Who is Francis Quarles

Francis Quarles (about 8 May 1592 – 8 September 1644) was an English poet most notable for his emblem book aptly entitled Emblems.

Early life

Francis Quarles was born in Romford, Essex, and baptised there on 8 May 1592. His family had a long history of royal service. His great-grandfather, George Quarles, was Auditor to King Henry VIII, and his father, James Quarles, held places under Queen Elizabeth and James I, for which he was rewarded with an estate called Stewards in Romford. His mother, Joan Dalton, was the daughter and heiress of Eldred Dalton of Mores Place, Hadham. There were eight children in the family; the eldest, Sir Robert Quarles, was knighted by James I in 1608.

Francis Quarles was entered at Christ's College, Cambridge, in 1608, and su...
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Francis Quarles Poems

• On Change Of Weather
  And were it for thy profit, to obtain
  All sunshine? No vicissitude of rain?
  Think'st thou that thy laborious plough requires
  Not winter frosts as well as summer fires? ...
• Sonnets
  Mors Christi.
  
  And am I here, and my Redeemer gone ?
  Can he be dead, and is not my life done ? ...
• Why Dost Thou Shade Thy Lovely Face?
  1 Why dost thou shade thy lovely face? Oh, why
  2 Does that eclipsing hand so long deny
  3 The sunshine of thy soul-enliv'ning eye?
  ...
• The Loadstone
  Eternal God! O Thou that only art
  The sacred fountain of eternal light,
  And blessed loadstone of my better part,
  O Thou my heart's desire, my soul's delight! ...
• Sion's Sonnets
  Bridegroom.
  
  Now rests my love : till nuw her tender brest,
  Wanting her joy, could finde no peace, no rest; ...

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Francis Quarles Quotes

• Socrates called beauty a short-lived tyranny; Plato, a privilege of nature; Theophrastus, a silent cheat; Theocritus, a delightful prejudice; Carneades, a solitary kingdom; Aristotle, that it was better than all the letters of recommendation in the world; Homer, that it was a glorious gift of nature; and Ovid, that it was favor bestowed by the gods.
• Be wisely worldly, be not worldly wise.
• If thou be rich, strive to command thy money, lest it command thee.
• Let the fear of danger be a spur to prevent it he that fears not, gives advantage to the danger.
• If thou desire not to be poor, desire not to be too rich. He is rich, not that possesses much, but he that covets no more; and he is poor, not that enjoys little, but he that wants too much. The contented mind wants nothing which it hath not; the covetous mind wants, not only what it hath not, but likewise what it hath.

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Comments about Francis Quarles

• Mymodernmet: a young couple having their kitchen redone in york in the north of england discovered a 400-year-old mural beneath paneling. the friezes depict scenes from a 17th-century work entitled “emblem” by poet francis quarles.
• Ingrid77980505: one of the frescoes portrays a man in a cage being pulled by an angel;the other depicts a man in a white cart.the paintings contain scenes from poet francis quarles’s 1635 book emblems,& are believed to date between the year of its publication &around 1700
• Artsyanglican: "the paintings contain scenes from poet francis quarles’s 1635 book 'emblems', and are believed to date between the year of its publication and around 1700, when the style of artwork would have fallen out of fashion."
• Acoustictourist: 'the paintings are thought to be older than the buildings at either side of the wall and are based on scenes from the 1635 book emblems written by the poet francis quarles.'
• Jamesjpdrake: dr luke budworth, a medical researcher, has uncovered historic paintings during the renovation of his flat in mickelgate, york. it seems that the artwork is about 400 years old and features scenes from a 1635 book called emblems by poet francis quarles.

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