Spenser Spenser Spenser Spenser Pastoral Poetry of the English Renaissance An anthology E DI T E D B Y SU KA N TA C HAU DH U R I Spenser Pastoral Poetry of the English Renaissance The Manchester Spenser is a monograph and text series devoted to historical and textual approaches to Edmund Spenser – to his life, times, places, works and contemporaries. A growing body of work in Spenser and Renaissance studies, fresh with confidence and curiosity and based on solid historical research, is being written in response to a general sense that our ability to interpret texts is becoming limited without the excavation of further knowledge. So the importance of research in nearby disciplines is quickly being recognised, and interest renewed: history, archaeology, religious or theological history, book history, translation, lexicography, commentary and glossary – these require treatment for and by students of Spenser. The Manchester Spenser , to feed, foster and build on these refreshed attitudes, aims to publish reference tools, critical, historical, biographical and archaeological monographs on or related to Spenser, from several disciplines, and to publish editions of primary sources and classroom texts of a more wide-ranging scope. The Manchester Spenser consists of work with stamina, high standards of scholarship and research, adroit handling of evidence, rigour of argument, exposition and documentation. The series will encourage and assist research into, and develop the readership of, one of the richest and most complex writers of the early modern period. General Editor J.B. Lethbridge Associate General Editor Joshua Reid Editorial Board Helen Cooper, Thomas Herron, Carol V. Kaske, James C. Nohrnberg & Brian Vickers Also available Literary Ralegh and visual Ralegh Christopher M. Armitage (ed.) A Concordance to the Rhymes of The Faerie Queene—Richard Danson Brown & J. B. Lethbridge A Supplement of the Faery Queene: By Ralph Knevet Christopher Burlinson & Andrew Zurcher (eds) Monsters and the poetic imagination in Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene : ‘Most ugly shapes and horrible aspects’ Maik Goth Celebrating Mutabilitie: Essays on Edmund Spenser’s Mutabilitie Cantos Jane Grogan (ed.) Castles and Colonists: An archaeology of Elizabethan Ireland Eric Klingelhofer Shakespeare and Spenser: Attractive opposites J.B. Lethbridge (ed.) A Fig for Fortune: By Anthony Copley Susannah Monta Brietz Spenser and Virgil: The pastoral poems Syrithe Pugh Renaissance erotic romance: Philhellene Protestantism, Renaissance translation and English literary politics Victor Skretkowicz God’s only daughter: Spenser’s Una as the invisible Church —Kathryn Walls Manchester University Press Pastoral Poetry of the English Renaissance An anthology • edited by SUKANTA CHAUDHURI Introduction, critical apparatus etc. copyright © Sukanta Chaudhuri 2016 The right of Sukanta Chaudhuri to be identified as the editor of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Published by Manchester University Press Altrincham Street, Manchester M1 7JA, UK www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data applied for ISBN 9780719096822 hardback First published 2016 The publisher has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for any external or third-party internet websites referred to in this book, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. Typeset in Minion by Julian Lethbridge This electronic version has been made freely available under a Creative Commons (CC-BY-NC-ND) licence, thanks to the support of Knowledge Unlatched, which permits non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction provided the author(s) and Manchester University Press are fully cited and no modifications or adaptations are made. Details of the licence can be viewed at https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ Contents Acknowledgements page xii Practices and conventions xiii Abbreviations xvi Introduction xix 1. Idyll VIII Theocritus, tr. anon. 1 2. Idyll XI Theocritus, tr. anon. 3 3. The Pastoral Wooing Theocritus (?), tr. Edward Sherburne 5 4. Fragments Theocritus and Virgil, tr. ‘T.B.’ 6 5. Epitaph on Bion Moschus (?), tr. Thomas Stanley 7 6. Eclogue I Virgil, tr. William Webbe 10 7. Eclogue II Virgil, tr. Abraham Fraunce 12 8. Eclogue IV Virgil, tr. Abraham Fleming 14 9. Eclogue X Virgil, tr. Abraham Fleming 17 10. Georgic II. 458–542 Virgil, tr. Abraham Cowley 19 11. Georgic III. 295–9, 322–38, 404–7, 440 ff. Virgil, tr. Richard Robinson 22 12. Epode II Horace, tr. Sir Richard Fanshawe 23 13. On the Rustic Life Anonymous, tr. John Ashmore 25 14. The Consolation of Philosophy , Book II, Poem 5 Boethius, tr. Queen Elizabeth I 25 15. Eclogue IV. 1–75 Mantuan, tr. George Turberville 26 16. Eclogue VI. 54–105 Mantuan, tr. Alexander Barclay 30 17. Eclogue VII. 1–50 Mantuan, tr. Thomas Harvey 33 18. Robene and Makyne Robert Henryson 35 19. From Of Gentleness and Nobility John Rastell (?), John Heywood (?) 