Josuah Sylvester
Josuah Sylvester (1563–1618) was an English poet and translator known for his significant contributions to literature during the reign of James I. Born in Kent, he faced the early loss of his parents and was raised by his uncle. Sylvester received a modest education, learning French, which would later aid him in his literary pursuits. His notable works include translations of the French poet Guillaume de Salluste Du Bartas, particularly "The Second Weeke" and "The Divine Weeks of the World's Birth," both of which maintained the ornate style of the original texts and were well-received in their time. Throughout his life, he garnered the patronage of Prince Henry, which helped him secure a position and a pension. Despite his earlier popularity, particularly as a moralistic poet, Sylvester's reputation diminished in the Restoration period, leading to his classification as a minor poet. His literary influence, however, is noted to have extended to later works, including John Milton's "Paradise Lost." Sylvester's life reflects a journey of perseverance and literary achievement within the cultural landscape of his time.
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Subject Terms
Josuah Sylvester
Writer
- Born: c. 1562
- Birthplace: Kent, England
- Died: September 28, 1618
Biography
Josuah Sylvester, the son of Robert Sylvester, a clothier, and his wife, the daughter of John Plumbe, was born in the Medway region of Kent. His parents died when he was a child, and he was raised by his uncle, William Plumbe. At the age of ten, Sylvester was sent to school at Adrian á Saravia at Southampton, where he spent three years and learned French. He was then sent to work in a business firm, and in 1591 he was in the service of the Merchant Adventurers’ Company. For a while, he lived at Lambourne, where he was the steward for the Essex family.
Despite his relatively limited formal education, a source of irritation for him, Sylvester was well read and knew French well. He was drawn to the work of Guillaume de Salluste Du Bartas (1544-1590) and translated his La Seconde Sepmaine (1584) as The Second Weeke: Or, Childhood of the World, by Guillaume de Salluste, Sieur Du Bartas in 1598 and followed that in 1604 with his translation of La Sepmaine: Ou, Creation du monde (1584) as The Divine Weeks of the World’s Birth, the most complete and most popular translations of Du Bartas’s works. They were dedicated to James I.
Sylvester’s translations captured the ornate style of the originals and also provided a close paraphrase of the works. In 1606, Prince Henry, who became Sylvester’s patron, made him a groom of his chamber and gave him a pension of twenty pounds per year. Seven years later, Sylvester again worked for the Merchant Adventurers, this time as secretary, and was stationed in Middelburg in the Low Countries, where he spent the last five years of his life. He and his wife, Mary, had two sons (Henry and Peter) and two daughters (Bonaventura and Ursula).
During his lifetime, Sylvester was a popular poet with a moralistic streak. Robert Southey called him the most popular poet of the reign of James I, and several critics have suggested that John Milton’s Paradise Lost (1667) was indebted to his translation of Du Bartas. With the coming of the less religious Restoration period, his popularity waned and he is consigned to the ranks of minor religious poets.