Samuel Daniel

Samuel Daniel (1562-1619), English poet, born near Taunton, Somersetshire, and educated at the University of Oxford. As master of the queen's revels at the court of James I, he wrote many masques. A meticulous writer who frequently revised and republished his works, Daniel achieved a purity of language and style. He believed devoutly in the monarchy, in the duty of a poet to moralize, and in the suitability of the English language for rhymed verse. Among his works are Delia (1592), a book of sonnets; the Defence of Rhyme (1602); a major prose history of England (1612-17); and his famous masque, Hymen's Triumph (1615).