Thomas Watson (died before 1621)

Thomas Watson was an English poet, noted primarily for his sonnet sequence Hecatompathia (1582), subtitled "The Passionate Century of Love." Details of his life are scant and rely heavily on inferences drawn from his published works and the dedications they contain.

It is believed he was born in London, although the exact year of his birth is unknown. He appears to have had some legal training, possibly at one of the Inns of Court, though evidence is circumstantial. He traveled to the Continent, likely to France, and was familiar with French and Italian literature, which heavily influenced his own writing.

Watson's Hecatompathia is significant for its intricate structure and elaborate conceits. Each of the hundred "passions" is presented in a 12-line stanza derived from the stanza form used by Italian poets, followed by a Latin prose note indicating the source of the conceit, often drawing from classical authors, continental poets, and mythological sources. This structure reveals Watson's erudition and his conscious engagement with contemporary literary trends. The poems themselves explore the complexities and contradictions of love in a highly stylized and artificial manner, reflecting the Petrarchan tradition and the contemporary vogue for elaborate literary displays.

Besides Hecatompathia, Watson also published Latin verse, including Absalomis Exilium (1592), a Latin tragedy on the story of Absalom, and contributed commendatory verses to other writers' works. He also wrote The Tears of Fancie or Love Disdained (published posthumously in 1593), a collection of sixty sonnets demonstrating a shift towards a more straightforward and less convoluted style than Hecatompathia.

The date of his death is not precisely known, but a license was granted for the publication of The Tears of Fancie in 1593, indicating that he was deceased by that time. It is therefore concluded that Thomas Watson died before 1621, specifically before 1593. Further biographical information remains limited, making a comprehensive account of his life difficult to construct. His literary reputation rests primarily on the influence of Hecatompathia as an example of early English sonnet sequences and its insights into the literary tastes and conventions of the late Elizabethan period.