C.D. Warner, et al., comp.
The Library of the World’s Best Literature. An Anthology in Thirty Volumes. 1917.
George Wither (1588–1667)
Wither, George. An English soldier and poet; born at Brentworth, June 11, 1588; died in London, May 2, 1667. For a volume of metrical satires on the manners of the time, ‘Abuses Stript and Whipt’ (1613), he was cast into prison, where he wrote ‘The Shepherd’s Hunting’ (1615), and, perhaps, ‘Fidelia.’ Some of his volumes are: ‘The Motto’ (1618); ‘Philarete’ (1622); ‘Hymns and Songs of the Church’ (1623); and ‘Hallelujah’ (1641). His best-known song is ‘Shall I, Wasting in Despair.’ (See Critical and Biographical Introduction).