author
Sir John Davies
1569–1626
Best known as a sharp-minded poet who also built a major legal career, he moved with ease between courtly verse, public office, and Parliament. His writing is remembered for its wit and formal control, especially in poems that mix philosophical thought with graceful style.
2 Audiobooks
The Complete Poems of Sir John Davies. Volume 2 of 2.
by Sir John Davies
The Complete Poems of Sir John Davies. Volume 1 of 2.
by Sir John Davies
About the author
An English poet, lawyer, and politician, he was baptized in 1569 in Wiltshire and later studied at Winchester College and Queen’s College, Oxford. He then entered the Middle Temple, trained in law, and built a career that carried him into public life as well as literature.
He is especially associated with the long philosophical poem Nosce Teipsum and with satirical and courtly verse that helped earn him a lasting place in Renaissance literature. Reliable sources also describe him as a member of Parliament and as Attorney General for Ireland, a role that linked him closely to English policy and legal administration there.
That mix of poetry, law, and politics makes him an unusually wide-ranging figure: a writer admired for polish and intelligence, and a public official whose influence extended well beyond the page. He died in 1626.