Renaissance Literature: An Anthology of Poetry and Prose (2nd Edition)

Description

This extensively revised anthology makes available the most important poetry and prose from the period between the accession of Henry VIII in 1509 and the English Revolution of 1640. Responding to the broadening of the canon in recent years, it balances the work of familiar Renaissance figures with important texts by women writers, supported by helpful introductions and annotations.

Key Features

• A new edition of this popular anthology, which includes many writings from women and from lesser-known writers, alongside established Renaissance figures
• Includes work by prominent writers of the period, such as such as Spenser, Shakespeare, and Donne, alongside important texts by women, including Queen Elizabeth I, Lady Mary Wroth, and Elizabeth Cary
• Brings together a variety of key works of the period, along with introductions and annotations to the texts, reflecting developments in critical and cultural theory and the latest Renaissance scholarship
• Extensively revised, corrected, and expanded to increase the level of annotation, and to make the volume more user-friendly
• Now includes a thematic table of contents and timeline, and a substantially expanded introduction to enable students to consider entries more easily in the social, cultural, and historical context of the period

New to this Edition

• Reflects developments in critical and cultural theory and in the latest Renaissance scholarship
• Now includes a thematic table of contents and timeline, and a substantially expanded introduction to enable readers to consider entries more easily in the social, cultural, and historical context of the period.
• Extensively revised, corrected, and expanded to increase the level of annotation, and to make the volume more user-friendly

Review

“Arranged chronologically, these selections of prose pieces, carols, ballads, songs, and hymns contain introductory notes, suggested readings, and footnotes. Also included are bibliographical references, indexes, and cross references to the Internet resources. Strongly recommended for all libraries.” –  (Library Journal (of the previous edition))

