Sir William Davenant (1606-1668) had been an adherent of the Royalist party, and was living in Paris when he resolved to sail for Virginia, carrying with him his unfinished poem 'Gondibert ,' on which he had already published a ' Discourse ,' addressed to Thomas Hobbes. His vessel was taken by one of the Parliamentary ships, and 'Gondibert' was continued by its author in his prison at Cowes Castle in the Isle of Wight. At the Restoration he obtained his release, and proceeded to write for the stage various dramas, as the 'Siege of Rhodes,', Playhouse to Lette ,' etc. The metre of 'Gondibert' was not invented by Davenant. It had already been used by Sir John Davies (1570-1626) in his 'Nosce Teipsum,' Cf. P. 72,1. 27, and p. 108, 1. 24.