Fairfax, EDWARD

Fairfax, EDWARD, the translator of Tasso's Jerusalem Delivered, was a son (perhaps a natural son) of Sir Thomas Fairfax of Denton, in Yorkshire. The year of his birth is not known, but is believed to have been about 1580. His life was spent quietly, in literary pursuits, at Fewston, near Otley, where he died in Jan. 1635. His translation of Jerusalemme Liberata (1600; new ed. 1890) was dedicated to Queen Elizabeth. For poetical beauty and freedom it has been the theme of universal praise. Dryden ranked Fairfax with Spenser as a master of English, and Waller said that he derived from him the harmony of his numbers. Hallam, much less enthusiastic, says that it lacks the grace of the original, though not wanting in spirit and vigour. Fairfax also wrote a Discourse of Witchcraft (1621), describing how two of his own daughters were bewitched. It was published by Monckton Milnes in the Miscellanies of the Philobiblon Society (1858-59).