SOURCE: Sir John Suckling, Twayne Publishers, 1978, 171 p.

In the following excerpt, Squier discusses Suckling's late “essentially urbane, urban, and social” poetry.

I the Club

The last four years of Suckling's life include the writing of Aglaura, An Account of Religion by Reason, The Goblins, Brennoralt, and nine poems, including “The Wits,” “A Ballade Upon a Wedding,” and “Upon my Lord Brohalls Wedding.” These years also include the raising of his hundred horse for the First Bishops' War, appointment as a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber, election to Parliament, participation in the Second Bishops' War, involvement in the Army Plot, and his final exile. In short they were years of activity not only in literary matters but in the world of political and military affairs as well. Aglaura, An Account of Religion by Reason, and “The Wits” were all apparently written in 1637. They represent a wide range of interests...