Josuah Sylvester (1563 – 28 September 1618) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

Biography

Sylvester was the son of a

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

ish clothier. In his tenth year he was sent to school at

King Edward VI School, Southampton King Edward VI School (also known as King Edward's, or KES) is a selective co-educational independent school founded in Southampton, United Kingdom, in 1553. The school was founded at the request of William Capon, who bequeathed money in his ...

, where he gained a knowledge of

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

. After about three years at school, he appears to have been put to business, and in 1591 the title-page of his ''Yvry'' states that he was in the service of the Merchant Adventurers' Company. He was for a short time a land steward, and in 1606

Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales (19 February 1594 – 6 November 1612), was the eldest son and heir apparent of James VI and I, King of England and Scotland; and his wife Anne of Denmark. His name derives from his grandfathers: Henry Stuar ...

gave him a small pension as a kind of court poet. In 1613 he obtained a position as secretary to the Merchant Adventurers. He was stationed at Middelburg, in the Low Countries, where he died.

Works

He translated into English heroic couplets the scriptural epic of

Guillaume du Bartas Guillaume de Salluste Du Bartas (1544, in Monfort – July 1590, in Mauvezin) was a Gascon Huguenot courtier and poet. Trained as a doctor of law, he served in the court of Henri de Navarre for most of his career. Du Bartas was celebrated acro ...

. His ''Essay of the Second Week'' was published in 1598; and in 1604 ''The Divine Weeks of the World's Birth''. The ornate style of the original offered no difficulty to Sylvester, who was himself a disciple of the Euphuists and added many adornments of his own invention. The ''Sepmaines'' of Du Bartas appealed most to his English and German co-religionists, and the translation was immensely popular. It has often been suggested that

John Milton John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet and intellectual. His 1667 epic poem '' Paradise Lost'', written in blank verse and including over ten chapters, was written in a time of immense religious flux and political ...

owed something in the conception of ''

Paradise Lost ''Paradise Lost'' is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton (1608–1674). The first version, published in 1667, consists of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse (poetry), verse. A second edition fo ...

'' to Sylvester's translation. His popularity ceased with the

Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

, and

John Dryden '' John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the per ...

called his verse "abominable fustian." His works were reprinted by

A. B. Grosart Alexander Balloch Grosart (18 June 182716 March 1899) was a Scottish clergyman and literary editor. He is chiefly remembered for reprinting much rare Elizabethan literature, a work which he undertook because of his interest in Puritan theolog ...

(1880) in the ''Chertsey Worthies Library''. See also

Charles Dunster Charles Dunster (1750–1816) was a British writer, and translator. Life He was the only son of the Rev. Charles Dunster, prebendary of Salisbury. He was admitted at Oriel College, Oxford, as a commoner in 1767, took his B.A. degree at the end ...

, ''Considerations on Milton's early Reading'' (1800).

References

External links

Digitized copy of Josuah Sylvester's Workes, 1621
by John Geraghty {{DEFAULTSORT:Sylvester, Josuah 1563 births 1618 deaths 17th-century English poets 17th-century English male writers People from Lambourn People educated at King Edward VI School, Southampton 16th-century English translators 16th-century English poets 17th-century translators English male poets