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Sir John Denham (1615 - 1669), poet, son of the Chief Baron of Exchequer
in Ireland, was born in Dublin, and educated at Oxford He began his literary
career with a tragedy, The Sophy (1641), which seldom rises above
mediocrity. His poem, Cooper's Hill (1642), is the work by which he is
remembered. It is the first example in English of a poem devoted to local
description. Denham received extravagant praise from Johnson; but the place
now assigned him is a much more humble one. His verse is smooth, clear,
and agreeable, and occasionally a thought is expressed with remarkable
terseness and force. In his earlier years Denham suffered for his Royalism;
but after the Restoration enjoyed prosperity. He, however, made an
unhappy marriage, and his last years were clouded by insanity. He was an
architect by profession, coming between Inigo Jones and Wren as King's
Surveyor.
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John Denham
- This article is originally from A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature.
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