38 20. To His Little Field Marcantonio Flaminio, tr. John Ashmore 41 21. Kala’s Complaint Basilio Zanchi, tr. William Drummond of Hawthornden 42 22. ‘O eyes, that see not him’ Jorge de Montemayor, tr. Bartholomew Yong 42 23. ‘Passed contents’ Jorge de Montemayor, tr. Bartholomew Yong 44 24. ‘I pray thee keep my kine’ Alonso Perez, tr. Bartholomew Yong 45 25. Prologue to the Eclogues Alexander Barclay 46 26. Eclogue I.175–304 Alexander Barclay 49 27. Eclogue III.455–524 Alexander Barclay 53 28. Eclogue IV.37–66, 93–232 Alexander Barclay 54 29. ‘Oh! Shepherd, Oh! Shepherd’ Anonymous 58 Contents vi 30. ‘Hey, troly loly lo, maid, whither go you?’ Anonymous 59 31. Harpelus’ Complaint Anonymous 60 32. Eclogue II: Dametas Barnabe Googe 62 33. Golden Age Chorus Torquato Tasso, tr. Samuel Daniel 63 34. Golden Age Chorus Giovanni Battista Guarini, tr. Richard Fanshawe 65 35. ‘Along the verdant fields’ Jean Chassanion, tr. Thomas Beard 66 36. Song Jean Passerat, tr. William Drummond of Hawthornden 67 37. ‘There where the pleasant Eske’ Antonio Beffa, tr. William Drummond of Hawthornden 68 38. The Shepherd’s Calendar , ‘April’ Edmund Spenser 69 39. ‘O ye nymphs most fine’ William Webbe 73 40. The Shepherd’s Calendar , ‘June’ Edmund Spenser 75 41. The Shepherd’s Calendar , ‘July’ Edmund Spenser 78 42. From Colin Clout’s Come Home Again Edmund Spenser 83 43. Astrophel Edmund Spenser 89 44. The Faerie Queene VI.ix.5–36 Edmund Spenser 94 45. The Faerie Queene VI.x.5–30 Edmund Spenser 100 46. From The Lady of May Philip Sidney 105 47. ‘Come, shepherd’s weeds...’ Philip Sidney 106 48. ‘My sheep are thoughts’ Philip Sidney 106 49. ‘And are you there Old Pas?’ Philip Sidney 107 50. ‘O sweet woods’ Philip Sidney 110 51. ‘You goat-herd gods’ Philip Sidney 111 52. ‘Since that to death’ Philip Sidney 112 53. ‘Philisides, the shepherd good and true’ Philip Sidney (?) 115 54. Of the Quietness That Plain Country Bringeth Thomas Churchyard 116 55. From A Revelation of the True Minerva Thomas Blenerhasset 117 56. Argentile and Curan William Warner 119 57. Amyntas : The Second Lamentation Thomas Watson, tr. Abraham Fraunce 122 58. Amyntas : The Last Lamentation Thomas Watson, tr. Abraham Fraunce 124 59. An Old-Fashioned Love , Epistle 1 John Trussel (?) 126 60. The Argument of Amyntas John Finet (?) 129 61. ‘Arcadian Syrinx’ Abraham Fraunce 130 62. A Tale of Robin Hood Anonymous 131 63. From Daphnis and Chloe Angel Day 133 64. An Eclogue Gratulatory to Robert Earl of Essex George Peele 134 65. From Descensus Astraeae George Peele 138 66. Apollo and Daphne, from the Bisham Entertainment Anonymous 140 67. An Eclogue Between a Shepherd and a Herdman Arthur Gorges 142 68. The Country Lass Arthur Gorges 144 69. The Herdman’s Happy Life William Byrd 145 70. ‘Though Amarillis dance in green’ William Byrd 146 71. The Shepherd’s Ode Robert Greene 147 72. Doron’s Jig Robert Greene 149 73. Doron’s Eclogue Joined with Carmela’s Robert Greene 149 74. The Description of the Shepherd and his Wife Robert Greene 150 75. The Shepherd’s Wife’s Song Robert Greene 152 Contents vii 76. The Song of a Country Swain at the Return of Philador Robert Greene 153 77. Of the Vanity of Wanton Writings Robert Greene 155 78. Old Damon’s Pastoral Thomas Lodge 157 79. Coridon’s Song Thomas Lodge 158 80. A Pleasant Eclogue between Montanus and Coridon Thomas Lodge 159 81. Phillis , Sonnet 4 Thomas Lodge 162 82. Phillis , Sonnet 12 Thomas Lodge 162 83. To Reverend Colin Thomas Lodge 162 84. The Passionate Shepherd to his Love Christopher Marlowe 164 85. The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd Walter Ralegh (?) 165 86. Another of the Same Nature Anonymous 165 87. Psalm 23 tr. Sir John Davies 166 88. On Lazy and Sleeping Shepherds Andrew Willett 167 89. Coridon to his Phillis Edward Dyer (?) 