Full Description
Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1517?-1547) was known to his contemporaries as 'the most accomplished gentleman of his age', noble learned and elegant. A man of his time, at the centre of the dangerous power games of the court of Henry VIII, Surrey was beheaded for his role in a conspiracy over succession. His poetry reflects that world, in its idealistaion of the aristocratic virtues of chivalry and honour, its rich language and formal sophistication.
Immensely influential in literary history for his development of blank verse and the Petrarchian sonnet form in English, and as the first modern translator of Virgil, Surrey is revealed in this selection as a subtle and graceful poet, and a translator whose vigorous and faithful versions of the Aeneid continue to enrich the literary tradition.
Contents
Table of Contents
Introduction
Textual and bibliographical note
Virgil's Aeneid
Book II, lines 1-73
Book II, lines 295-462
Book II, lines 966-1068
Book IV, lines 1-108
Book IV, lines 359-518
Book IV, lines 780-884
From the Italian
The soote season, that bud and bloom forth brings
Set me where as the sun doth parch the green
Love that doth reign and live within my thought
In Cyprus springs, where as dame Venus dwelt
I never saw you, madam, lay apart
Alas, so all things do hold their peace
The golden gift that nature did thee give
The sun hath twice brought forth the tender green
Such wayward ways hath love that most part in discord
Poems
Give place, ye lovers, here before
When Windsor walls sustained my wearied arm
So cruel a prison how betide, alas
From Tuscan came my lady's worthy race
Though I regarded not
Wrapped in my careless cloak, as I walk to and fro
Girt in my guiltless gown, as I sit here and sew
Each beast can choose his fere according to his mind
Wyatt resteth here, that quick could never rest
Diverse thy death do diversely bemoan
The great Macedon that out of Persia chased
Th'Assyrians' king, in peace with foul desire
London, hast thou accused me
Laid in my quiet bed, in study as I were
Martial, the things for to attain
Since fortune's wrath envieth the wealth
When raging love with extreme pain
Good ladies, you that have your pleasure in exile
O happy dames, that may embrace
The fancy which that I have served long
Norfolk sprang thee, Lambeth holds thee dead
LAST POEMS
Ecclesiastes, Chapter Two
Ecclesiastes, Chapter Three
When reckless youth in quiet breast
Psalm Eighty Eight
The sudden storms that heave me to and fro
Psalm Seventy Three
Psalm Fifty Five
The storms are past, these clouds are overblown
Notes
