English Cavalier poet. He was born in Loughborough and educated at Cambridge, where he became a popular tutor of Rhetoric at St John's College. Although Cambridgeshire was staunchly Parliamentarian, Cleveland was a Royalist and opposed the election of Oliver Cromwell to the Long Parliament. By the end of the Civil War, he had been expelled from his post by the victorious side, and joined Charles I who, in 1645, appointed him Judge Advocate at Newark. This post lasted about a year, after which he became itinerant and living on the charity of fellow Royalists. During the Interregnum he found himself imprisoned at Yarmouth, but appealed to Cromwell who secured his release. Cleveland moved to London in 1655 and published his Poems the following year, considered 'decadent' by the likes of Dryden because of his unconventional poetic methods. A popular satirist, his best known poems were 'Mark Antony' and 'The Rebel Scot'. He died in the same year as his fellow Cavalier poet Richard Lovelace (qv), and Cromwell himself.
English Cavalier poet. He was born in Loughborough and educated at Cambridge, where he became a popular tutor of Rhetoric at St John's College. Although Cambridgeshire was staunchly Parliamentarian, Cleveland was a Royalist and opposed the election of Oliver Cromwell to the Long Parliament. By the end of the Civil War, he had been expelled from his post by the victorious side, and joined Charles I who, in 1645, appointed him Judge Advocate at Newark. This post lasted about a year, after which he became itinerant and living on the charity of fellow Royalists. During the Interregnum he found himself imprisoned at Yarmouth, but appealed to Cromwell who secured his release. Cleveland moved to London in 1655 and published his Poems the following year, considered 'decadent' by the likes of Dryden because of his unconventional poetic methods. A popular satirist, his best known poems were 'Mark Antony' and 'The Rebel Scot'. He died in the same year as his fellow Cavalier poet Richard Lovelace (qv), and Cromwell himself.
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