RANDOLPH, THOMAS (1605-1635)

This article appears in Volume V22, Page 888 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

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RANDOLPH, THOMAS (1605-1635) , English poet and dramatist, was born near Daventry in

Northamptonshire

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

, and was baptized on the 15th of June 16o5. He was educated at Westminster and at Trinity College,

Cambridge

. He took his B.A. degree in 1628, proceeded M.A. in 1632 and became a major fellow of his college in the same year. He soon gave promise as a writer of comedy. Ben Jonson, not an easily satisfied critic, adopted him as one of his " sons." He addressed three poems to Jonson, one on the occasion of his formal " adoption," another on the failure of The New Inn, and the third an eclogue, describing his own studies at

Cambridge

. He lived with his father at Little Houghton in

Northamptonshire

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

for some time, and afterwards with William Stafford of Blatherwick, at whose

house

HOUSE
HOUSE (O. Eng. hiss, a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Dut. huis, Ger. Haus; in
Gothic
- GOTHIC
it is only found in gudhiss, a temple; it may be ultimately connected with the root of " hide," conceal)

he died before completing his thirtieth year. He was buried . in Blatherwick church on the 17th of March 1634-35, and his epitaph was written by Peter Hausted, the author of The Rival Friends.
Randolph's reputation as a wit is attested by the verses addressed to him by his contemporaries and by the stories attached to his name. His earliest printed

work

WORK

is Aristippus, Or, The Joviall Philosopher. Presented in a private skew, To which is added, The Conceited Pedlar (163o). It is a gay interlude burlesquing a lecture in philosophy, the whole piece being an argument to support the claims of sack against small beer. The Conceited Pedlar is an amusing

monologue

MONOLOGUE (from Gr. µovos, alone, and X yos, speech)

delivered by the pedlar, who defines himself as an " individuum vagum,
or the primum mobile of tradesmen, a walking-burse or movable exchange, a Socratical citizen of the vast universe, or a peripatetical journeyman, that, like another Atlas, carries his heavenly shop on's shoulders." He then proceeds to display his wares with a running satirical comment. The Jealous Lovers was presented by the students of Trinity College, Cambridge, before the king and queen in 1632. The Muse's Looking-Glass is hardly a drama. Roscius presents the extremes of virtue and vice in pairs, and last of all the " golden mediocrity " who announces herself as the mother of all the virtues. Amyntas, or The Impossible Dowry, a

pastoral

PASTORAL (from Lat. pastor, a shepherd)

printed in 1638, with a number of miscellaneous Latin and English poems, completes the

list

LIST (O.E.
lisle
- LISLE, ALICE (c. 1614-1685)
, a Teutonic word, cf. Dut. lust, Ger. Leiste, adapted in Ital. lista and Fr.
lisle
- LISLE, ALICE (c. 1614-1685)
)
FRIEDRICH
- FRIEDRICH, JOHANN (1836— )
_1789_1846_.html">LIST,
FRIEDRICH
- FRIEDRICH, JOHANN (1836— )
(1789-1846)

of Randolph's authenticated

work

WORK

. Hey for Honesty, down with Knavery, a comedy, is doubtfully assigned to him.
His works were edited by W. C. Hazlitt in 1875.

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