Curated playlist
16th-century English poets
- William ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare called himself in "perfect health" in his will, then died within a month.
- Ben JonsonBen Jonson killed a man in a duel and escaped hanging by reciting a Bible verse.
- William Forrest (poet)Priest William Forrest wrote a long poem defending Catherine of Aragon. He gave it to Queen Mary in 1558.
- Christopher MarloweQueen Elizabeth's Privy Council once wrote to Cambridge to make sure Christopher Marlowe got his degree.
- Michael DraytonMichael Drayton's first book, published in 1590, was almost entirely destroyed by public order.
- Edmund SpenserWhen poet Edmund Spenser was buried in 1599, fellow poets threw pens and their own poems into his grave.
- Philip SidneyPhilip Sidney died at 31 from a thigh wound, leaving a romance that stops mid sword fight.
- Thomas Wyatt (poet)Poet Thomas Wyatt's sonnets were not printed under his name until 1557. That was fifteen years after he died.
- Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of OxfordEdward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, was buried in an unmarked grave in 1604. Some still say he wrote Shakespeare's plays.
- Henry WottonHenry Wotton's joke that an ambassador lies abroad nearly wrecked his career.