CHALKHILL

chalkhill, john (fl. 1600?), english poet. two songs by him are included in izaak walton's _compleat angler_, and in 1683 appeared "thealma and clearchus. a pastoral history in smooth and easie verse. written long since by john chalkhill, esq., an acquaintant and friend of edmund spencer" (1683), with a preface written five years earlier by walton. another poem, "alcilia, philoparthens loving follie" (1595, reprinted in vol. x. of the _jahrbuch des deutschen shakespeare-vereins_), was at one time attributed to him. nothing further is known of the poet, but a person of his name occurs as one of the coroners for middlesex in the later years of queen elizabeth's reign. professor saintsbury, who included _thealma and clearchus_ in vol. ii. of his _minor poets of the caroline period_ (oxford, 1906), points out a marked resemblance between his work and that of william chamberlayne.