William Webbe

William Webbe ( 1568-1591) was an English critic and translator. Little is known about him except that he attended Trinity College, Cambridge, and was a tutor for distinguished families. He wrote a Discourse of English Poetrie (1586), in which he discusses prosody and reviews English poetry up to his own day. He also translated Virgil's first two Eclogues. A letter by Webbe to Robert Wilmot ( 1568-1608) is prepended to the 1591 edition of Wilmot's play Tragedie of Tancred and Gismund. The letter, praising Wilmot for having decided to publish the tragedy, acts as a prefacing endorsement of the play.