Reading Sixteenth-Century Poetry

Reading Sixteenth-Century Poetry combines close readings of individual poems with a critical consideration of the historical context in which they were written. Esteemed Early Modern critic Patrick Cheney emphasises the accessibility of poetry written during the sixteenth century by illuminating the dynamic and enduring nature of these works and their ability to influence readers' lives. A broad range of poetic genres are discussed, including lyric, narrative, and the dramatic, featuring a variety of poets, such as Skelton, Wyatt, Surrey, Isabella Whitney, Gascoigne, Philip Sidney, Spenser, Marlowe, Mary Sidney Herbert, Donne, and Shakespeare. Informative and original, this book has been carefully designed to enable readers to understand, enjoy, and be inspired by sixteenth-century poetry.

Patrick Cheney is Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Penn State University. He is the author of books on Shakespeare, Marlowe, and Spenser, most recently Shakespeare's Literary Authorship (2008) and Marlowe's Republican Authorship: Lucan, Liberty, and the Sublime (2009). He has also edited Cambridge Companions to Marlowe and Shakespeare's Poetry, co-edited Oxford Companions to early modern English poetry and drama, and co-edited an Oxford edition of Marlowe's poems. Currently, he serves as a General Editor of The Oxford Edition of the Collected Works of Edmund Spenser.

Introduction 1
The Pleasures and Uses of Sixteenth-Century Poetry Part I 1500-1558. Reading Early Tudor Poetry: Henrician, Edwardian, Marian 19 1 Voice 21
The Poetic Style of Character: Plain and Eloquent Speaking 2 Perception 43
The Crisis of the Reformation, or, What the Poet Sees: Self, Beloved, God 3 World 66
The Poet's Ecology of Place: Sky, Sea, Soil 4 Form 90
The Idea of a Poem: Elegy, Pastoral, Sonnet, Satire, Epic 5 Career 115
The Role of the Poet in Society: Skelton, Wyatt, and Surrey Part II 1558-1600. Reading Elizabethan Poetry 139 6 Voice 141
The Poetic Style of Character: From Plain Eloquence to the Metaphysical Sublime 7 Perception 163
What the Poet Sees, and the Advent of Modern Personage: Desire, Idolatry, Transport, Partnership 8 World 185
The Poet's Ecology of Place: Cosmos, Colony, Country 9 Form 208
Fictions of Poetic Kind: Pastoral, Sonnet, Epic, Minor Epic, Hymn 10 Career 231
The Role of the Poet in Society: Whitney, Spenser, and Marlowe Part III A Special Case 255 11 Shakespeare: Voice, Perception, World, Form, Career 257 Conclusion 280
Retrospective Poetry: Donne and the End of Sixteenth-Century Poetry Bibliography 288 Index 323