167 90. ‘One night I did attend my sheep’ Barnabe Barnes 168 91. ‘Sing sing (Parthenophil)’ Barnabe Barnes 169 92. From Oenone and Paris Thomas Heywood 170 93. From Amphrisa the Forsaken Shepherdess Thomas Heywood 173 94. Mercury’s Song Thomas Heywood 174 95. From The Affectionate Shepherd , The Second Day Richard Barnfield 174 96. From ‘The Shepherd’s Content’ Richard Barnfield 176 97. Cynthia , Sonnet XV Richard Barnfield 179 98. Cynthia , Sonnet XVIII Richard Barnfield 179 99. From Moderatus Robert Parry 180 100. Damon’s Ditty Francis Sabie 181 101. ‘Shepherd, i’faith now say’ Robert Sidney 182 102. ‘Day which so bright didst shine’ Robert Sidney 183 103. Chloris , Sonnet 3 William Smith 185 104. Chloris , Sonnet 5 William Smith 185 105. Description of Arcadia, from The Shepherd’s Complaint John Dickenson 185 106. From The Shepherd’s Complaint John Dickenson 186 107. ‘In a field full fair of flowers’ Anonymous 188 108. The Unknown Shepherd’s Complaint Anonymous 189 109. To Thomas Strangways Thomas Bastard 190 110. Sonnet from Sundry Christian Passions Henry Lok 191 111. ‘The Lord he is my shepherd’ Nicholas Breton 191 112. ‘Upon a dainty hill’ Nicholas Breton 192 113. ‘In time of yore’ Nicholas Breton 193 114. ‘Fair in a morn’ Nicholas Breton 193 115. ‘Fair Phillis is the shepherds’ queen’ Nicholas Breton 194 116. A Pastoral of Phillis and Coridon Nicholas Breton 195 117. ‘In the merry month of May’ Nicholas Breton 197 118. ‘The fields are green’ Nicholas Breton 197 119. A Shepherd’s Dream Nicholas Breton (?) 198 120. Coridon’s Supplication to Phillis Nicholas Breton 199 121. The Second Shepherd’s Song Nicholas Breton 199 122. A Farewell to the World Nicholas Breton 201 Contents viii 123. ‘Peace, Shepherd’ Anonymous 204 124. ‘When I was a little swain’ Nicholas Breton (?) 206 125. A Pastoral Riddle Anonymous 207 126. Upon a Kiss Given John Lilliat 207 127. The Shepherdess Her Reply John Lilliat 208 128. An Excellent Pastoral Ditty John Ramsey (?) 209 129. On the Reported Death of the Earl of Essex Anonymous 210 130. Votum Primum John Mansell (?) 213 131. The Page’s Pleasant Rustick Anonymous 214 132. Theorello. A Shepherd’s Idyllion Edmund Bolton (?) 216 133. The Shepherds’ Song for Christmas Edmund Bolton (?) 218 134. Phillida’s Love-Call to Her Coridon, and His Replying Anonymous 219 135. Damætas’ Jig in Praise of His Love John Wootton 221 136. Wodenfride’s Song in Praise of Amargana ‘W.H.’ 222 137. A Poor Shepherd’s Introduction Robert Chester 223 138. Eclogue upon the Death of Sir Philip Sidney ‘A.W.’ 223 139. A Dialogue between Two Shepherds in Praise of Astraea Mary Herbert, Countess of Pembroke 228 140. Fiction How Cupid Made a Nymph Wound Herself with His Arrows Anonymous 229 141. ‘A shepherd poor’ Francis Davison 230 142. From The Ocean to Cynthia Walter Ralegh 236 143. Epitaph on Robert Cecil Walter Ralegh 236 144. ‘Feed on my flocks’ Henry Chettle 237 145. A Pastoral Song between Phillis and Amarillis Henry Chettle (?) 237 146. The Shepherds’ Spring Song Henry Chettle 238 147. The Good Shepherd’s Sorrow Anonymous 241 148. The Shepherd’s Lamentation Anonymous 243 149. Fair Dulcina Complaineth Anonymous 246 150. A Pleasant Country Maying Song Anonymous 248 151. The Country Lass Martin Parker (?) 250 152. The Obsequy of Fair Phillida Anonymous 254 153. The Shepherd and the King Anonymous 255 154. The Lover’s Delight Anonymous 260 155. Phillida Flouts Me Anonymous 263 156. Robin Hood and the Shepherd Anonymous 266 157. The Arcadian Lovers Anonymous 269 158. The Beautiful Shepherdess of Arcadia Anonymous 270 159. ‘As at noon Dulcina rested’ Anonymous 273 160. Idea the Shepherd’s Garland , Eclogue VII Michael Drayton 276 161. Idea the Shepherd’s Garland , Eclogue VIII Michael Drayton 281 162. Eclogue IX, 1606 Michael Drayton 291 163. From Poly-Olbion Michael Drayton 296 164. The Shepherd’s Sirena Michael Drayton 304 165. The Description of Elizium Michael Drayton 311 166. The Muses’ Elizium , Nymphal VI Michael Drayton 313 167. The Muses’ Elizium , Nymphal X Michael Drayton 318 Contents ix 168. From Pastoral Elegy III William Basse 321 169. Laurinella, of True and Chaste Love William Basse 323 170. Phillis Giovan Battista (Giambattista) Marino, tr. William Drummond of Hawthornden 327 171. A Shepherd Inviting a Nymph to His Cottage Girolamo Preti, tr. Edward Sherburne 327 172. ‘Jolly shepherd and upon a hill as he sat’ Thomas Ravenscroft 328 173. ‘Come follow me merrily’ Thomas Ravenscroft 328 174. To His Loving Friend Master John Fletcher George Chapman 328 175. Hymn to Pan, from The Faithful Shepherdess John Fletcher 329 176. A Sonnet Honoré d’Urfé, tr. John Pyper(?) 