Akademik

(1567-1620)

   English poet and composer. His devotion to ancient Roman prosody appears in his Observations in the Art of English Poesie (1602), which attacks the medieval use of rhyme and urges modern poets to follow classical practice. On this issue he engaged in a literary duel with a rival poet, Samuel Daniel, author of A Defence of Ryme (1603). His own poetry, however, only occasionally abandons the use of rhyme and accentual meter. He also wrote four books of Ayres, in which he created both lyrics and music. He was one of the leading composers of the masques that were fashionable in his time, and he published five books of airs for the lute.