George Colman the Younger

George Colman the Younger (1762–1836) was an English dramatist and humorous poet, author of the comedies The Heir at Law and John Bull. He later served as Examiner of Plays, and his comic verse was collected in Broad Grins (1802) and My Night-Gown and Slippers (1797).

The poem here is the one printed under his name in Frederick Locker's Lyra Elegantiarum (London: E. Moxon, 1867), an anthology of vers de société and vers d'occasion by deceased authors; the texts follow that first edition.