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Home » Thomas Carew

Thomas Carew

Biography Thomas Carew

Thomas Carew (pronounced as "Carey") (1595 – 22 March 1640) was an English poet, among the 'Cavalier' group of Caroline poets. He was the son of Sir Matthew Carew, who was a master in chancery, and Alice Carew the daughter of the Lord Mayor of London. Although details of Carew’s early life are sparse, it is likely that he was the third of eleven children born to a couple.

Early Life

The first real record of his life comes from when he was thirteen years old, in 1608. He had just matriculated at Merton College, Oxford. It was from here that he graduated with a BA. In 1611. From Oxford, the young man moved onto Middle Temple to study law. After falling ill of his father, Carew was sent to Italy to live as a member of Sir Dudley Carleton’s household. Carleton was a diplomat and one-time Secretary of State. It is known that in 161 when Carleton was working at the Hague, Carew was with him.

His position with the diplomat did not last long as he was dismissed later that same year for not slander and a lack of seriousness. It took a great deal of time before he could find another job. Eventually, the young man entered the service of Edward Herbert, Baron Herbert of Cherbury. He trailed alongside the Baron in France on diplomatic missions.

The next period of his life is also sparse on details. It is likely that around 1630 Carew was made a taster-in-ordinary to King Charles I. In this piston, he made a number of friends, including Edward Hyde and Ben Jonson. It is thought that Carew’s life ended somewhere around 1639 due to the publication of his volume of verse, Poems, which appeared in 1640 and seemed to be of a posthumous nature. Carew’s poetry in this volume is characterized by its lyrics, songs, and pastorals, as well as elegies and addresses. They mostly touch on subjects of love and feminine beauty.

Assessment

Carew's poems are sensuous lyrics. They open to us, in his own phrase, "a mine of rich and pregnant fancy." His metrical style was influenced by Jonson and his imagery by Donne, for whom he had an almost servile admiration. Carew had a lucidity and directness of lyrical utterance unknown to Donne. It is perhaps his greatest distinction that he is the earliest of the Cavalier song-writers by profession, of whom John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, was a later example, poets who turned the disreputable incidents of an idle court-life into poetry which was often of the rarest delicacy and the purest melody and colour. The longest of Carew's poems, "A Rapture," would be more widely appreciated if the rich flow of its imagination were restrained by greater reticence of taste. A testimonial to his posterity is that he was analyzed by 19th century critics such as Charles Neaves, who even two centuries later found Carew on the sensuous border of propriety.

Legacy

Since his death, Carew has come to be known as a writer of sensuous lyrics and a man whose mind was rich with creativity. He was greatly inclined by fellow poets John Donne and Ben Jonson and it was his longest poem, ‘A Rapture,’ which would become one of his best-known. Today he is considered one of the foremost, historical figures in English literature.

A Beautiful Mistress

Thomas Carew

A Cruel Mistress

Thomas Carew

A Divine Mistress

Thomas Carew

A Prayer To The Wind

Thomas Carew

An Elegy Upon The Death Of Dr. Donne, Dean Of Paul’s

Thomas Carew

Ask Me No More

Thomas Carew

Boldness In Love

Thomas Carew

Disdain Returned

Thomas Carew

Epitaph For Maria Wentworth

Thomas Carew

Epitaph On The Lady Mary Villiers

Thomas Carew

Epitaph On The Late Mary Villiers

Thomas Carew

Eternity Of Love Protested

Thomas Carew

Good Counsel to a Young Maid

Thomas Carew

He That Loves A Rosy Cheek

Thomas Carew

Ingrateful Beauty Threatened

Thomas Carew

Know, Celia, Since Thou Art So Proud

Thomas Carew

Lips And Eyes

Thomas Carew

Mediocrity In Love Rejected

Thomas Carew

Murdering Beauty

Thomas Carew

My Mistress Commanding Me To Return Her Letters

Thomas Carew

Persuasions to Enjoy

Thomas Carew

Secrecy Protested

Thomas Carew

The Compliment

Thomas Carew

The Primrose

Thomas Carew

The Spring

Thomas Carew Spring

The True Beauty

Thomas Carew

To a Lady That Desired I Would Love Her

Thomas Carew

To A. L. Persuasions To Love

Thomas Carew

To Ben Jonson Upon Occasion Of His Ode Of Defiance Annexed

Thomas Carew

To His Lady

Thomas Carew

To My Inconstant Mistress

Thomas Carew

To Saxham

Thomas Carew

Unfading Beauty

Thomas Carew

When June Is Past, The Fading Rose

Thomas Carew

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