Sidney's statement in his Apology for Poetry that quantitative verse on the Latin model is more suitable than the accentual verse of the English tradition 'lively to express divers passions, by the low and lofty sound of the well-weighed syllable' is only one of numerous assertions of the superiority of classical over native metres made by English scholars and poets during the Renaissance, stretching from Roger Ascham some twenty years earlier to Ben Jonson some fifty years later.

This handy but wide-ranging selection of Elizabethan poetry covers all the major poets and most of the important genres cultivated in that age. Sukanta Chaudhuri traces Elizabethan poetry from its beginnings, dividing it by type of verse--pastoral, Elizabethan sonnet, lyrics, the Epyllion, and didactic poetry. Poets represented include Sir Thomas Wyatt, Edmund Spencer, William Shakespeare, Sir Philip Sidney, Christopher Marlowe, and Michael Drayton, among others.

To Shakespeare, Spenser, Marlowe, and other Elizabethans, the minor epic was an important medium for poetic experimentation, but today, too often separated from the culture that bore it, it is not well understood. This author examines the form of the minor epic and its place in Elizabethan literary culture. Particularly, he explores the concept of metamorphosis as it shapes the minor epic at every level; in its subject matter, narrative technique, imagery, reworking of traditional materials, mixing of literary genres, and power to transform the poet. Combining close reading with literary theory, Professor Hulse approaches the minor epic as a mixed genre, exploring the idea of genre itself as well as the particular genres that contributed to the minor epics, including the sonnet, satire, Ovidian epic, pastoral, and primeval poetry. He also discusses wider issues, such as poetic inspiration, fictionality, and the nature of literary history; and takes up painting and historiography to show how they use the same narrative materials in different ways and to different ends. In the process he redefines Elizabethan literature as a fluid system, characterized by multiplicity of form and style and the poet's search for growth. Clark Hulse is Associate Professor of English at the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle. Originally published in 1982. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

A collection of some of the finest verse ever written in the English language--all released to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth I's death. The Elizabethan sonneteers created haunting and magnificent poetry, as beautifully crafted as they are intensely personal. From the virtuosity of Sidney's Astrophel and Stella to the quiet solemnity of Spenser's Amoretti, from the homoerotic muse of Barnfield to the feminine Petrarchism of Lady Mary Wroth, this extraordinary anthology reveals the astonishing possibilities of the sonnet. An introduction, notes, and chronologies of the sonnet and the poets' times provide additional illuminating context. A collection of some of the finest verse ever written in the English language--all released to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth I's death. The Elizabethan sonneteers created haunting and magnificent poetry, as beautifully crafted as they are intensely personal. From the virtuosity of Sidney's Astrophel and Stella to the quiet solemnity of Spenser's Amoretti, from the homoerotic muse of Barnfield to the feminine Petrarchism of Lady Mary Wroth, this extraordinary anthology reveals the astonishing possibilities of the sonnet. An introduction, notes, and chronologies of the sonnet and the poets' times provide additional illuminating context.

This 1979 study relates Shakespeare's work to the poetry, criticism and life of his age. Drawing upon a considerable body of evidence, it shows how Shakespeare was influenced by medieval thought, by classical sources, by the popular verse and the theatre of his day, and by the Elizabethan use of language.