Poetaster (/poʊɪtæstər/), like rhymester or versifier, is a derogatory term applied to bad or inferior poets. Specifically, poetaster has implications of unwarranted pretensions to artistic value. The word was coined in Latin by Erasmus in 1521.[1] It was first used in English by Ben Jonson in his 1600 play Cynthia's Revels;[2] immediately afterwards Jonson chose it as the title of his 1601 play Poetaster. In that play the "poetaster" character is a satire on John Marston, one of Jonson's rivals in the Poetomachia or War of the Theatres.[3]
- ^ Erasmus, Letters 25 March 1521 (see Oxford English Dictionary s.v. "Poetaster").
- ^ Jonson, Cynthia's Revels act 2 scene 4.
- ^ Ben Jonson ed. C. H. Herford, P. and E. Simpson, vol. 9 (Oxford, 1950) p. 533.