James Shirley (English dramatist and poet) Add a review

James Shirley (September 1596 – October 1666) was an English poet and playwright. In Charles Lamb's view, Shirley "claims a place among the worthies of this period, not so much for any transcendent genius in himself, as that he was the last of a great race, all of whom spoke nearly the same language and had a set of moral feelings and notions in common." His career of play writing extended from 1625 to the suppression of stage plays by the Parliament of England in 1642.