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Carew, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Carew, Thomas, 1595?–1639?, English author, one of the Cavalier poets. Educated at Merton College, Oxford, he had a short diplomatic career on the Continent, then returned to England and became a fa...

epigram

(Encyclopedia)epigram, a short, polished, pithy saying, usually in verse, often with a satiric or paradoxical twist at the end. The term was originally applied by the Greeks to the inscriptions on stones. The epigr...

Chapman, George

(Encyclopedia)Chapman, George, 1559?–1634, English dramatist, translator, and poet. He is as famous for his plays as for his poetic translations of Homer's Iliad (1612) and Odyssey (1614–15). Chapman was a clas...

Symonds, John Addington

(Encyclopedia)Symonds, John Addington sĭmˈənz [key], 1840–93, English author. Educated at Harrow and Oxford, constant ill health exiled him for the greater part of his life to Italy and Switzerland. His many w...

humor

(Encyclopedia)humor, according to ancient theory, any of four bodily fluids that determined human health and temperament. Hippocrates postulated that an imbalance among the humors (blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and b...

Burbage, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Burbage, Richard bûrˈbĭj [key], 1567?–1619, first great English actor. The leading tragedian of the Chamberlain's Men, he originated the title roles in Shakespeare's Hamlet, Lear, Othello, and Ri...

Marston, John

(Encyclopedia)Marston, John, 1576–1634, English satirist and dramatist, b. Oxfordshire, grad. Oxford, 1594. In accordance with his father's wishes he studied law at Middle Temple, but his interests soon turned to...

Ellesmere, Thomas Egerton, Baron

(Encyclopedia)Ellesmere, Thomas Egerton, Baron, 1540?–1617, jurist and statesman. A distinguished early career at law brought him appointment (1581) as solicitor general, and he became a favorite and adviser of Q...

Newcastle, William Cavendish, duke of

(Encyclopedia)Newcastle, William Cavendish, duke of, 1593?–1676, English soldier and politician. Of great wealth, Cavendish became (1638) governor of the prince of Wales and a privy councilor. During the civil wa...

D'Avenant, Sir William

(Encyclopedia)D'Avenant or Davenant, Sir William dăvˈənənt [key], 1606–68, English poet, playwright, and theatrical producer. His life and work bridge the gap between the Elizabethan and Restoration ages. His...