Poems upon Several Occasions

The playwright William Congreve completely abandoned the stage after only seven years of writing and five plays. His first play, The Old Bachelor, was performed in 1693, after he graduated from Trinity College, and was a resounding success. His next three plays enjoyed mixed success with both the literary establishment and the public. However, his last play, a comedy of manners called The Way of the World (although respected by critics both then and now as his most perfect play) was a consummate public failure. Congreve retired from writing to work in government.