Page:The Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets, Volume 3.djvu/5



is one of those that have burst out from an obscure original to great eminence. He was born July 21, 1664, according to some at Winburne in Dorsetshire, of I know not what parents; others say that he was the son of a Joiner of London: he was perhaps willing enough to leave his birth unsettled, in hope, like Don Quixote, that the historian of his actions might find him some illustrious alliance. Rh