John Quarles was an English poet.

Life

One of the eighteen children of Francis Quarles

Francis Quarles

Francis Quarles was an English poet most famous for his Emblem book aptly entitled Emblems.-Career:Francis was born in Romford, Essex, , and baptised there on 8 May 1592. He traced his ancestry to a family settled in England before the Norman Conquest with a long history in royal service...

, he is said to have been born in Essex

Essex

Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...

 in 1624. He was educated under the care of Archbishop James Ussher

James Ussher

James Ussher was Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland between 1625–56...

, and matriculated at Exeter College, Oxford

Exeter College, Oxford

Exeter College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England and the fourth oldest college of the University. The main entrance is on the east side of Turl Street...

, on 9 February 1643, but does not seem to have taken a degree.

He bore arms for the king in the garrison at Oxford, and was imprisoned and banished, apparently in consequence of his adherence to the royal cause. While in banishment in Flanders

Flanders

Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...

 he wrote the poems contained in his first published volume, Fons Lachrymarum. He was in England in 1648, but his "occasions beyond sea" compelled him to leave in the following year, and the date of his ultimate return is unknown.

Towards the end of his life he was reduced to great poverty, and lived by his pen. He remained in London during the plague

Great Plague of London

The Great Plague was a massive outbreak of disease in the Kingdom of England that killed an estimated 100,000 people, 20% of London's population. The disease is identified as bubonic plague, an infection by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, transmitted through a flea vector...

, and was carried off by it in 1665.

Works

The published works of Quarles are:

• Fons Lachrymarum, or a Fountain of Tears; from whence flow England's Complaint, Jeremiahs Lamentations paraphras'd, with Divine Meditations. And an Elegy upon that Son of Valor, Sir Charles Lucas, London, 1648; reprinted 1649, 1655, 1677.
• Regale Lectum Miseriæ, or a Kingly Bed of Miserie. In which is contained a Dreame; with an Elegy upon the Martyrdome of Charles, late King of England. … And another upon … Lord Capel. With a Curse against the Enemies of Peace, and the Authors Farewell to England, London, 1648; reprinted 1649, 1658, 1659, 1660, 1679.
• Gods Love and Mans Unworthiness, London, 1651; reprinted, with Divine Meditations, 1655.
• The Tyranny of the Dutch against the English. … And likewise the Sufferings and Losses of Abraham Woofe … and others in the Island of Banda, London, 1653 (prose); reprinted 1660.
• Divine Meditations upon several Subjects …, London, 1655; reprinted 1663, 1671, 1679.
• The Banishment of Tarquin, or the Reward of Lust, annexed to Shakespeare's Rape of Lucrece, London, 1655.
• An Elegie on … James Usher, L. Archbishop of Armagh, …, London, 1656.
• The History of the most vile Dimagoras …, London, 1658.
• A Continuation of the History [by his father] of Argalus and Parthenia, London, 1659.
• Rebellions Downfall, London, 1662, broadside.
• Londons Disease and Cure. Being a Soveraigne Receipt against the Plague, for Prevention sake, London, 1665, broadside.
• The Citizens Flight, with their Recall, to which is added Englands Tears and Englands Comforts, London, 1665.
• Self-Conflict, or the powerful Motions between the Flesh and Spirit, represented in the Person … of Joseph … , London, 1680; reprinted, with a slightly different title (Triumphant Chastity, or Joseph's Self-Conflict), 1684.

There is nothing in the book to show that this last item, a translation entirely in the manner of Quarles, is a posthumous publication, but the date of his death given above is confirmed by William Winstanley

William Winstanley

William Winstanley was an English poet and compiler of biographies.-Life:Born about 1628, William Winstanley was the second son of William Winstanley of Quendon, Essex, by his wife Elizabeth. Henry Winstanley was his nephew. William was sworn in as a freeman of Saffron Walden on 21 April 1649. He...

, who was apparently acquainted with at least one member of his family. Quarles also wrote a prose preface to John Hall

John Hall (poet)

John Hall was an English poet, essayist and pamphleteer of the Commonwealth period. After a short period of adulation at university, he became a writer in the Parliamentary cause and Hartlib Circle member.-Life:...

's Emblems, 1648, and contributed verses to Thomas Fuller

Thomas Fuller

Thomas Fuller was an English churchman and historian. He is now remembered for his writings, particularly his Worthies of England, published after his death...

's Abel Redevivus (1651).