Sidney Godolphin (poet)
Sidney Godolphin was an English poet and courtier, born on January 15, 1610, in Cornwall. As a fervent supporter of King Charles I, he played a notable role in the political landscape of his time. Godolphin began his literary career early, with some poetry published when he was just thirteen years old. Educated at Exeter College, Oxford, he left without a degree and soon entered politics, becoming a member of the House of Commons at eighteen. His political aspirations were interrupted by the outbreak of the English Civil War, during which he fought for the Royalist cause until his death in battle on February 9, 1643. He is recognized for his love poetry and his unfinished translation of Virgil’s Aeneid, titled The Passion of Dido for Aeneas, which was completed posthumously by Edmund Waller. Despite having a brief life, Godolphin's work was appreciated by contemporaries like Edward Hyde and Thomas Hobbes, and he is remembered for his lyrical contributions to the Caroline poetry scene. His poetic legacy was later compiled in collections in the early twentieth century.
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Sidney Godolphin (poet)
Poet
- Born: c. January 12, 1610
- Birthplace: Near Helston, Cornwall, England
- Died: February 9, 1643
- Place of death: Chagford, Devon, England
Biography
Sidney Godolphin, an English courtier poet and fervent Royalist supporter of Charles I, was the second son (of three sons and one daughter) of Sir William Godolphin of Godolphin, near Helston in Cornwall, and Thomasine Sidney. He was baptized on January 15, 1610; in keeping with the customs of the day, this may place his birthdate three days earlier. Both his father and mother died before Godolphin’s fourth birthday.
Some small samples of Godolphin’s poetry were published in 1623, when he was only thirteen. In 1624 he entered Exeter College, Oxford University, but left in 1627 without a degree and was elected a member of the House of Commons at the age of eighteen. After spending some time in France, Godolphin accompanied Robert Sidney, Earl of Leicester, on his diplomatic embassy to Denmark in 1632. He was elected to the Short Parliament in March of 1640 and to the Long Parliament in October of the same year.
His political career was cut short when the first of the English civil wars began, for Godolphin immediately joined the Royalist forces under Sir Ralph Hopton and was killed in battle on February 9, 1643, at Chagford, Devon, England. He had never married, although his love poems may have been addressed to a cousin, Jane Berkeley.
The poems of Godolphin published during his lifetime were of a miscellaneous nature. He contributed to Jonsonus Virbius, the volume honoring Ben Jonson, whom Godolphin almost certainly knew. Godolphin was also regarded very highly by Edward Hyde, first Earl of Clarendon, and by Thomas Hobbes, although perhaps more for his exemplary character and virtues than for his writing.
Godolphin’s primary poetic achievement is probably The Passion of Dido for Aeneas, a translation from the fourth book of Virgil’s Aeneid. It seems to have been left unfinished at Godolphin’s death, but it was completed and published by Edmund Waller in 1658. The first attempt at collecting Godolphin’s work was made in the early twentieth century by George Saintsbury for the writing of his Minor Poets of the Caroline Period. According to Saintsbury, Godolphin should be remembered above all for his lyrical love poetry and would perhaps have been remembered to a much greater extent had he lived a longer life. The Poems of Sidney Godolphin, edited by William Dighton, was published in 1931.