Table of Contents

1. List of Illustrations xvi
2. Alphabetical List of Authors xvii
3. Preface: Representing the Renaissance in the Twenty-First Century xviii
4. Acknowledgments xxiv
5. Timeline: The Tudor and Stuart Monarchs, 1509–1642 xxv
6. Introduction: Renaissance English History and Literature 1
7. John Skelton (1460?–1529) 17
8. Philip Sparrow [Part I] 18
9. Sir Thomas More (1477/8–1535) 35
10. [From] The History of King Richard the Third (ca. 1513–18) 37
11. [From] A Dialogue Concerning Heresies (1529) 41
12. Letter from Margaret Roper to Alice Alington, August 1534 49
13. Sir Thomas Elyot (ca. 1490–1546) 61
14. [From] The Book Named the Governor 62
15. [From] The First Book of The Castell of Health 75
16. William Tyndale (1494–1536) 81
17. [From] The Obedience of a Christian Man (1528) 82
18. [From] Tyndale’s Translation of the Pentateuch (1530) 98
19. [From] Tyndale’s Translation of the New Testament (1534) 100
20. Mark 4:1–34 [the Parable of the Sower and the Seed] 100
21. The Gospel of John, Chapter 1 101
22.  [Tyndale’s Translation of Luther’s] A Prologue to the Epistle of Paul to the Romans 103
23. Sir Thomas Wyatt (ca. 1503–1542) 119
24. [From] Certain Psalms (published 1549) 120
25. [Prologue] 120
26. Psalm 51. Miserere Mei Domine 122
27. Poems Attributed to Wyatt in the Egerton Manuscript and in Tottel’s Miscellany 125
28. [The Long Love] 125
29. [Whoso List to Hunt] 125
30. [The Pillar Perished] 125
31. [Farewell, Love] 126
32. [Sometime I Fled the Fire] 126
33. [Tagus, Farewell] 127
34. [Sighs Are My Food] 127
35. [Lucks, My Fair Falcon] 127
36. [In Court to Serve] 127
37. [They Flee from Me] 128
38. [Madam, Withouten Many Words] 128
39. [And Wilt Thou Leave Me Thus?] 129
40. [My Lute, Awake!] 129
41. [Mine Own John Poyntz] 130
42. Broadside Ballads (ca. 1535 onwards) 134
43. A Ballad of Luther, the Pope, a Cardinal, and a Husbandman (ca. 1535) 134
44. London’s Lottery (1612) 137
45. The Silver Age; or, The World Turned Backward (1621) 142
46. Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1517–1547) (os) 145
47. [Translations from the Aeneid] 146
48. [From] Book II [The Death of Creusa] 146
49. [From] Book IV [The Suicide of Dido] 148
50. Psalm 55 152
51. [When Ragyng Love] 153
52.  [The Soote Season] 154
53. [Set Me Wheras the Sonne] 154
54. [Love That Doth Raine] 155
55. [The Sonne Hath Twyse Brought Forthe] 155
56. [London, Hast Thow Accused Me] 156
57. [W. Resteth Here] 158
58. John Foxe (1517–1587) 160
59. [From] Acts and Monuments of These Latter and Perilous Days 161
60. Story and Martyrdom of Anne Askew 161
61. Richard Mulcaster (1530?–1611) 177
62. [From] Positions (1581) 178
63. [From] The First Part of the Elementarie (1582) 183
64. Queen Elizabeth I (1533–1603) 189
65. [Written on a Window Frame at Woodstock] 190
66. [’Twas Christ the Word] 190
67. [The Doubt of Future Foes] 190
68. On Monsieur’s Departure 191
69. [When I Was Fair and Young] 192
70. Verse Exchange Between Queen Elizabeth and Sir Walter Raleigh 192
71. [Raleigh to Elizabeth] 192
72. [Elizabeth to Raleigh] 193
73. [Song on the Armada Victory, December 1588] 194
74. Letter from Princess Elizabeth to Queen Mary, August 2, 1556 194
75. Queen Elizabeth’s Speech at the Closing of Parliament, March 29, 1585 195
76. George Gascoigne (ca. 1534–1577) 198
77. [From] A Hundreth Sundrie Flowres (1573) 199
78. Gascoigne’s Woodmanship 199
79. Gascoigne’s Goodnight 202
80. Certain Sermons or Homilies (1547, 1563) 204
81. A Fruitful Exhortation to the Reading and Knowledge of Holy Scripture (1547) 205
82. An Homily of the Misery of All Mankind, and of His Condemnation to Death Everlasting, by His Own Sin (1547) 210
83. An Homily of the State of Matrimony (1563) 215
84. The Book of Common Prayer (1549, 1552, and 1559) (os) 223
85. The Preface (1559) 224
86. Of Ceremonies, Why Some be Abolished, and Some retayned (1559) 226
87. [From] The Litany (1552) 228
88. [From] The order of the ministracion of the lordes supper or holy Communion (1552) 231
89. Edmund Spenser (1552–1599) (os) 233
90. [From] The Shepheardes Calender 235
91. Aprill 235
92. [From] Amoretti 242
93. Epithalamion 253
94. [From] The Faerie Queene 265
