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Thomas Shadwell.


Thomas Shadwell (c. 1642 – 19 November 1692) was an English playwright and miscellaneous writer who was appointed poet laureate in 1689.

Life

According to his son, Sir John Shadwell, Thomas Shadwell was born at Stanton Hall, Norfolk, and educated at Bury St Edmunds School, and at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, which he was entered in 1656. He left the university without a degree, and joined the Middle Temple. At the Whig triumph in 1688 he superseded John Dryden as poet laureate and historiographer royal. He died at Chelsea on 19 November 1692.[1]

Works

In 1668 he produced a prose comedy, The Sullen Lovers, or the Impertinents, based on Les Fâcheux by Molière, and written in open imitation of Ben Jonson's comedy of humours. His best plays are Epsom Wells (1672), for which Sir Charles Sedley wrote a prologue, and the Squire of Alsatia (1688). Alsatia was the cant name for the Whitefriars area of London, then a kind of sanctuary for persons liable to arrest, and the play represents, in dialogue full of the local argot, the adventures of a young heir who falls into the hand of the sharpers there.[2][3]

For fourteen years from the production of his first comedy to his memorable encounter with John Dryden, Shadwell produced a play nearly every year. These productions display a hatred of sham, and a rough but honest moral purpose. Although bawdy, they present a vivid picture of contemporary manners.[4]

Shadwell is chiefly remembered as the unfortunate Mac Flecknoe of Dryden's satire, the "last great prophet of tautology," and the literary son and heir of Richard Flecknoe:
"The rest to some faint meaning make pretense,
But Shadwell never deviates into sense." [5]


Dryden had furnished Shadwell with a prologue to his True Widow (1679), and in spite of momentary differences, the two had been on friendly terms. But when Dryden joined the court party, and produced Absalom and Achitophel and The Medal, Shadwell became the champion of the Protestants, and made a scurrilous attack on Dryden in The Medal of John Bayes: a Satire against Folly and Knavery (1682). Dryden immediately retorted in Mac Flecknoe, or a Satire on the True Blue Protestant Poet, T.S. (1682), in which Shadwell's personalities were returned with interest. A month later he contributed to Nahum Tate's continuation of Absalom and Achitophel satirical portraits of Elkanah Settle as Doeg and of Shadwell as Og. In 1687, Shadwell attempted to answer these attacks in a version of Juvenal's 10th Satire. [6]

However, Dryden's portrait of Shadwell in Absalom and Achitophel cut far deeper, and has withstood the test of time. In this satire, Dryden noted of Settle and Shadwell:

Two fools that crutch their feeble sense on verse;
Who, by my muse, to all succeeding times
Shall live, in spite of their own doggrel rhymes; [7]


Nonetheless, Shadwell, due to the Whig triumph in 1688 superseded his enemy as Poet Laureate and historiographer royal.<ref name="works5" />

His son, Charles Shadwell was also a playwright. A scene from his play, "The Stockjobbers" was included as an introduction in Caryl Churchill's "Serious Money" (1987).[8]

Poems

Dear Pretty Youth

::Dear Pretty Youth
Dear pretty youth, unveil your eyes,
How can you sleep when I am by?
Were I with you all night to be,
Methinks I could from sleep be free.
Alas, my dear, you're cold as stone:
You must no longer lie alone.
But be with me my dear, and I in each arm
Will hug you close and keep you warm.


Love in their little veins inspires

: Love in their little veins inspires
Love in their little veins inspires
their cheerful notes, their soft desires.
While heat makes buds and blossoms spring,
those pretty couples love and sing.
But winter puts out their desire,
and half the year they want love's fire.
[9]


Nymphs and Shepherds

: Nymphs and Shepherds
Nymphs and shepherds, come away.
In the groves let's sport and play,
For this is Flora's holiday,
Sacred to ease and happy love,
To dancing, to music and to poetry;
Your flocks may now securely rove
Whilst you express your jollity.
Nymphs and shepherds, come away.
[10]


Works

A complete edition of Shadwell's works was published by another son, Sir John Shadwell, in 1720. His other dramatic works are:
  • The Royal Shepherdess (1669), an adaptation of John Fountain's Rewards of Virtue
  • The Humorist (1671)
  • The Miser (1672), adapted from Molière
  • Psyche (1675)
  • The Libertine (1676)
  • The Virtuoso (1676)
  • The history of Timon of Athens the Man-hater (1678),--on this Shakespearian adaptation see O Beber, Shadwell's Bearbeitung des Timon of Athens (Röstock, 1897)
  • A True Widow (1679)
  • The Woman Captain (1680), revived in 1744 as The Prodigal
  • The Lancashire Witches and Teague O'Divelly, the Irish Priest (1682)
  • Bury Fair (1689)
  • The Amorous Bigot, with the second part of Teague O'Divelly (1690)
  • The Scowerers (1691)
  • The Volunteers, or Stockjobbers, published posthumously (1693).

Notes

References

External link

Preceded by
John Dryden		British Poet Laureate
1689–1692		Succeeded by
Nahum Tate
8th century - 9th century - 10th century
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885 886 887 - 888 - 889 890 891

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Subjects:     Archaeology - Architecture -
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November 19 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.

