William Congreve
Overview
William Congreve was an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...

 and poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...

.
Congreve was born in Bardsey, West Yorkshire
Bardsey, West Yorkshire
Bardsey, West Yorkshire, England is a small village in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough, north east of Leeds city centre. The village is in the LS17 Leeds postcode district. It is part of the civil parish of Bardsey cum Rigton...

, England (near Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...

). His parents were William Congreve (1637–1708) and his wife, Mary (née Browning; 1636?–1715); a sister was buried in London in 1672. He spent his childhood in Ireland, where his father, a Cavalier
Cavalier
Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...

, had settled during the reign of Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...

. Congreve was educated at Trinity College
Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...

 in Dublin; there he met Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift was an Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer , poet and cleric who became Dean of St...

, who would be his friend for the remainder of his life.
Quotations

Careless she is with artful care,Affecting to seem unaffected.

"Amoret", line 7 (1710).

Invention flags, his brain goes muddy,And black despair succeeds brown study.

"An Impossible Thing", line 105 (1720).

Defer not till tomorrow to be wise,Tomorrow's sun to thee may never rise.

"Letter to Cobham", line 61. Compare: "Be wise to-day, 't is madness to defer", Edward Young, Night Thoughts, night i. line 390.

In my conscience I believe the baggage loves me, for she never speaks well of me herself, nor suffers any body else to rail at me.

Act I, scene iii.

Hannibal was a very pretty fellow in those days.

Act II, scene 2.

I find we are growing serious, and then we are in great danger of being dull.

Act II, scene vii.

Eternity was in that moment.

Act IV, scene vii .

If this be not love, it is madness, and then it is pardonable.

Act IV, scene x.

Men are apt to offend ('tis true) where they find most goodness to forgive.

Act IV, scene xi.

Thus grief still treads upon the heels of pleasure;Married in haste, we may repent at leisure.

Act V, scene viii. Compare: "Who wooed in haste, and means to wed at leisure", William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew, Act iii, scene 2.

 
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