An essential introduction to Tudor poetry and the spirit of the age it embodies. From devotional work to poems which dwell on the cult of Elizabeth and the role of the monarchy, these poems are loving, witty, sometimes theologically solemn - even apocalyptic. The poets recorded their loves, passions, beliefs and political opinions in verse which is, above all, startlingly contemporary in its concern with contingency, power politics and with man's ability, through poetry, to transcend persecution and imprisonment.
Including virtually the complete works of Sir Thomas Wyatt, Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, and Sir Walter Ralegh; large selections from Sir Philip Sidney, Mary Sidney and Sir John Davies; and Michael Drayton's mini-epic 'Endymion And Phoebe', this is an indispensable anthology.
The most comprehensive paperback edition available, with introduction, fully modernised texts, extensive notes, glossary and chronologies.