The New Oxford Book of Sixteenth Century VerseIn the sixty years since we published the original Oxford Book of Sixteenth-Century Verse, a revolution in literary taste has taken place. We now know that Elizabethan literature contained much more than dainty pastorals and lovely sonnets, and that in fact many poetic traditions flourished within the sixteenth century. Now, Emrys Jones has brought together a definitive collection of verse which truly captures the diversity of this period. By no means have the classics of Elizabethan literature been replaced--there are ample selections from Spenser's Faerie Queen, from Shakespeare's sonnets and plays (including Ariel's song from The Tempest: "Full fathom five thy father lies..."), and from John Donne (who actually produced many poems in the sixteenth century, although he has previously been thought of only as a poet of the next century). But alongside these well-known works, Jones has placed a vast array of other significant poems--from the early part of the century (when poets such as John Skelton still harkened back to Chaucer and feudal times) to the great Elizabethan period (when it seems everybody, including the Queen, was writing admirable verse). Managing both to be inclusive and to maintain the high literary standards of the earlier collection, The New Oxford Book of Sixteenth-Century Verse (with its engaging and informative introduction, and its copious footnotes which gloss unfamiliar words) conveys in unparalleled style all the richness of what is arguably the greatest century of English literature. |
From inside the book
Results 1-3 of 82
Page 126
... never heard thy servants brawl More than thou hadst had none at all . Nor I can no way make avaunt That ever I heard ... never heard thy fire once spark , I never heard thy dog once bark . I never heard once in thy house So much as one ...
... never heard thy servants brawl More than thou hadst had none at all . Nor I can no way make avaunt That ever I heard ... never heard thy fire once spark , I never heard thy dog once bark . I never heard once in thy house So much as one ...
Page 368
... never fast . His desire is a dureless content And a trustless joy ; He is won with a world of despair And is lost ... Never sick , never old , never dead , From itself never turning . ( Pub . 1631 ( ? ) , 1678 ) 229 32 fast ] sure , firm ...
... never fast . His desire is a dureless content And a trustless joy ; He is won with a world of despair And is lost ... Never sick , never old , never dead , From itself never turning . ( Pub . 1631 ( ? ) , 1678 ) 229 32 fast ] sure , firm ...
Page 385
... never bred ; A more desire the heart - blood never nourished ; Her sweetness an affection never fed , Which more in any age hath ever flourished . The mind and virtue never have begotten A firmer love , since love on earth had power , A ...
... never bred ; A more desire the heart - blood never nourished ; Her sweetness an affection never fed , Which more in any age hath ever flourished . The mind and virtue never have begotten A firmer love , since love on earth had power , A ...
Contents
JOHN SKELTON c 14601529 | 1 |
To Mistress Margaret Hussey | 2 |
My darling dear my daisy flower | 3 |
Copyright | |
328 other sections not shown
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
Aeolus Alcyone Astrophil beauty behold birds breast busked Ceyx Clytemnestra Creusa Cupid curchie Cyclops dead dear death delight desire dost doth dread earth echo ring eyes face Faerie Queene fain fair fancy farewell fear fire flowers Fortune friar gentle goeth gold goodly grace Greensleeves grief hand haste hath hear heart heaven hight Hippodames honour king kiss lady leave light limbeck live look Lord loue love's Lycon merry mind Muses Musophilus never night nought nymphs pain Parrot plain plain-song pleasure poems poor praise pray queen quod quoth rest scorn seek shalt shame sighs sight sing sith sleep song sore sorrow soul sprite sweet tears tell thee thine thing thought unto wanton ween wight wind wise woods words wretched youth