COWLEY, ABRAHAM, was b. in London in 1618. He was the son of a grocer, and was educated at Westminster school and Trinity college, Cambridge. According to his own statement, lie was made a poet by the perusal of bpenser, whose works were wont to lie in his mother's parlor. A volume of poems, entitled Poetic Blossoms, was pub lished by him at the age of 15, and one.of the pieces contained therein was written when he was 10 years old. At Cambridge he obtained distinction through the elegance of his translations; and while there, he composed the greater part of the Datideis, an epic in four books—a work which he never completed. He was attached to the court party, and, in consequence, was ejected from his college in 1643, after he had taken his degree of M.A. In 1646, he followed the queen to Paris, iu which city he remained 10 years; and on his return to England, being under suspicion, he was seized and bound in heavy securities for his future behavior. In the same year, he published an edition of his poems, with a preface, in which certain passages appeared, supposed to have a politi cal bearing, which were suppressed in subsequent editions. After the restoration, he
expected to obtain the mastership of the Savor, but was disappointed. He subse quently obtained a lease of the queen's lands at Ohertsey, in Surrey, whither he retired in 1665. He died in July, 1667, in his 49th year, and was buried in Westminster abbey, near Chaucer and Spenser. In 1675, a monument was erected to his memory by the duke of 13uckingliam.
Although almost forgotten now, the time was when C.'s poetry was considered equal to Shakespeare's or Spenser's. It certainly possesses•merits of ingenuity and verbal brilliancy. He is often splendid, but it is the splendor of the rocket rather than of the glowworm or the star. His prose is more natural than his verse, and some of its passages reach a stately eloquence, reminding the reader of the magnificent prose of Milton.