ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, (born 1517, Hunsdon, Hertfordshire, Eng.?-died Jan. 13, 1547, London), poet who, with Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503–42), introduced into England the styles and metres of the Italian humanist poets and so laid the foundation of a great age of English poetry.

Detailed explanation-2: -Tudor poet Henry Howard, the Earl of Surrey, was born in Hunsdon, Hertfordshire, England. He was the son of the third Duke of Norfolk.

Detailed explanation-3: -He was given the title “Earl of Surrey” by courtesy in 1524 on the passing away of his grandfather, Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey and 2nd Duke of Norfolk, when his father was created 3rd Duke of Norfolk.

Detailed explanation-4: -Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1516/1517 – 19 January 1547), KG, was an English nobleman, politician and poet. He was one of the founders of English Renaissance poetry and was the last known person executed at the instance of King Henry VIII. He was a first cousin of the king’s wives Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard.

Detailed explanation-5: -The poem may allude to King Henry VIII, who had executed two Howard queens. (Surrey witnessed Anne Boleyn’s trial and Catherine Howard’s execution.) The degenerate monarch in Surrey’s sonnet, however, bears few resemblances to Henry VIII, who had often shown his regard for Norfolk’s heir and Richmond’s closest friend.