Who were the silver poets?

The term "silver poets" is used for a group of sixteenth-century English poets known for their excellence in writing short, elegant lyrical poems. The term is intended as a parallel to the term "silver age," which referred to post-Augustan Latin poets. The term suggests elegance and technical skill rather than profundity. They were mainly members of the gentry or aristocracy and prominent at court rather than professional writers and their works were initially circulated in manuscript rather than published.

The silver poets of the sixteenth century were: 

• Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503 – 1542) 


• Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, (1516/1517 - 1547)


• Sir Walter Raleigh (ca.  1554 – 1618)


• Sir Philip Sidney  (1554 – 1586)


• Mary Herbert, Countess of Pembroke (née Sidney; 1561 – 1621), sister of Philip Sidney; sometimes referred to as Mary Sidney


• Michael Drayton (1563 – 1631)


• Sir John Davies (1569 – 1626)