Events

  • 1493 - Christopher Columbus goes ashore on an island he first saw the day before.

..... Click the link for more information.
8th century - 9th century - 10th century
850s  860s  870s  - 880s -  890s  900s  910s
885 886 887 - 888 - 889 890 891

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Subjects:     Archaeology - Architecture -
..... Click the link for more information.
Motto
Dieu et mon droit   (French)
"God and my right"
Anthem
No official anthem specific to England — the anthem of the United Kingdom is "God Save the Queen".
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A playwright, also known as a 'dramatist', is a person who writes dramatic literature or drama. These works may be written specifically to be performed by actors or they may be closet dramas or literary works written using dramatic forms but not meant for performance.
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writer is anyone who creates a written work, although the word more usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, or those who have written in many different forms.
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For the US Poet Laureate, see .


A Poet Laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government and often expected to compose poems for State occasions and other government events. The plural form is poets laureate.
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8th century - 9th century - 10th century
850s  860s  870s  - 880s -  890s  900s  910s
885 886 887 - 888 - 889 890 891

:
Subjects:     Archaeology - Architecture -
..... Click the link for more information.
Norfolk (pronounced IPA: /ˈnɔːfək/) is a low-lying county in East Anglia in the east of southern England.
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Bury St Edmunds

Bury St Edmunds (United Kingdom)

Bury St Edmunds shown within the United Kingdom
Population 35,015 (2001 Census)
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Gonville and Caius College

       
College name Gonville and Caius College
Founders Edmund Gonville (1348)
John Caius (1557)
Established 1348, refounded 1557
Previously named Gonville Hall (1348-1351)
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The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn.
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John Dryden

Born: 19 August 1631
Aldwincle, Northamptonshire, England
Died: 12 May 1700
England
Occupation: poet, literary critic and Playwright

John Dryden (August 19 [O.S. August 9] 1631 – May 12 [O.S.
..... Click the link for more information.
November 19 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.

Events

  • 1493 - Christopher Columbus goes ashore on an island he first saw the day before.

..... Click the link for more information.
8th century - 9th century - 10th century
850s  860s  870s  - 880s -  890s  900s  910s
885 886 887 - 888 - 889 890 891

:
Subjects:     Archaeology - Architecture -
..... Click the link for more information.
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, also known by his stage name, Molière (January 15, 1622 – February 17 1673) was a French playwright and actor who is considered one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature.
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Ben Jonson

Ben Jonson by Abraham Blyenberch, 1617.
Born: 11 June 1572
Westminster, London, England
Died: 6 July 1637
Westminster, London, England
Occupation: Dramatist, poet and actor

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Sir Charles Sedley (March 1639 – August 20, 1701), English wit and dramatist, was the son of Sir John Sedley, Bt, of Aylesford in Kent and Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Henry Savile (Bible translator).
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See also: Alsace


Alsatia in London, was the name given to an area lying north of the River Thames covered by the Whitefriars monastery, to the south of the west end of Fleet Street and adjacent to the Temple.
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Cant or canting may refer to:
  • Cant (language), a secret language
  • Thieves' cant
  • Shelta language or the Cant, a language used by the Irish Travellers

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The Order of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel – Carmelite Order (sometimes simply Mount Carmel by synecdoche; Latin: Ordo fratrum Beatæ Virginis Mariæ de monte Carmelo
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For the fungus, see .
Argot (French and Spanish for "slang") is primarily slang used by various groups, including but not limited to thieves and other criminals, to prevent outsiders from understanding their conversations.
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John Dryden

Born: 19 August 1631
Aldwincle, Northamptonshire, England
Died: 12 May 1700
England
Occupation: poet, literary critic and Playwright

John Dryden (August 19 [O.S. August 9] 1631 – May 12 [O.S.
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Mac Flecknoe is a verse mock-heroic satire written by John Dryden. Written after the English Restoration, when King Charles II came to power, Mac Flecknoe is full of satire and criticism. It is a direct attack on Thomas Shadwell, another prominent poet at this time.
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In rhetoric, a tautology is an unnecessary (and usually unintentional) repetition of meaning, utilising different words, i.e. saying the same thing twice.

Tautology

Tautology, often regarded as a fault of style, was defined by Fowler as "saying the same thing twice".
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Richard Flecknoe (c. 1600-1678?), English dramatist and poet, the object of Dryden's satire, was probably of English birth, although there is no corroboration of the suggestion of Joseph Gillow[1]
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Absalom and Achitophel is a landmark poetic political satire by John Dryden. The poem exists in two parts. The first part, of 1681, is undoubtedly by Dryden. The second part, of 1682, was written by another hand, most likely Nahum Tate, except for a few passages---including attacks
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Protestantism encompasses the forms of Christian faith and practice that originated with the doctrines of the Reformation. The word Protestant is derived from the Latin protestatio meaning declaration
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Nahum Tate (1652 – 1715) was an Irish Protestant poet, hymnist and lyricist, who became Poet Laureate in 1692.

Life

Nahum Tate was born in Dublin in 1652, the son of Faithful Teate, an Irish clergyman[1]
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Elkanah Settle (January 1, 1648 – February 12, 1724), was an English poet and playwright.

He was born at Dunstable, and entered Trinity College, Oxford, in 1666, but left without taking a degree.
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