William Austin

William Austin (fl. 1662), was an English writer of verse and classical scholar. Life He was the son of William Austin, the religious writer, and was a barrister of Gray's Inn, London. Poems on the wedding of Charles II On the marriage of Charles II with Catherine of Braganza, Austin wrote two poems to celebrate the union, which were "presented to their majesties" on their passage down the Thames from Hampton Court to Whitehall (23 Aug. 1662). The first was entitled A Joyous Welcome to the most Serene and most Illustrious Queen of Brides, Catherine the Royal Spouse and Consort of Charles II (London, 1662 folio), and the second Triumphus Hymenæus, London's solemn Jubilee for the most auspicious Nuptials of their great Sovereign, Charles the Second (London, 1662, folio). Both poems were elaborately printed, and are now highly prized as bibliographical rarities. They are full of bombastic eulogy, and are crowded with classical allusions, explained in voluminous and learned notes. In an address to the reader Austin not inaptly refers to his work as "this thatcht Tugurium of Poesie."