Значение слова DORSET в Литературной энциклопедии

1) CHARLES SACKVILLE, 6TH EARL of (1638-1706).-Poet, was one of the dissolute and witty courtiers of Charles II., and a friend of Sir C. Sedley (_q.v._), in whose orgies he participated. He was, however, a patron of literature, and a benefactor of Dryden in his later and less prosperous years. He wrote a few satires and songs, among the latter being the well-known, _To all you Ladies now on Land_. As might be expected, his writings are characterised by the prevailing indelicacy of the time. 2) DORSET, THOMAS SACKVILLE, 1ST EARL of, AND LORD BUCKHURST (1536-1608).-Poet and statesman, was _b._ at Buckhurst, Sussex, the only _s._ of Sir Richard S., and _ed._ at Oxf. and Camb. He studied law at the Inner Temple, and while there wrote, in conjunction with Thomas Norton, _Ferren and Porrex_ or _Gerboduc_ (1561-2), the first regular English tragedy. A little later he planned _The Mirror for Magistrates_, which was to have been a series of narratives of distinguished Englishmen, somewhat on the model of Boccaccio's _Falls of Princes_. Finding the plan too large, he handed it over to others-seven poets in all being engaged upon it-and himself contributed two poems only, one on _Buckingham_, the confederate, and afterwards the victim, of Richard III., and an _Induction_ or introduction, which constitute nearly the whole value of the work. In these poems S. becomes the connecting link between Chaucer and Spenser. They are distinguished by strong invention and imaginative power, and a stately and sombre grandeur of style. S. played a prominent part in the history of his time, and held many high offices, including those of Lord Steward and Lord Treasurer, the latter of which he held from 1599 till his death. It fell to him to announce to Mary Queen of Scots the sentence of death.