Quarles, Francis and John

(1592-1665)

   • Francis, the father, 1592-1644

   Born near Romford, Essex, he graduated B.A. from Christ's College, Cambridge, in 1608, then studied law in London. In 1613 he was cup bearer to Princess Elizabeth on her marriage to the Frederick V Elector Palatine (Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia, was the grandmother of George I; she is buried in Henry VII's chapel of Westminster Abbey.) In 1631 he wrote an epitaph on Michael Drayton, which was inscribed on the poet's tomb in Westminster Abbey. From around 1629 to 1633 he was private secretary to James Ussher, archbishop of Armagh. A staunch Royalist, he wrote a scathing attack on Oliver Cromwell, which resulted in his library being destroyed. He was buried in the church of St. Olave, Silver Street, London. Some of his publications: Argalus and Parthenia, 1629. Divine Fancies, 1632. An Elegie Upon My Deare Brother, 1637. An Elegie on Sir Julius Cæsar, 1636. The Shepheards Oracles, 1646. Sighes At the Contemporary Deaths of Those Incomparable Sisters, The Countesse of Cleaveland, and Mistrisse Cicily Killegrve, 1640. Solomon's Recantation, 1739. Some of his poems: "Buried in a New Tombe Hewen Out of a Rock," "On the Infancie of Our Saviour," "On Vsurers," "Tongues of Fire, and Sate Upon Each of Them," "The Sunne Was in a Totall Eclips, and Not As Naturally It Should Have Been in the Sign with the Moon."

   • John, the son, 1624-1665

   John was educated under the care of Archbishop Ussher, then at Exeter College, Oxford, although he does not appear to have graduated. He supported the Royalist cause and was imprisoned and banished to Flanders. He lived in near-poverty, dependent on his writing for livelihood. He died of the plague in London. Some of his publications are: Self-Conflict, 1647. Fons Lachrymarum, 1648. A Kingly Bed of Miserie, 1649. Divine Meditations, 1655. Tarquin Banished, 1655. An Elegie on James Usher, 1656. The History of the Most Vile Dimagoras, 1658. Rebellion's Downfall, 1662. The Citizens' Flight, 1665. London's Disease, and Cure, 1665. Some of his poems: "A Dialogue Between the Soul and Satan," "Lord, Help Me When My Griefs Doe Call," "Lord, Teach My Reins, That in the Night," "Lord, Thou That Hoord'st Thy Grace for Those," "My God, Full Tears Are All the Dyet."

   Sources: A Sacrifice of Praise: An Anthology of Christian Poetry in English from Caedmon to the Mid-Twentieth Century. James H. Trott, ed. Cumberland House Publishing, 1999. A Treasury of Poems for Worship and Devotion. Charles L. Wallis, ed. Harper, 1959. Chapters into Verse, Vol. I: Genesis to Malachi. Robert Atwan and Laurance Wieder, eds. Oxford University Press, 1993. Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. Stanford University Libraries and Academic Information Resources (http://library.stanford.edu). The Chatto Book of Cabbages and Kings: Lists in Literature. Francis Spufford, ed. Chatto and Windus, 1989. 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 Complete Works in Prose and Verse of Francis Quarles, Vol. 3 (No publisher listed), 1881. The Oxford Book of Marriage. Helge Rubenstein, ed. Oxford University Press, 1990. 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. Westminster Abbey Official Guide (no date).