John Parke, American Revolutionary War soldier-poet, was known principally for his The Lyric Works of Horace, Translated into English Verse: to Which Are Added, A Number of Original Poems (1786), published under the pseudonym "A Native of America." This volume is distinguished by one of the earliest literary attempts to celebrate the birthday of George Washington, the allegorical Virginia: A Pastoral Drama, on the Birth-Day of an Illustrious Personage and the Return of Peace, February 11th, 1784.

Parke was born to Thomas and Ann Parke in Dover, Delaware. His father was a well-to-do hatmaker and frequent officeholder in Kent County, Delaware. John attended Newark Academy, Newark College (later the University of Delaware), and the College of Philadelphia (later the University of Pennsylvania), where he received his A.B. in 1771 and his A.M. in 1775. On the outbreak of hostilities between Great Britain and her American colonies, he abandoned the study...