Renaissance Women Poets

Author(s): Aemilia Lanyer, Isabella Whitney, Mary Sidney
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd, United Kingdom
Imprint: Penguin Classics
ISBN-13: 9780140424096, 978-0140424096

Synopsis

Whitney's two volumes of verse miscellany, 'Sweet Nosegay' [tel] and 'The Copy of a Letter' [tel], were part of a literary trend of combining classical and Biblical references with popular and vernacular sources, and reflect the growing literary appetites of the urban population. As well a selection of her original poetry, this volume includes Sidney's version of the Psalms of David and Petrach's 'Triumph of Death'. Lanyer's poetry is devotional and is the most single-minded and explicit inits advocacy of female spirituality and virtue. Included here are 'Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum' and 'The Description of Cooke-ham'.