WITHER, GEORGE

born June 11, 1588, Bentworth, Hampshire, Eng. died May 2, 1667, London Wither also spelled Withers English poet and Puritan pamphleteer, best remembered for a few songs and hymns. Wither entered Magdalen College, Oxford, in 1604 but left in 1606 without a degree. In 1610 he settled in London and in 1615 began to study law. His Abuses Stript and Whipt (1613)with its satiric treatment of lust, avarice, and prideapparently gave offense, and he was imprisoned for some months. In prison he wrote The Shepherd's Hunting (1615), whose five eclogues are among his finest verse, looking back to Spenser in form and forward to Wordsworth in feeling. Fidelia (1617), an elegiac epistle lamenting a lover's inconstancy, contains in later editions the famous lyric Shall I, wasting in despair. For Wither's Motto. Nec Habeo, nec Careo, nec Curo (1621; I Don't Have, I Don't Want, I Don't Care), an assertion of his own virtue and a lively denunciation of others' vices, he was again imprisoned. The eulogy Faire-Virtue, The Mistresse of Phil'Arete and the collection of love and pastoral poems, Juvenilia, appeared in 1622. The former became his last contribution to pure literature after he became a convinced Puritan and devoted his writing to religious and political causes. The Hymnes and Songs of the Church (1623) is the first hymnbook in English not based entirely on the Psalms; it contains passages of rugged, simple prose. He was in London during the plague of 1625 and published Britain's Remembrancer (1628), a voluminous poem on the subject, interspersed with invective and prophecy. Between taking part in the expedition of Charles I against the Scottish Covenanters and serving on the Parliamentary side in the Civil War, Wither wrote many religious poems and hymns, which were published in 1641 in Haleluiah or, Britans Second Remembrancer. He was imprisoned from 1660 to 1663 for an unpublished poem criticizing the new House of Commons. Wither's verse has been thought monotonous, but its variety is surprising. In his songs and hymns he blended rustic language and regular rhythm to produce an impressive effect. Although his reputation faded and his name became a synonym for a hack Puritan pamphleteer, he was later restored to favour.