DENHAM, SIR JOHN, born at Dublin in the year 1615, was son of Sir John Denham, who was some time chief baron of the Court of Exchequer in Ireland. His father being afterwards made a baron of the Exchequer in England, he was brought to London in 1617, where he received his grammatical education. In the year 1631 he became a gentleman commoner of Trinity College, Oxford, where, after studying for three years, he took the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Ile subse quently entered himself at Lincoln's Inn, studied the law pretty closely, and might have done well, had not an immoderate passion for gaming exhausted his money, and drawn on him the displeasure of his father. Ile however abandoned the mischievous pursuit, and wrote an essay against gaming, by which he his father's favour, though his reformation appears to have been feigned, as immediately after his father's death his fondness for play returned. In 1641 he gained great celebrity by his tragedy of 'The Sophy,' which was acted at Black friars with much applause; and his fame was increased by his Cooper's Hill,' written in 1643, almost the only one of his poems that is now read. In the year 1647 be performed many secret and important services for Charles I., when prisoner in the hands of the army, which being discovered, he was forced to escape to France. In 1652 he returned to England, and resided at the Earl of Pembroke's ; and at the restoration of Charles II. he was appointed surveyor-general of his majesty's buildings, and created knight of the Bath. lie died in tho year 16S8, his understanding having been for some time impaired by domestic grievances.
The admirers of Denham usually limit their praises to 'Cooper's Hill,' and some lines on the Earl of Strafford ; while others confine their commendations to two lines iu the former poem, wherein he describes the Thathes "Though deep, yet clear ; though gentle, yet not dull ; titrong without rage, *without u'erilowing full." This is a most happy combination of words; the bringing into contrast expressions which only vary iu shades of meaning is highly ingenious. The whole passage relating to the Thames is written with
much eplrit, and striking lines might bo selected from other parts; yet, taken as a whole, the poem ii heavy and purposeless, and, though short, tedious.
Readers of the present day, on perusing the poems of Denham, will perhaps wonder what could be the cause of the high commenda tions bestowed on him by his contemporaries; but to look at him from German with notes, by J. J. Reiske, Lemgo, 1764; a correct, but tasteless version. The political speeches were translated with notes, by Fr. Jacobs, Leipzig, 1805-8 ; and the eleven Philippics, by Alb. Geri. Becker, Halle, 1824-26. There are also other German transla tions of some of the speeches. There is a French translation of Demosthenes and lEschines by Auger. Leland has translated into English all the orations which refer to Philip, including the Philip pics and Olynthiacs, with the oration of sEachiees against Ctesiphon, and one by Dinarchus, but with no great success. To express the simplicity, perspicuity, and force of the original, would require the translator to possess powers the same in kind as those which Demos thenes himself possessed, and near them in degree.
(Thirlwall, Grote, and Mitford, Histories of Greece; Schaumaun, Prolegomena to Demosthenes ; Plutarch, Demosthenes; Life by Zosimus , of Ascalon; Lines of the Ten Orators ; Taylor, Life of Demosthenes ; Becker, Demosthenes ads Staaternann send Refiner; Wcstermann, Qwestiones Demosthenicce ; Clinton, Fasti Ifellenici, and the Orations of Demosthenes.) a fair point of view, and to assign him his duo portion of merit, it will be necessary to consider him as one of the reformers of English verse. At the beginning of the 17th century the art of versification was in a very Imperfect state, as may be seen from reading the prologues to our early dramas ; and lienoe a poem of the length of ' Cooper's written with tolerable smoothness, was something remarkable.