Thomas Shipman (born 1632, died 1680) was a British poet. A collection of around 200 of his poems was published posthumously in 1683, edited by his friend

Thomas Flatman Thomas Flatman (21 February 1635 – 8 December 1688) was an English poet and miniature painter. There were several editions of his ''Poems and Songs'' (1674). One of his self-portraits is in the Victoria and Albert Museum. A portrait of Char ...

.''Carolina, or, Loyal Poems by Tho. Shipman, Esq.'' London, Samuel Heyrick, at Grayes-Inn-Gate in Holborn, and William Crook, at the Green Dragon without Temple-Bar. 1683. Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership http://name.umdl.umich.edu/A59967.0001.001. Accessed 14 August 2021. More recently his poem ''The Resolute Courtier'' was included in ''The Centuries' Poetry 2 - Donne to Dryden''. He was very much of his time:

''Prithee, say aye or no; ''If thou’lt not have me, tell me so; ''I cannot stay, ''Nor will I wait upon ''A smile or frown. ''If thou wilt have me, say; ''Then I am thine, or else I am mine own.''

Shipman was born in Scarrington near

Newark-on-Trent Newark-on-Trent or Newark () is a market town and civil parish in the Newark and Sherwood district in Nottinghamshire, England. It is on the River Trent, and was historically a major inland port. The A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road bypasses th ...

and educated at

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

. His work shows him to have been an outspoken royalist,Wikisourc
Retrieved 14 August 2021.
/ref> but he managed to keep his family estate intact between the execution of Charles I in 1649 and the Stuart restoration in 1660 by retiring from public life.Wilcher, R. ''Shipman, Thomas (1632–1680), poet.'' Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 14 Aug. 2021, from https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-25414. In his preface to ''Carolina'' Flatman comments: ''"In the Calamities of the last Rebellion he was no small Sharer, the Iniquity of the Times having no power to shock his Loyalty, he very cheerfully underwent the Tryals of unhappy Virtue."'' Shipman's heroic tragedy ''Henry the Third of France'' was performed at the

Theatre Royal, Drury Lane The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Dr ...

in 1678.''Henry the Third of France, stabb'd by a fryer, with the fall of the Guise. A tragedy. Acted at the Theatre-Royal. By Thomas Shipman Esquire. Licensed, Octob. 16. 1678. Printed by B. G. for Sam. Heyrick at Grayes-Inn-Gate in Holborn, 1678.'' Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership http://name.umdl.umich.edu/A59968.0001.001 Accessed 14 August 2021. It was written to support the Duke of Monmouth at a time when anti-Catholic hysteria gripped the country. (Monmouth later led the disastrous

Monmouth Rebellion The Monmouth Rebellion, also known as the Pitchfork Rebellion, the Revolt of the West or the West Country rebellion, was an attempt to depose James II, who in February 1685 succeeded his brother Charles II as king of England, Scotland and Ir ...

in an effort to depose his Catholic uncle

James II James II may refer to: * James II of Avesnes (died c. 1205), knight of the Fourth Crusade * James II of Majorca (died 1311), Lord of Montpellier * James II of Aragon (1267–1327), King of Sicily * James II, Count of La Marche (1370–1438), King C ...

and was executed in 1685.) In his preface to ''Carolina'' Flatman comments again: ''"If there be any thing meaner than may be expected from so polite a Pen, thy Candor must attribute it either to the hasty Efforts of his younger, or the too ponderous and over-pow'ring Confusions which the Rebellion imprinted on his riper Years."'' Shipman died at Scarrington, where he was buried on 15 October 1680.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shipman, Thomas 17th-century English poets British poets 1632 births 1680 deaths