author
Earl of, John Wilmot Rochester
1647–1680
A brilliant and scandalous voice of Restoration England, this poet turned sharp wit, satire, and desire into verse that still feels daring. His life at the court of Charles II was as notorious as his writing, giving his work an energy that remains hard to ignore.
1 Audiobook
The Works of the Right Honourable John, Earl of Rochester Consisting of Satires, Songs, Translations, and other Occasional Poems
by Earl of, John Wilmot Rochester
About the author
Born in 1647, John Wilmot became the 2nd Earl of Rochester while still a boy and later emerged as one of the most memorable poets of the Restoration. Reliable reference sources describe him as a courtier and wit in the circle of Charles II, celebrated for helping shape English satiric poetry and remembered for the bold, skeptical edge of his verse.
Rochester's writing ranges from satire and lampoon to lyric and philosophical poetry, often mixing elegance with irreverence. He became famous not only for his poems but also for a rebellious public image, and that combination has made him a lasting symbol of the restless, pleasure-seeking side of seventeenth-century court culture.
He died in 1680 at just 33 years old, but his reputation endured long after his short life. Readers still come to him for the same reason his contemporaries could not look away: he was funny, unsettling, intellectually sharp, and unafraid to test the limits of what poetry could say.