born March 3, 1606, Coleshill, Hertfordshire, Eng.
died Oct. 21, 1687, Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire
English poet.
As a member of Parliament during the political turmoil of the 1640s, he was arrested for his part in a plot to establish London as a stronghold of the king; by betraying his colleagues and by lavish bribes, he avoided death. He later wrote poetic tributes to both Charles II (1660). Rejecting the dense intellectual verse of Metaphysical poetry , he adopted generalizing statement, easy associative development, and urbane social comment. With his emphasis on definitive phrasing through inversion and balance, he prepared the way for the emergence of the heroic couplet. By the end of the 17th century the heroic couplet was the dominant form of English poetry. Waller's lyrics include the well-known "Go, lovely Rose!"