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Like
other poets, he praised Cromwell in 1654 in _A Panegyric_, and welcomed
Charles II. in 1660, upon _His Majesty's Happy Return_. His greatest
benefaction to English poetry was in refining its language and harmonizing
its versification. He has all the conceits and strained wit of the
metaphysical school.
Sir William Davenant, 1605-1668: he was the son of a vintner, but
sometimes claimed to be the natural son of Shakspeare, who was intimate
with his father and mother. An ardent Loyalist, he was imprisoned at the
beginning of the civil war, but escaped to France. He is best known by his
heroic poem _Gondibert_, founded upon the reign of King Aribert of
Lombardy, in the seventh century. The French taste which he brought back
from his exile, is shown in his own dramas, and in his efforts to restore
the theatre at the Restoration. His best plays are the _Cruel Brother_ and
_The Law against Lovers_. He was knighted by Charles I., and succeeded Ben
Jonson as poet laureate. On his monument in Westminster Abbey are these
words: "O rare Sir William Davenant.


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