Fletcher, John

(1579-1625)

   The nephew of Giles Fletcher, The Elder (see entry), he was born in Rye, Sussex, where his father was the vicar. He later became bishop of Bristol then of London, and was queen's chaplain at the trial and execution of Mary Queen of Scots in 1587. John was educated at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. He died in the London plague that killed some 40,000 others and was buried at St. Saviour's, Southwark. He is best known as a dramatist and for his collaboration with Francis Beaumont and Philip Massinger (see entries). He began writing for the Shakespeare's King's Men when they moved to Blackfriars in 1610; when Shakespeare retired, Fletcher became the company's chief dramatist. Between 1609 and 1625 he wrote 21 plays and collaborated on as many more. The masterpieces of the Beaumont and Fletcher collaboration are Philaster, The Maides Tragedy and A King and No King. One of Fletcher's own best plays is The Faithfull Shepheardesse. Some of his poems: "Beggar's Bush," "Come Hither, You, That Love," "Fletcher's Lament for His Friend," "Take, Oh, Take Those Lips Away," "The Chances," "The Little French Lawyer," "The Mad Lover."

   Sources: Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, 2006. English Lyric Poems, 1500-1900. C. Day Lewis, ed. Appleton-CenturyCrofts, 1961. Friendship Poems. Peter Washington, ed. Alfred A. Knopf, 1995. Poemhunter (www.poemhunter.com). 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 Gambit Book of Love Poems. Geoffrey Grigson, ed. Gambit, 1973. The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000.