William Browne

William Browne was an English poet of the early 17th century, recognized for his pastoral poetry, particularly 'Britannia's Pastorals'. Biography ↓More ↓

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William Browne

The Rose

A ROSE, as fair as ever saw the North, Grew in a little garden all alone; A sweeter flower did Nature ne'er put forth, Nor fairer garden yet was never known: The maidens danced about it morn and noon, And learned bards of it their ditties made; The nimble fairies by the pale-faced moon Water'd the root and kiss'd her pretty shade. But well-a-day!--the gardener careless grew; The maids and fairies both were kept away, And in a drought the caterpillars threw Themselves upon the bud and every spray. God shield the stock! If heaven send no supplies, The fairest blossom of the garden dies.

William Browne

Memory

SO shuts the marigold her leaves At the departure of the sun; So from the honeysuckle sheaves The bee goes when the day is done; So sits the turtle when she is but one, And so all woe, as I since she is gone. To some few birds kind Nature hath Made all the summer as one day: Which once enjoy'd, cold winter's wrath As night they sleeping pass away. Those happy creatures are, that know not yet The pain to be deprived or to forget. I oft have heard men say there be Some that with confidence profess The helpful Art of Memory: But could they teach Forgetfulness,

Biography

William Browne was an English poet of the early 17th century, associated with the pastoral tradition. He was born in Tavistock, Devon, and educated at Exeter College, Oxford, before entering the Inner Temple. His major work is 'Britannia's Pastorals,' a pastoral epic published in two books in 1613 and 1616, with a third left unfinished. The poem celebrates the English countryside, rural life, and national identity, drawing on classical and Spenserian models. Browne also wrote 'The Shepherd's Pipe,' a collection of eclogues, and contributed to the masque genre with 'The Inner Temple Masque.' His poetry features rich natural imagery, gentle melancholy, and patriotic sentiment. Stylistically, he followed Edmund Spenser, employing archaic diction and allegory. He was admired by contemporaries such as Michael Drayton and later by John Milton. His work illustrates the conventions of Jacobean pastoral poetry.

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