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1618 Cowley was born in London, the posthumous son of a bookseller 1640 He was named Fellow at Trinity but was ejected in 1644 because he was a royalist who had even written a play performed for the King`s entertainment two years earlier. 1644 He went to live at Oxford, a stronghold of the royalists, before fleeing the Civil War to join the group of exiles in Paris, France. He served as secretary to Lord Jermyn, the Queen`s chamberlain. He also undertook various diplomatic missions at the bidding of the Queen, Maria Henrietta, whom he officially served as cipher secretary. 1654 He returned to London, possibly on a mission, and was arrested and briefly imprisoned. 1656 produced his collected Poems 1657 Though he received his medical doctorate, he never practised. 1661 given back his Fellowship at Cambridge 1667 So great was his esteem that when he died he was laid to rest next to Chaucer and Spenser at Westminster Abbey. |
