Abraham Cowley

Born in London in 1618, Abraham Cowley showed unusual literary talent very early. He published Poeticall Blossomes while still a schoolboy, then studied at Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge, quickly earning a reputation as a gifted young writer.

During the English Civil War, he supported the Royalist cause and spent years connected to the exiled court of Queen Henrietta Maria, serving in secretarial work and political missions. Alongside that public life, he wrote poems, plays, and essays, and later became especially known for works such as The Mistress and his lively Pindaric odes.

After the Restoration, Cowley did not receive all the rewards he seems to have hoped for, and he eventually retired to Chertsey. There he wrote reflective prose about study, retirement, and the contemplative life, while also taking an interest in experimental philosophy. He died in 1667 and was buried in Westminster Abbey, a sign of the high regard he enjoyed in his own time.