Josuah Sylvester (1563 – 28 September 1618) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

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 (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

Biography

Sylvester was the son of a

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

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 private day school founded in Southampton, England, in 1553. The Senior and Sixth Form site is on Hill Lane, Southampton whilst the Preparatory School is ...

, where he gained a knowledge of

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

. 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 King James VI and I and Anne of Denmark, Queen Anne. His name derives from his grandfathers: Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley; and Fr ...

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 Middelburg may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Europe * Middelburg, Zeeland, the capital city of the province of Zeeland, southwestern Netherlands ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Middelburg, a former Catholic diocese with its see in the Zeeland ...

, in the Low Countries, where he died.

Works

He translated into English

heroic couplet A heroic couplet is a traditional form for English poetry, commonly used in epic and narrative poetry, and consisting of a rhyming pair of lines in iambic pentameter. Use of the heroic couplet was pioneered by Geoffrey Chaucer in the '' Legen ...

s the scriptural epic of Guillaume du Bartas. 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, polemicist, and civil servant. His 1667 epic poem ''Paradise Lost'' was written in blank verse and included 12 books, written in a time of immense religious flux and politic ...

owed something in the conception of ''

Paradise Lost ''Paradise Lost'' is an Epic poetry, epic poem in blank verse by the English poet John Milton (1608–1674). The poem concerns the Bible, biblical story of the fall of man: the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and their ex ...

'' to Sylvester's translation. His popularity ceased with the Restoration, and

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

called his verse "abominable fustian." His works were reprinted by A. B. Grosart (1880) in the ''Chertsey Worthies Library''. See also Charles Dunster, ''Considerations on Milton's early Reading'' (1800).

References

External links

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