John Suckling

John Suckling (1609-1642), English poet, who was one of the Cavalier poets. He was born in Whitton (now in Greater London) and educated at the University of Cambridge. On the death of his father, a court official, he became heir to large estates. He was knighted in 1630 and joined the court of Charles I, where he was famed for his lyric poetry and wit and equally notorious as a profligate and gambler. In 1641 Suckling took part in an abortive plot to rescue the pro-Royalist Earl of Strafford from the Tower of London, where he had been imprisoned at the time of the Scottish rebellion. As a result, Suckling was forced to flee to the Continent. Impoverished and in despair, he is said to have poisoned himself in Paris in the summer of 1642. Many of his writings were collected after his death under the title Fragmenta Aurea (Golden Fragments, 1646). The volume contains plays, a theological tract, and miscellaneous poems. Of his four plays the finest are the tragedy Aglaura (1638) and the comedy The Goblins (1638). Suckling's literary fame depends entirely upon his lyrics, which are distinguished for their grace and irony and show the influence of John Donne.