William Congreve

Congreve was the most prominent writer of Restoration comedies. His friend Dryden went so far as to compare him to Shakespeare. Born in Yorkshire, England, he attended Trinity College in

False Though She Be

by William Congreve (1670–1729)

1<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
2<author>
3  <person id="2544" sex="1" role="author">
4    <name>
5      <firstname>William</firstname>
6      <lastname>Congreve</lastname>
7    </name>
8    <life-events>
9      <date ty="birth" circa="false" suffix="ad">1670</date>
10      <date ty="death" circa="false" suffix="ad">1729</date>
11      <text-value>(1670–1729)</text-value>
12    </life-events>
13    <biography>y</biography>
14  </person>
15</author>
16

False though she be to me and Love,

I'll ne'er pursue Revenge;

For still the Charmer I approve,

Tho' I deplore her change.

In hours of Bliss we oft have met,

They could not always last;

And though the present I regret,

I'm grateful for the past.

Click here for complete poem

Poets Book of Days

January 19

Edgar Allan Poe born, 1809

View Calendar of Days

Poetry Trivia

Question:

What 19th-century American poet coined the phrase "The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world"?

Answer

William Ross Wallace coined the phrase in a poem of the same name ("The Hand That Rocks the Cradle is the Hand That Rules the World.") Less well-known today, Wallace was a good friend of Edgar Allan Poe, and his poetry was popular in its time. Today he is largely remembered for the aforementioned phrase, if at all.

Previous Trivia Questions

Follow @cupgrangers