"Let me tell you a story about a dog named Drunkard."
I discovered an interesting blog last night entitled, "Two Nerdy History Girls." Both are authors of historic fiction and I just adore their new post, "
Praising Ale With John Taylor the Water Poet." John Taylor wasn't your typical Elizabethan poet. Born in 1580, he flunked out of grammar school and became a boatmen. Boatmen were the 16th century's taxis and with London only having one bridge, they received plenty of business.
He was widely published in his day and even retired from ferrying people across the Thames to concentrate on his poetry. Before today I had no idea who he was, but he's quickly becoming one of my favorite poets! He wrote about everything from the burning of the Globe theater to the virtues of ale. The
University of Virginia has put a majority of his poems online, but I was unable to find the poem about the dog named "Drunkard" (does anyone have this poem?). A bit of a warning however, Taylor can be crude and may offend with his poems about drunks and whores. Then again, how is that any different than contemporary rap music?
