Gould, Robert

(d. ?1709)

   What is known about this talented poet-playwright is that he was the protégé of John Oldham (see entry). He was a servant of Charles, Earl of Dorset and Middlesex, and of James, 1st Earl of Abingdon, at his country seat at Rycote in Oxfordshire. Some of his publications: Love given over, or a Satyr against Woman, 1680 (this attack against women evoked a torrent of replies from the pens of women for twenty years). Presbytery rough-drawn, a Satyr: In contemplation of the late Rebellion, 1683. Poems chiefly consisting of Satyrs and Satyrical Epistles, 1689. The Corruption of the Times by Money, a Satyr, 1693. A Poem Most Humbly Offered to the Memory of Queen Mary, 1695. The Rival Sisters, or the Violence of Love, 1696. Works, 1709 (2 volumes, published by his widow). Innocence Distress'd, or the Royal Penitents, 1737 (published by subscription for the benefit of his daughter, Hannah Gould). Some of his other poems: "Advice to a Fine Young Lady," "Fair, and Soft, and Gay, and Young," "Song: Wit and Beauty," "The Dream," "The Laureat."

   Sources: 17. Cibber's the Careless Husband, page 31 (http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=oandd=96240127). An Uninhibited Treasury of Erotic Poetry. Louis Untermeyer, ed. Dial Press, 1963. Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. English Poetry, Second Edition Bibliography (http://collections.chadwyck.co.uk/html/ep2/bibliography/g.htm). English Poetry: Author Search. Chadwyck-Healey Ltd., 1995 (http://www.lib.utexas.edu:8080/search/epoetry/author.html). Great Books Online (www.bartleby.com). Oldpoetry (www.oldpoetry.com). The Cavalier Poets. Robin Skelton, ed. Oxford University Press, 1970. The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org).