(About Thomas Nashe: one of the University Wits - studied at Cambridge - best known as a satirist and a writer of prose and pamphlets rather than plays .)
1. Summer's Last Will and Testament (1600):
The only solo play of Thomas Nashe - a pastoral Comedy - Will Summers in the play is the jester of Henry VIII, also appearing in Rowley's play When You See Me You Know Me(1605) - the plot deals with personification of four seasons - Summer, Winter, Autumn and Spring. The whole play is about how the aged man Summer, the King of the world, chooses his heir to inherit his riches. The following song in the play has become so popular, especially after becoming the conclusion of orchestra by English composer Constant Lambert:
"Adieu, farewell earth's bliss,
This world uncertain is.
Fond are life 's lustful joys.
Death proves them all but toys... "
Note: Nashe wrote a controversial satirical comedy The Isle of Dogs (1597) in collaboration with Ben Jonson who was eventually put in jail for sometime and the play is lost today.
It's also said that Nashe had a significant share in Marlowe's Dido, Queen of Carthage. Thus, Nashe's contribution to dramas is very little in comparison to other university wits such as Marlowe and Lyly.
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