and by 1598 he was writing for the Admiral's Men, an acting company. He and Ben Jonson were antagonists in what became known as the "war of the poets" or the "war of the theatre." Although successful, he was in the debtors' prison from 1613 to 1619. He was partly responsible for devising the street entertainment to celebrate the entry of James I into London in 1603 and provided the lord mayor's pageant in 1612. A prolific writer, he had part in some 50 plays. His plays and his numerous tracts afford valuable insights into the social life of Elizabethan and Jacobean times. Some of his publications: The Shoemakers Holiday, 1600. Satiromastix, 1601 (a play attacking his rival Ben Jonson). The Wonderfull Yeare, 1603 (about the plague). The Belman of London, 1608 (about roguery and crime). The Guls Horne-Booke, 1609 (behavior in the London theaters). The Honest Whore, Part 21, 1630. Some of his other poems: "Beauty, Arise!" "Folly's Song," "Golden Slumbers" (lullaby), "Old Fortunatus," "The Happy Heart," "The Witch of Edmonton."

   Sources: Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, 2006. 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 New Oxford Book of Sixteenth Century Verse. Emrys Jones, ed. Oxford University Press, 1991. The Oxford Book of the Supernatural. D.J. Enright, ed. Oxford University Press, 1994. 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. Life and Work of Thomas Dekker (http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/dekker/).