The Poetical Works of Edmund Waller. Volume 1

A political figure more than a poet, Edmund Waller was a Royalist sympathizer and member of Parliament who managed to befriend all political factions with his charm and eloquence. He was involved in a plot to take over London's defenses for the exiled King, and was imprisoned. Finally informing on his accomplices, he was released, fined, and exiled. He did manage to return to England after the Restoration, and there wrote a poem for Charles II. When asked why it was not as good as his poems praising Oliver Cromwell, Waller answered, "Sir, we poets never succeed so well in writing truth as in fiction."