John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester (1 April 1647 – 26 July 1680), was an English poet and
courtier of King
Charles II's
Restoration court. The Restoration reacted against the "spiritual authoritarianism" of the
Puritan era. Rochester was the embodiment of the new era, and he is as well known for his
rakish lifestyle as his poetry, although the two were often interlinked. In 1669 he committed
treason by boxing the ears of
Thomas Killigrew in sight of the monarch, and in 1673 he accidentally delivered an insulting diatribe to the King. He died at the age of 33 from
venereal disease.