“ Suckling’s reputation as a poet depends on his minor pieces. They have wit and fancy, and at times exquisite felicity of expression. “Easy, natural Suckling,” Millamant’s comment in Congreve’s Way of the World (Act iv., sc. i.) is a just tribute to their spontaneous quality. ”

“ As a dramatist Suckling is noteworthy as having applied to regular drama the accessories already used in the production of masques. His Aglaura (pr. 1638) was produced at his own expense with elaborate scenery. Even the lace on the actors' coats was of real gold and silver. The play, in spite of its felicity of diction, lacks dramatic interest, and the criticism of Richard Flecknoe (Short Discourse of the English Stage) , [3] that it seemed “full of flowers, but rather stuck in than growing there,” is not altogether unjustified. ”

“ In 1628 he left London to travel in France and Italy, returning, however, before the autumn of 1630, when he was knighted. In 1631 he volunteered for the force raised by the marquess of Hamilton to serve under Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. ”