Biography of The Poet

Biography of Alexander Pope

Alexander Pope was the leading English poet of the early 18th century, famous for his works An Essay on Criticism and The Rape of the Lock. He was a major critic and satirist. In the 1700s, he was so popular that this era was once known as the "Age of Pope."

Alexander Pope was born on May 21, 1688 into a Roman Catholic ... read more

Biography of John Milton

John Milton was born on December 9, 1608, in London, as the second child of John and Sara (neé Jeffrey). John Milton Sr. worked as a scrivener, a legal secretary whose duties included preparation and notarization of documents, as well as real estate transactions and moneylending. Milton's father was also a composer of church music, and Milton himself experienced a lifelong delight in music. The family's financial ... read more

Biography of William Blake

William Blake was born on November 28, 1757 in London, the third of five children. His father James was a hosier, and could only afford to give William enough schooling to learn the basics of reading and writing, though for a short time he was able to attend a drawing school run by Henry Par. William worked in his father's shop until his talent for drawing became so obvious that he was apprenticed to engraver James Basire ... read more

Biography of William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564, in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. He was born to John Shakespeare and Mary Arden, a glover/leather merchant and local land heiress, respectively. He was baptized in the parish church of Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire on the 26th of April. Shakespeare's father owned many houses in Stratford around the time of Shakespeare's birth, so the exact location of his birth cannot be known for sure (Mabillard 7). William, according to the church register ... read more

Biography of Robert Frost

Robert Lee Frost (named after Southern General Robert E. Lee) was born on 26 March 1874 in San Francisco, California to Isabelle Moodie (1844-1900) teacher, and William Prescott Frost Jr. (1850-1885), teacher and journalist. He moved to New England at the age of eleven and became interested in reading and writing poetry during his high school years in Lawrence, Massachusetts. After enrolling in Lawrence High School he was soon writing his own poems including “La Noche Triste” (1890) which .... read more

Biography of William Wordsworth

Wordsworth, born was born April 7, 1770, in his beloved Lake District, Cockermouth, Cumberland. He was the son of an attorney. His father was John Wordsworth, Sir James Lowther's attorney - the fifth Baronet Lowther was the most feared and hated aristocrat in all of Cumberland and Westmoreland, "an Intolerable Tyrant over his Tenants and Dependents". He went to school first at Penrith ... read more