95. A Letter of the Authors expounding his whole intention . . . to Raleigh 265
96. Book II, cantos 1, 7, 9–10, 12 267
97. Two Cantos of Mutabilitie 355
98. [From] A View of the State of Ireland 384
99. Anonymous Carols 393
100. [Sing We With Mirth] 393
101. [By Reason of Two] 394
102. [Of All Creatures Women Be Best] 396
103. Richard Hakluyt (ca. 1552–1616) (os) 399
104. [From] The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques, and Discoveries of the English Nation 400
105. The third troublesome voyage made . . . by M. John Hawkins 400
106.  [From] A true discourse of the three Voyages of discoverie . . . 406
107. The woorthy enterprise of John Foxe . . . 411
108. The answere of her Maiestie to the aforesaid Letters of the Great Turke . . . 418
109. John Lyly (ca. 1553–1606) 421
110. [From] Euphues: The Anatomy of Wit 422
111. John Florio (1553?–1625) 477
112. [From] The Essayes of Michael Lord of Montaigne 478
113. To the courteous Reader 478
114. Of the Cannibals 480
115. Sir Walter Raleigh (ca. 1553–1618) 491
116. Like to a Hermit Poor 492
117. The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd 493
118. The Lie 493
119. A Farewell to False Love 494
120. [Even Such is Time] 495
121. The 21st (and last) Book of the Ocean to Cynthia 495
122. Sir Philip Sidney (1554–1586) 508
123. The Defense of Poesy 510
124. [From] Astrophil and Stella 542
125. Miscellaneous Poetry 573
126. Poems from The Countess of Pembroke’s Arcadia 573
127. [As I my little flock on Ister bank] 573
128. [Ye goat-herd gods] 577
129. Sonnets 579
130. [Thou blind man’s mark] 579
131. [Leave me, O love] 580
132. [From] The Psalms of David 580
133. Psalm 22 580
134. Psalm 23 582
135. Psalm 30 583
136. Thomas Hariot (1560–1621) and John White (1540?–1590) 585
137. [From] A briefe and true report of the new found Land of Virginia of the commodities and of the nature and manners of the natural inhabitants (1590) 586
138. To the Adventurers, Favourers, and Well-Willers of the Enterprise for the Inhabiting and Planting in Virginia 586
139. The third and last part . . . with a description of the nature and manners of the people of the country 588
140. Sir Francis Bacon (1561–1626) 597
141. [From] The Advancement of Learning (1605) 598
142. [From] Essays or Counsels, Civil and Moral (1625) 604
143. Of Truth 604
144. Of Simulation and Dissimulation 606
145. Of Innovations 608
146. Of Plantations 609
147. Of Nature in Men 611
148. Of Studies 612
149. Of Vicissitude of Things 613
150. New Atlantis (published 1627) 616
151. Robert Southwell (1561–1595) 640
152. The Burning Babe 640
153. Decease Release 641
154. Man’s Civil War 642
155. Look Home 643
156. Mary Sidney Herbert, Countess of Pembroke (1561–1621) (os) 644
157. To the Angell Spirit of the Most Excellent Sir Philip Sidney 645
158. [From] The Psalms of Sir Philip Sidney and the Countess of Pembroke 647
159. Psalm 44 Deus, Auribus 647
160. Psalm 59 Eripe Me De Inimicis 648
161. Psalm 138 Confitebor Tibi 650
162. Psalm 139 Domine, Probasti 650
163. A Mirror for Magistrates (1563, 1587 editions) (os) 652
164. [From] A Mirror for Magistrates 652
165. The Induction 652
166. Cardinal Wolsey 666
167. Christopher Marlowe (1564–1593) (os) 678
168. Hero and Leander 679
169. [From] All Ovid’s Elegies 698
170. Book One, Elegia 1 698
171. Book One, Elegia 5 699
172. Book Three, Elegia 7 700
173. Book Three, Elegia 11 701
174. The Passionate Shepherd to his Love 703
175. William Shakespeare (1564–1616) 704
176. The Rape of Lucrece 705
177. [From] Sonnets 752
178. Thomas Campion (1567–1620) (os) 781
179. [From] A Booke of Ayres (1601) 782
180. To the Reader 782
181. I–II 783
182. VI 783
183. X 784
184. XII 784
185. XV 784
186. XXI 785
187. [Female Persona Lyrics] 785
188. 2: IX 785
189. 2: XV 786
190. 4: XVIII 786
191. Thomas Nashe (1567–1601) 788
192. The Choice of Valentines 789
193. [From] Pierce Penniless His Supplication to the Devil (1592) 797
194. Æmilia Lanyer (1569–1645) (os) 814
195. Salve Deus Rex Judæorum 815
196. Ben Jonson (1572–1637) 861
197. [From] Epigrams (1616) 862
198. xi. On Something that Walks Somewhere 862
199. xiv. To William Camden 863
200. xxii. On My First Daughter 863