330 177. ‘Close by a river clear’ Honoré d’Urfé, tr. John Davies(?) 330 178. From Christ’s Victory and Triumph Giles Fletcher 331 179. The Complaint of the Shepherd Harpalus David Murray 333 180. ‘A jolly shepherd that sat on Sion Hill’ Anonymous 334 181. ‘Alas, Our Shepherd’ William Alabaster 338 182. The Shepherd’s Speech from Himatia-Poleos Anthony Munday 338 183. To His Much Loved Friend Master W Browne Christopher Brooke 339 184. An Eclogue between Willy and Wernocke John Davies of Hereford 341 185. The Shepherd’s Hunting , Eclogue V George Wither 346 186. From Fair-Virtue George Wither 351 187. Hymn for a Sheep-Shearing George Wither 356 188. Hymn for a Shepherd George Wither 357 189. From Britannia’s Pastorals , Book I William Browne 358 190. From Britannia’s Pastorals , Book II William Browne 371 191. To Penshurst Ben Jonson 376 192. To Sir Robert Wroth Ben Jonson 378 193. Hymns from Pan’s Anniversary Ben Jonson 380 194. A New Year’s Gift Sung to King Charles, 1635 Ben Jonson 382 195. From The Careless Shepherdess Thomas Goffe 384 196. Damon and Moeris William Drummond of Hawthornden 385 197. Erycine at the Departure of Alexis William Drummond of Hawthornden 389 198. Alexis to Damon William Alexander 390 199. A Pastoral Elegy on the Death of Sir Anthony Alexander William Drummond of Hawthornden 390 200. Fragment of a Greater Work William Drummond of Hawthornden 393 201. From ‘Damon: or a Pastoral Elegy’ George Lauder 394 202. Hermes and Lycaon Edward Fairfax 395 203. The Solitude Antoine Girard Saint-Amant, tr. Thomas, Third Baron Fairfax 400 204. Amor Constans Christopher Morley 403 205. The Shepherds’ Dialogue of Love Anonymous 407 206. Technis’ Tale Richard Brathwait 408 207. The Shepherds’ Holiday Richard Brathwait 413 208. ‘Tell me love what thou canst do?’ Richard Brathwait 415 209. Song: ‘Love as well can make abiding’ Mary Wroth 416 210. ‘A shepherd who no care did take’ Mary Wroth 417 Contents x 211. ‘You pleasant flowery mead’ Mary Wroth 423 212. Of Jack and Tom King James I 424 213. From Taylor’s Pastoral John Taylor 425 214. ‘Woodmen Shepherds’ James Shirley 431 215. An Eclogue between a Carter and a Shepherd Nicholas Oldisworth 431 216. A Sonnet William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke 433 217. An Ode upon Occasion of His Majesty’s Proclamation Richard Fanshawe 434 218. Songs from Fuimus Troes Jasper Fisher 437 219. Piscatory Eclogue VII Phineas Fletcher 438 220. To My Beloved Thenot in Answer of His Verse Phineas Fletcher 445 221. From The Purple Island Phineas Fletcher 446 222. Christmas, Part II George Herbert 451 223. To My Noblest Friend, I. C. Esquire William Habington 452 224. That a Pleasant Poverty Is To Be Preferred Before Discontented Riches Abraham Cowley 453 225. The Country Life Abraham Cowley, tr. by himself 454 226. Eclogue to Master Jonson Thomas Randolph 455 227. An Eclogue Occasioned by Two Doctors Disputing upon Predestination Thomas Randolph 459 228. An Eclogue on the Palilia on Cotswold Hills Thomas Randolph 461 229. A Dialogue betwixt a Nymph and a Shepherd Thomas Randolph 464 230. Lycidas John Milton 465 231. Ode IV.21: From the Song of Songs Casimir Sarbiewski, tr. George Hills 469 232. The Praise of a Religious Recreation Casimir Sarbiewski, tr. George Hills 471 233. The Spring Thomas Carew 473 234. To Saxham Thomas Carew 474 235. On Westwell Downs William Strode 475 236. Thenot’s Abode Anonymous 476 237. All Hail to Hatfield Anonymous 477 238. Tom and Will Sidney Godolphin (?) 484 239. The Shepherd’s Oracle Francis Quarles 486 240. Scenes from a Pastoral Play Jane Cavendish and Elizabeth Brackley 493 241. A Pastoral upon the Birth of Prince Charles Robert Herrick 495 242. A Pastoral Sung to the King Robert Herrick 497 243. To His Muse Robert Herrick 498 244. The Hock-Cart Robert Herrick 499 245. A New-Year’s Gift Sent to Sir Simeon Steward Robert Herrick 500 246. A Dialogue Weeping the Loss of Pan Mildmay Fane 501 247. My Happy Life, to a Friend Mildmay Fane 502 248. In Praise of a Country Life Mildmay Fane 506 249. From Psyche Joseph Beaumont 506 250. A Pastoral Dialogue between Coridon and Thyrsis Anonymous 509 251. The Shepherds Henry Vaughan 511 252. Daphnis: An Elegiac Eclogue Henry Vaughan 513 253. From The Shepherd’s Holiday William Denny 516 254. ‘Jack! Nay prithee come away’ Patrick Cary 518 255. The Pleasure of Retirement Edward Benlowes 519 Contents xi 256. A Description of Shepherds and Shepherdesses Margaret Cavendish 521 257. A Shepherd’s Employment Is Too Mean an Allegory for Noble Ladies Margaret Cavendish 522 258. Similizing the Sea to Meadows and Pastures Margaret Cavendish 523 259. Jack the Plough-Lad’s Lamentation Thomas Robins (?) 