Like other poets, he praised Cromwell in 1654 in _A Panegyric_, and welcomed Charles II.

in 1660, upon _His Majesty's Happy Return_.

His greatest benefaction to English poetry was in refining its language and harmonizing its versification.

He has all the conceits and strained wit of the metaphysical school.
Sir William Davenant, 1605-1668: he was the son of a vintner, but sometimes claimed to be the natural son of Shakspeare, who was intimate with his father and mother.

An ardent Loyalist, he was imprisoned at the beginning of the civil war, but escaped to France.