201. xxiii. To John Donne 863
202. xlv. On My First Son 864
203. lii. To Censorious Courtling 864
204. lxii. To Fine Lady Would-Be 864
205. lxxvi. On Lucy, Countess of Bedford 865
206. lxxxiii. To a Friend 865
207. lxxxix. To Edward Alleyn 865
208. ci. Inviting a Friend to Supper 866
209. cii. To William, Earl of Pembroke 867
210. cv. To Mary, Lady Wroth 867
211. cx. To Clement Edmonds, On His Caesar’s Commentaries Observed, and Translated 868
212. cxviii. On Gut 869
213. cxxxiv. On the Famous Voyage 869
214. [From] The Forest (1616) 874
215. i. Why I Write Not of Love 874
216. ii. To Penshurst 875
217. v. Song: To Celia 877
218. ix. Song: To Celia 878
219. xv. To Heaven 878
220. [From] Underwoods (1640) 879
221. 2. A Celebration of Charis in Ten Lyric Pieces 879
222. His Excuse for loving 879
223. Her Triumph 880
224. His discourse with Cupid 880
225. 9. My Picture Left in Scotland 882
226. 23. An Ode. To Himself 882
227. 29. A Fit of Rhyme against Rhyme 883
228. 47. An Epistle Answering to One that Asked to be Sealed of the Tribe of Ben 885
229. 70. To the Immortal Memory and Friendship of that Noble Pair, Sir Lucius Cary and Sir H. Morison 887
230. Miscellaneous Poems 890
231. To the Memory of My Beloved, the Author Mr. William Shakespeare: And What He Hath Left Us 890
232. John Donne (1572–1631) 893
233. [From] Songs and Sonnets 894
234. The Anniversary 894
235. The Apparition 895
236. The Bait 896
237. The Canonization 896
238. The Ecstasy 898
239. A Fever 900
240. The Flea 901
241. The Funeral 901
242. The Indifferent 902
243. A Nocturnal Upon St. Lucy’s Day, Being the Shortest Day 903
244. The Relic 904
245. Song 905
246. The Sun Rising 905
247. A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning 906
248. Elegies 907
249. Elegy 8. To His Mistress Going to Bed 907
250. Elegy 9. Change 909
251. The First Anniversary: An Anatomy of the World 910
252. Religious Poems 920
253. Holy Sonnets: 6–7, 10 920
254. Good Friday, 1613. Riding Westward 922
255. [From] Paradoxes, Problems, Essays, Characters (published 1652) 923
256. A Defence of Women’s Inconstancy 923
257. That Nature is our Worst Guide 924
258. Why Puritans make long Sermons? 925
259. [From] Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions (1624) 925
260. XVII. Nunc Lento Sonitu Dicunt, Morieris 925
261. John Marston (1576–1634) 928
262. [From] Metamorphosis of Pygmalion’s Image, and Certaine Satyres (1598) 928
263. Satire II 928
264. Martha Moulsworth (1577–?) (os) 933
265. November the 10th 1632, The Memorandum of Martha Moulsworth Widdowe 933
266. Elizabeth (Tanfield) Cary, Lady Falkland (1585–1639) 937
267. [From] The Tragedy of Mariam, the Fair Queen of Jewry 938
268. The Argument 938
269. Actus Primus. Scena Prima 939
270. Myles Smith (d. 1624) 941
271. The Translators to the Reader – the Preface to the Authorized Version (King James Bible) (1611) 942
272. Lady Mary (Sidney) Wroth (1586?–1651?) 960
273. [From] Pamphilia to Amphilanthus 961
274. [From] The Countess of Montgomery’s Urania 985
275. George Wither (1588–1667) 998
276. [From] A Collection of Emblemes, Ancient and Moderne 999
277. George Herbert (1593–1633) 1007
278. [From] The Temple 1008
279. The Altar 1008
280. The Agonie 1008
281. Sepulchre 1009
282. Easter 1009
283. Easter Wings 1011
284. Sinne 1011
285. Prayer (I) 1012
286. Love I 1012
287. Jordan (I) 1013
288. Employment (I) 1013
289. The H. Scriptures I 1014
290. Church Monuments 1014
291. The Windows 1015
292. The Quiddity 1016
293. Denial 1016
294. Vertue 1017
295. The Pearl. Matth. 13. 45 1017
296. Life 1019
297. Jordan (II) 1019
298. The British Church 1020
299. The Quip 1021
300. Paradise 1021
301. The Collar 1022
302. The Pulley 1023
303. The Sonne 1024
304. Discipline 1024
305. Death 1025
306. Rachel Speght (1597–?) (os) 1026
307. A Mouzell for Melastomus 1026
308. Gazetteer of Classical and Early Modern Names and Places 1040
309. Bibliography 1060
310. Index of Titles, Introductions, and Notes 1068

Editor Biography

John Hunter is Associate Professor of Comparative Humanities at Bucknell University. His previous publications include essays on Francis Bacon and on early modern drama.