author
Abraham Cowley
1618–1667
A gifted poet from an early age, he became one of the best-known English writers of the 17th century. His work ranges from graceful love poems to reflective essays, with a style that helped shape the English ode.
1 Audiobook
Cowley's Essays
by Abraham Cowley
About the author
Born in London in 1618, Abraham Cowley showed unusual literary talent as a schoolboy and published Poetical Blossoms while still very young. He later studied at Cambridge, but the political turmoil of the English Civil War disrupted his academic life and pushed him into the royalist world.
During the 1640s and 1650s, Cowley spent time in exile and was connected with royalist service, experiences that gave his writing both polish and seriousness. He wrote poetry, essays, and plays, and he became especially known for adapting the Pindaric ode into English, as well as for the wit and intellectual play that link him with the metaphysical poets.
In his own lifetime, Cowley was widely admired, and after his death in Chertsey on July 28, 1667, his reputation remained strong for many years. Today he is remembered as a versatile writer whose work moves easily between public ambition and private thought, making him an intriguing voice in 17th-century literature.