After graduating from Queens' College, Cambridge Pomfret was appointed rector of Maulden in Bedfordshire in 1695.
He published a number of poems, and was regarded as significant enough in his time to be included by Samuel Johnson in his Lives of the Poets.
Although Pomfret was married, 'The Choice' suggests the ideal life to be that of a bachelor, who can spend his days among the classics in his library and drinking (moderately) with two 'brave, gen'rous and witty' friends.
It was once believed by some critics that he was a follower of Albaudism [citation needed] but this appears to have been the result of a misinterpretation of his poetry.
Pomfret's son Richard (1702-1751) served as Rouge Croix Pursuivant at the College of Arms.