The era between the accession of Henry VIII and the crisis of the English republic in 1659 formed one of the most fertile epochs in world literature. This anthology offers a broad selection of its poetry, and includes a wide range of works by the great poets of the age—notably Sir Philip Sidney, Edmund Sepnser, John Donne, William Shakespeare and John Milton. Poems by less well-known writers also feature prominently—among them significant female poets such as Lady Mary Wroth and Katherine Philips. Compelling and exhilarating, this landmark collection illuminates a time of astonishing innovation, imagination and diversity.
This selection by David Norbrook presents the poets as involved in dialogues within their own culture, which can still speak urgently to us today. Henry Woudhuysen, the editor, has provided highly detailed information about the widely differing forms in which many of these poems reached their early readers. This edition also includes a comprehensive introduction tot he poetry and poetics of the period.