523 260. A Pastoral Dialogue Thomas Weaver 525 261. The Isle of Man Thomas Weaver 526 262. Upon Cloris Her Visit after Marriage William Hammond 528 263. A Pastoral Song: With the Answer Anonymous 529 264. A Pastoral Song Anonymous 530 265. A Song Anonymous 531 266. The Land-Schap between Two Hills Eldred Revett 532 267. The Milkmaids Anonymous 533 268. Coridon and Strephon Aston Cokayn 534 269. The Old Ballet of Shepherd Tom Anonymous 536 270. The Jolly Shepherd Anonymous 537 271. To My Ingenious Friend Master Brome Izaak Walton 538 272. Pastoral on the King’s Death Alexander Brome 539 273. A Dialogue betwixt Lucasia and Rosania Katherine Philips 540 274. A Country Life Katherine Philips 541 275. Eclogue Charles Cotton 542 276. An Invitation to Phillis Charles Cotton 544 277. On the Execrable Murder of Charles I Anthony Spinedge 546 Index of authors 547 Index of titles and first lines 550 Acknowledgements A book like this incurs many debts both to persons and to institutions. Many friends and colleagues have lent valuable support and advice. They include Glenn Black, Michael Brennan, Swapan Chakravorty, Aparna Chaudhuri, Nandini Das, Paul Gehl, Warwick Gould, John Gouws, Philip Hardie, Nicholas Mann, Subha Mukherji, Asim Mukhopadhyay, David Norbrook, Rita Roy, Peter Shillingsburg, James Simpson of Edinburgh, James Simpson of Harvard, Jan Usher, Helen Vincent and Henry Woud- huysen. Special thanks to Amlan Das Gupta, whom I have troubled more times and over more matters than I can recall. Debapriya Basu rendered invaluable help with preparing the hugely complicated copy for publication, as did Hrileena Ghosh for a shorter period. My thanks to the staff of the following centres for their support, sometimes beyond the call of duty: the British Library; the Senate House Library, University of London; the Warburg Institute; the Bodleian Library; the libraries of Christ Church and Corpus Christi Colleges, Oxford; the Cambridge University Library; the Pepys Library, Magdalene College, Cambridge; the National Library of Scotland; Edinburgh Univer- sity Library; Loyola University Library, Chicago; the Newberry Library, Chicago; the Houghton Library, Harvard; the Indian National Library; and Jadavpur University Library. For prompt supply of material, I thank the Folger Shakespeare Library; the Rosenbach Library, Philadelphia; the Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas in Austin; the Brotherton Library, University of Leeds; and Hatfield House. I am grateful to the School of Advanced Study, University of London, for a professo- rial fellowship to carry out the first round of research for this book; to Loyola Univer- sity, Chicago, for a visiting professorship that I later used for this purpose among others; and to Jadavpur University for its liberal leave policy. Warmest thanks to Eliza- beth and William Radice, Subha Mukherji, Susan Powell, Francesca Orsini and Peter Kornicki, Kate and Bryan Ward Perkins, and Pablo Mukherjee and Eliza Hilton for their generous hospitality, which alone made many library visits possible. Brian Vickers and Helen Cooper have been the most discerning and considerate of general editors, and my debt to Julian Lethbridge grows by the day. Let that to my wife and colleague Supriya remain unspoken. Sukanta Chaudhuri Jadavpur University March 2016 Pastoral Poetry of the English Renaissance contains the text of the poems with brief headnotes giving date, source and other basic information, and footnotes with full annotation. It includes a brief introduction, an index of authors and an index of titles and first lines. The Companion to Pastoral Poetry of the English Renaissance (MUP 2016) contains a full introduction to English Renaissance pastoral, textual notes, and all other apparatus. Choice of texts and editorial policy Virtually all texts have been freshly edited from original manuscripts and early printed editions, accessed in the original