{\b Sir Walter Raleigh}.

{\b Date of Birth}.: 1554 (exact date uncertain)

{\b Date of Death}.: 29 October 1618

{\b Works}.

English poet. His most famous poems include an 'Epitaph of Sir Philip Sidney', 
'Even Such is Time' and the sonnets 'Methought I Saw the Grave Where Laura 
Lay' which prefaced Spenser's Faerie Queene, and 'Sir Walter Ralegh to His 
Son'. The standard edition of his Poems was produced by A. Latham in 1951. His 
prose 'Report of the Truth of the Fight about the Isles of Açores' (1591) 
inspired Tennyson's poem 'The Revenge'. Other notable prose works are The 
Discoverie of Guiana (1596) and The History of the World (1614).

{\b Featured Works}.

'A Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd', "As You Came from the Holy Land", 'To His 
Son', 'The Passionate Man's Pilgrimage', 'The Lie', "Even Such is Time", 'Upon 
Spenser's Faerie Queene', 'All the World's a Stage'.

{\b General Comment}.

Ralegh mixed scholarship with soldiering from an early age, fighting on the 
Protestant side in the French Wars of religion before attending Oriel College, 
Oxford. In 1580 his courage and outspoken manner distinguished him in a 
campaign against Irish rebels in Munster, and he soon attracted the attention 
of Elizabeth I. 

He became the Queen's favourite at court, receiving a knighthood in 1585 as 
well as numerous other favours, and huge estates in Ireland. He took part in 
many expeditions abroad, including attempts to establish colonies in both 
North and South America, and several literary works resulted from these 
travels. Ralegh was a very cultured man, and a close friend of the poet Edmund 
Spenser, whom he met in Ireland in 1580. He was also linked with a group known 
as the 'School of Atheism', whose circle included Christopher Marlowe and 
George Chapman.

Ralegh's fiery character ensured that his fortunes at court were very 
unstable; in 1592 a jealous Queen Elizabeth imprisoned him for a short time 
for marrying one of her maids of honour, Elizabeth Throckmorton. He eventually 
regained favour with Elizabeth, but his enemies successfully conspired against 
him when James I ascended the throne. Ralegh was convicted of treason and 
spent the next thirteen years in the Tower of London. He passed his time in 
prison by writing several books, including  A Discourse of War and his History 
of the World. The History was intended for ordinary readers, not just experts, 
and its outspoken criticisms of unjust kings amount to an indirect attack on 
James I.

In 1616 he was released from the Tower to lead a gold-hunting expedition to 
Guiana. The trip was his last chance to prove his worth to King James, but it 
was a spectacular disaster. Ralegh was struck down by a tropical fever and the 
officer he entrusted with command not only failed to find any gold, but 
attacked and burned a Spanish settlement, an action which had been strictly 
forbidden by the King. Ralegh's eldest son was killed in the fighting, and the 
officer later committed suicide. Returning home in disgrace, Ralegh was 
beheaded outside Westminster Hall. The poem 'Even Such is Time' is 
traditionally said to have been composed on the eve of his execution.