Thomas Watson (poet)
Thomas Watson (1555–1592) was an English poet and translator, and the pioneer of the English madrigal. His lyrics aside, he wrote largely in Latin, also being the first to translate Sophocles's Antigone from Greek. His incorporation of Italianate forms into English lyric verse influenced a generation of English writers, including Shakespeare, who was referred to in 1595 by William Covell as "Watson's heyre" (heir). He wrote both English and Latin compositions, and was particularly admired for the Latin. His unusual 18-line sonnets were influential, although the form was not generally taken up. Early life Thomas Watson was born in mid-1555, probably in the parish of St Olave, Hart Street, London, to a prosperous London couple, William Watson and Anne Lee. His father's death in November 1559 was followed by his mother's in 1561, and Watson and his older brother went to live with their maternal uncle in Oxfordshire. From 1567, Watson attended Winchester College in Westminster, and later attended Oxford University without gaining a degree. Sometime after his uncle's death in April 1572, Watson went to Europe, spending seven and a half years in Italy and France, according to the preface of his version of Antigone. While there he was