or in electronic or photographic copies. In two cases (nos. 248 and 254), later printed editions have been followed as I could not consult the manuscripts. As a rule, the earliest printed edition has been taken as control text. A different printed edition has sometimes been preferred: most often with poems published earlier and reprinted in England’s Helicon , as the latter is most likely to be attuned to the pastoral conventions of the time. In all other cases, the choice is explained in the textual notes in the Companion. The same applies where a manuscript text has been used in preference to an early printed version. The chief exceptions to this practice are the poems by Sidney and Spenser. These major poets have been intensively edited by specialist scholars: a new fragmentary exercise seemed both rash and superfluous. Here the first printed version has been taken as the control text, and checked against standard modern editions. Where the only version is in manuscript, it has of course been taken as control text. If there is more than one manuscript, the one with the clearest or fullest text has been followed: sometimes, where the choice seemed indifferent, the most readily accessed. Any special factor is explained in the textual notes. Ballads pose a special problem, as items known to be in circulation in the late sixteenth or early seventeenth century only survive in versions from the late seven- teenth century. In such cases, the earliest version (insofar as it can be determined) has been followed; variants in other versions have not been recorded except for some special point of interest. For the orally circulated song ‘Oh shepherd, oh shepherd’ (no. 29), with no early manuscript or print version, a modern-spelling twentieth-century transcript has been followed. Practices and conventions Practices and conventions xiv Record of variants Except in the case of ballads (see above), all substantive variants have been recorded in the textual notes contained in the Companion . Spelling and punctuation variants have been ignored except for a few cases of special interest. Where a variant reading materi- ally affects the interpretation, it has also been noted in the commentary in this volume. The collation usually takes into account alternative printed versions of proximate date. The span of dates varies with the work: usually not later than the mid-seventeenth century, but in a few special cases until the late seventeenth or early eighteenth century. It was sometimes not feasible to collate all manuscript versions, especially of popular pieces like ‘In the merry month of May’ or ‘Cloris, since thou art fled away’. The following policy has been followed: • Where the best or only witness is a manuscript, it has been consulted irrespective of location. • In other cases, all manuscript versions in the British Library and Bodleian Library have been collated for substantive variants. Manuscripts at other locations have been collated in cases of special interest. Even minor variants in substantive readings (e.g., of articles, conjunctions and prepo- sitions) have been noted: less for their interpretative value (often nil) than for the trajectories of text circulation that they chart, offering fascinating insights on uncon- scious changes in widely circulated texts. The order of the poems The poems have been placed in rough chronological order, with the following provisos: • All poems by the same author are grouped together at the date of publication of the earliest item. • When (as so often) exact dates are not available, approximate dates, or a median date of the author’s active life, are used. • Anonymous manuscript poems are placed by date of manuscript (often very approximate). • Translations are placed by the date of the original, subject to the above principles. With classical authors, such dates are usually very broad or conjectural. • In a few cases, the chronological order has been modified to keep related poems together. Thus Tasso’s and Guarini’s Golden Age choruses, of 1573 and 1590 respectively, are placed together, as are all poems about the shepherd Amyntas. Webbe’s quantitative version of Spenser’s ‘April’ follows that poem, before other eclogues from The Shepheardes Calender . Ralegh’s ‘Nymph’s Reply’ (with another ‘reply’ from England’s Helicon , 1600) follows Marlowe’s ‘The Passionate Shep- herd to His Love’, separately from Ralegh’s