The New Student's Reference Work/Watson, Thomas

Watson, Thomas (1557-1592), was one of the English lyrical poets who inaugurated the great outburst of Elizabethan literature. He is known to have attended Oxford University and to have studied law in London. He was an elegant and celebrated Latinist. His Latin translation of the Antigone of Sophocles appeared in 1581. He also translated Tasso's Aminta into Latin pastoral form. His English works include the Tears of Fancy, a beautiful collection consisting of 60 sonnets, some of which appear to have been utilized by Shakespeare. Watson also wrote a book of 100 professed sonnets, which had 18 lines each instead of 14; this he called The Passionate Century of Love. His themes are largely from the French and Italian. His English verse is published in Arber's English Reprints.