Habington, William

(1605-1654)

   He was born at Hindlip, Worcestershire, and educated at the comparatively new Catholic College of St. Omer near Calais and also at Paris. At that time, when England was turning to Protestantism, Catholic education was forbidden. Some say he left France because of pressure to become a Jesuit. He married Lucy Herbert, daughter of William Herbert, first baron Powis, and his long poem Castara (1634) is a collection of poems in her praise with some elegies to his friends. Some of his other publications: Queene of Arragon: A Tragi-Comedie, 1640. The History of Edward the Fourth, King of England, 1640. Observations upon Historie, 1641. Some of his poems: "Against Them Who Lay Unchastity to the Sex of Women," "Elegie Upon the Death of Ben Johnson," "In Hymeneum Ingeniosissimiiacobi Shirley," "On Master John Fletchers Dramaticall Poems," "Purification," "The Compliment," "To My Friend the Author," "To My Friend, Will Davenant," "To Vaine Hope," "To Zephirus," "Welcome, Thou Safe Retreat!" "What Am I Who Dare," "When I Survey the Bright Celestial Sphere."

   Sources: A Treasury of Poems for Worship and Devotion. Charles L. Wallis, ed. Harper, 1959. Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. English Poetry: Author Search. Chadwyck-Healey Ltd., 1995 (http://www.lib.utexas.edu:8080/search/epoetry/author.html). Great Books Online (www.bartleby.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 Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000. The Poems of William Habington. University Press of Liverpool, 1948.