other poems. Henry Chettle has been placed a little later than warranted so that his poem on the succession of James I does not precede poems on Elizabeth as a living monarch. • Poems relating to Queen Elizabeth and Philip Sidney from A Poetical Rhapsody (1602) are placed at that date, though they were probably written much earlier. The poems on the death of Charles I range too widely in date to be grouped together: one was written well after the Restoration, by a man born three years after Charles’s execution. Practices and conventions xv • The special problem with ballads is noted above. With a few exceptions deter- mined by subject or by known date of composition, they have been placed at a point roughly between the reigns of Elizabeth and James. Spelling and punctuation Other than no. 29 in modern spelling (see above), all poems are in the original spelling of the control text except, of course, for emendations. Old-spelling titles have been used in the headnotes and textual notes, but capitalization and use of lower-case u and v have been standardized. Modern spelling has been used in the titles and first lines of poems when printed as headings. In reproducing headings and other paratext from early editions, font and capitaliza- tion have been standardized, as they are usually quite arbitrary in the original, dictated by space and visual effect rather than intrinsic meaning. The original punctuation has been retained as much as possible, with a few silent changes to avoid misleading the modern reader. However, some poems needed a higher degree of intervention. Some manuscript texts have virtually no punctuation, which needed to be inserted. All cases of major re-punctuation are indicated in the headnotes. 16c (etc., for centuries) Fr. French Gk. Greek It. Italian Lat. Latin Sp. Spanish Aen. Aeneid Ecl. Eclogue Epig. Epigram FQ The Faerie Queene Georg. Georgic(s) Helicon England’s Helicon (1600) Met. (Ovid’s) Metamorphoses SC The Shepheardes Calende r Addl. Additional BL British Library Bod. Bodleian Library, Oxford Rawl. Rawlinson bk book edn edition esp. especially foll. following ms(s) manuscript(s) prob. probably ref. reference trans. translated, translation OED 1st cit. the first citation of the word in this sense (usually at a later date than here) OED last cit. the last citation of the word in this sense (usually at an earlier date than here) OED only cit. the only example of the word in this sense located by OED Abbreviations Abbreviations xvii Books cited in abbreviated form Klawitter Richard Barnfield, The Complete Poems , ed. George Klawitter, Selinsgrove: Susquehanna University Press, 1990. Dunlap Thomas Carew, The Poems ... with His Masque Coelum Britannicum , ed. Rhodes Dunlap, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1949. Chappell William Chappell, Old English Popular Music , 2 vols., London: Chappel & Co., 1893. Hebel Michael Drayton, Works , ed. J. W. Hebel, Kathleen Tillotson and Bernard H. Newdigate, Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1931–41. Kastner William Drummond, The Poetical Works , ed. L. E. Kastner, 2 vols., Edin- burgh: Scottish Text Society, 1913. Chambers & Sidgwick Early English Lyrics, Amorous, Divine, Moral and Trivial , ed. E. K. Chambers and F. Sidgwick, London: A. H. Bullen, 1907. Pemberton Elizabeth I, Queen Elizabeth’s Englishings , ed. Caroline Pemberton, London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner for Early English Text Society, 1899. Bradner Elizabeth I, The Poems , ed. Leicester Bradner, Providence, RI: Brown University Press, 1964. Lea and Gang Edward Fairfax, Godfrey of Bulloigne ... together with Fairfax’s Orig- inal Poems , ed. Kathleen M. Lea and T. M. Gang, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1981. Cain Mildmay Fane, The Poetr y, ed. Tom Cain, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2001. Fogle French Rowe Fogle, A Critical Study of William Drummond of Hawthornden , New York: King’s Crown Press, 1952. Patrick Robert Herrick, The Complete Poetry , ed. J. Max Patrick, Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1963. Martin Robert Herrick, The Poems , ed. L C Martin, London: Oxford University Press, 1965. Herford & Simpsons Ben Jonson, Ben Jonson , ed. C. H. Herford and Percy and Evelyn Simpson, 11 vols., Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1925–52. Carey & Fowler John Milton, The Poems , ed. John Carey and Alastair Fowler, London: Longmans, 1968. Rudick Walter Ralegh, The Poems: A Historical Edition , ed. Michael Rudick, Tempe, AZ: Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies & Renaissance English Text Society, 1999. Parry Thomas Randolph, The Poems and Amynta s, ed. John Jay Parry, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1917. Thorn-Drury Thomas Randolph, The Poems , ed. G. Thorn-Drury, London: Etchells & Macdonald, 1929. Fordoński and Urbański Casimir Sarbiewski, Casimir Britannicus , ed. Krzysztof Fordoński and Piotr Urbański, London: MHRA, 2008. Skretkowicz Philip Sidney, The Countess of Pembroke’s Arcadia ( The New Arcadia ), ed. Victor Skretkowicz, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1987. Robertson Philip Sidney, The Countess of Pembroke’s Arcadia ( The Old Arcadia ), ed. Jean Robertson, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1973. Duncan-Jones and van Dorsten Philip Sidney, Miscellaneous Prose , ed. Katherine Duncan-Jones and Jan van Dorsten, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1973. Abbreviations xviii Ringler Philip Sidney, The Poems , ed. William A. Ringler, Jr, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1962. Tilley Morris Palmer Tilley, A Dictionary of the Proverbs in England in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries , Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 1950. Sidgwick George Wither, The Poetry , ed. F. Sidgwick, 2 vols., London: A. H. Bullen, 1902. Introduction Pastoral is one of the few literary modes whose genesis can be clearly traced. While poems reworking pristine rustic experience might have existed earlier, the pastoral mode as now recognized originated with the Greek poet Theocritus in the third century BCE. More correctly put, Theocritus provided a model that others followed to create the mode. There were few ‘others’ in Hellenistic Greece. A handful of poems, only one or two authentically pastoral, have been ascribed (often doubtfully) to two poets, Bion and Moschus. Of Theocritus’ own thirty idylls (‘little pictures’ or ‘sketches’, often of doubtful authorship), only twelve are pastoral. What set the seal on the mode was its adoption by Virgil in the first century BCE, in ten poems sometimes closely imitating Theocritus. These selections ( eclogae ) from his early work have lent the name ‘eclogue’ to the typical pastoral poem of moderate length and varied subject-matter, often incor- porating an inset song or song-contest. Virgil too had few followers in classical times – only two minor poets, Calpurnius and Nemesianus. But his immense stature as the pre-eminent Latin poet, continuing through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, set before every aspiring poet the career-pattern of the ‘Virgilian cycle’, moving from pastoral to didactic poems on farming (the Georgics) and finally to martial and courtly epic in the Aeneid . This was also held to reflect the course of human civilization. From the late Middle Ages, the Virgilian eclogue became a dominant poetic genre. There was another reason for this. Theocritus’ idylls had presented, if in somewhat idealized and sometimes mythicized form, the life of actual shepherds in Cos and Sicily. Only once, in Idyll 7, is there any suggestion that the shepherds may stand for people from another world, maybe the poet’s own. Virgil, however, seems to have introduced a measure of allusion in his Eclogues, beginning with the first, where the shepherd Tityrus, secure while his fellows are dislodged from the land, is held to repre- sent Virgil himself, thanking the Emperor Augustus for his patronage. The extent and nature of the allusion is often uncertain; but scholiasts have confirmed what any reader might suspect, that it is there. When Virgilian pastoral was revived in the late Middle Ages by Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio (chiefly the latter two), they insisted that allusion was intrinsic to pastoral. Through the ensuing Renais- sance and beyond, ‘pretty tales of wolves and sheep’ (in Sidney’s phrase) 1 were conven- tionally held to conceal deep hidden meanings – biographical, political, didactic, 1 Philip Sidney, A Defence of Poetry (The Apologie for Poetrie) , in Miscellaneous Prose of Sir Philip Sidney , ed. Katherine Duncan-Jones and Jan van Dorsten, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1973, 95.3–4.