Robert Wild

Robert Wild (1615/16-79) was a nonconformist minister and satirical poet from Huntingdonshire.  After the Restoration he was one of the many ejected ministers, but he continued to write satirical poetry, now aimed often at ministers who conformed and at actions by the government that harrassed and even imprisoned nonconformists. He had settled at Oundle. He expressed his political position in The Loyal Nonconformist (1666). He praised Calamy, composing On the Death of Mr Calamy (1667). He was one of the most popular satirists of the Restoration period. A selection of his poems was published in 1870, edited by John Hunt. Some of his works can also be found in G. de F. Lord and others, eds., Poems on Affairs of State: Augustan Satirical Verse, 1660–1714, 7 vols. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1963–75), vols. 1–2.