Ralegh, Sir Walter
Ralegh, Sir Walter (c.1554–1618),courtier, poet, and writer of prose. Born into a prominent family in Devon, Ralegh fought in France before attending Oxford and the Inns of Court. In 1580 he went to Ireland to serve under Lord Grey. Here he met Edmund Spenser, who represented him as the squire Timias in The Faerie Queene (1590), and who addressed a famous letter to him describing his plan for the poem. On returning from Ireland he became a favourite of Elizabeth's at court, and it is to this period that most of his poems are assigned. These include a sardonic reply to Christopher Marlowe's poem ‘The Passionate Shepherd to his Love’, published as Shakespeare's in The Passionate Pilgrim (1599). He is sometimes identified as the ‘rival poet’ in Shakespeare's Sonnets. In 1592 he was imprisoned for marrying one of Elizabeth's maids of honour without permission. After his release he led an expedition to Guiana, a land...
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