Noble International Sr. Sec.

School

Submited By : Submited To :
Yogesh Arya Raj Shree Mam
8th A

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 English
Project
On
Elizabethan
period
Poets
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 Introduction

The Elizabethan poets (Sixteenth Century and shortly

after) appeared in England during a period roughly
contemporaneous with the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603).
Previous to this, the genius of Chaucer (1343-1400) had
established English as a new language of literature and was a
primary influence on poets of the Fifteenth Century. With the
English renaissance of the Sixteenth Century, the language had
moved much closer to its modern form, Chaucer came to be
regarded as the English Homer, and a new flowering of poetry took
place. These poets adopted sonnet forms from Italy and wrote
enormous numbers of love poems, but they also tried new meters
and entertained other subjects, such as the passage of time, the
effect of imprisonment, views on the happy life, the kingdom of
the mind, old age, advice to a son, true joy, and tributes to the
dead. Here, some short extracts from Wyatt, Surrey, Dyer, Sidney,
Marlowe, Raleigh, Shakespeare, Campion, Wooton, and Hoskins
are presented.

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 Sir Thomas Wyatt

Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503-1542), born at Allington, Kent,

and educated at Cambridge, was in and out of favor with Henry
VIII, whom he served in a number of offices. He was repeatedly in
jailfor associating with Anne Boleyn, quarreling with the duke
of Suffolk, and on charges of treason. He was knighted in 1537 and
served two years as ambassador to Charles V. He translated some
of Petrarch's sonnets, as well as writing many of his own and other
lyrics and songs.

Remembrance

They flee from me, that sometime did me seek,

With naked foot, stalking within my chamber;
Once have I seen them gentle, tame, and meek,

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That now are wild, and do not once remember
That sometime they have put themselves in danger
To take bread at my hand; and now they range
Busily seeking in continual change.

Thanked be Fortune it hath been otherwise

Twenty times better; but once, especial,
In thin array, after a pleasant guise,
When her loose gown did from her shoulders fall,
And she me caught in her arms long and small,
And therewithal so sweetly did me kiss,
And softly said, 'Dear heart, how like you this?'

It was no dream; for I lay broad awaking:

But all is turned now thorough my gentleness,
Into a bitter fashion of forsaking;
And I have leave to go from her goodness,
And she also to use newfangledness.
But since that I so unkindly am served:
How like you this, what hath she now deserved?

Sir Thomas Wyatt

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 Henry Howard

Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1517-47) received his title

when his father became duke of Norfolk. He fought in Scotland
and in Flanders and became commander of a garrison of Boulogne.
Quick-tempered and quarrelsome, he made many enemies and was
imprisoned several times for misconduct. Arrested on false charges
of treason, he was executed in 1547. As with other Elizabethans,
his poetry was somewhat secondary to his other activities, but he
was technically skilled and, like Wyatt, an enthusiast of the Italian
sonnet

The Happy Life

My friend, the things that do attain

The happy life be these, I find.
The riches left, not got with pain;
The fruitful ground; the quiet mind;

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The equal friend, no grudge, no strife;
No charge of rule, nor governance;
Without disease, the healthy life;
The household of continuance;

The mean diet, no delicate fare;

True wisdom joined with simpleness;
The night discharged of all care,
Where wine the wit may not oppress;

The faithful wife, without debate;

Such sleeps as may beguile the night;
Contented with mine own estate,
No wish for death, nor fear his might.

Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey

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 Sir Edward Dyer

Sir Edward Dyer (?-1607) was born in Somersetshire and

was educated at Oxford, but left before taking a degree. He is
mentioned as one of the ornaments of Queen Elizabeths court, and
was sent by her on missions to Holland and Denmark in the1580s.
He was knighted in 1596. He was well esteemed as a poet by his
contemporaries, but little of his poetry has survived.

My Mind to Me a Kingdom Is

My mind to me a kingdom is,

Such present joys therein I find,
That it excels all other bliss
That earth affords or grows by kind:
Though much I want which most would have,
Yet still my mind forbids to crave.

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No princely pomp, no wealthy store,
No force to win the victory,
No wily wit to salve a sore,
No shape to feed a loving eye;
To none of these I yield as thrall:
For why? My mind doth serve for all.

I see how plenty surfeits oft,

And hasty climbers soon do fall;
I see that those which are aloft
Mishap doth threaten most of all;
They get with toil, they keep with fear;
Such cares my mind could never bear.

Content I live, this is my stay,

I seek no more than may suffice,
I press to bear no haughty sway;
Look, what I lack my mind supplies.
Lo, thus I triumph like a king,
Content with that my mind doth bring.

Some have too much, yet still do crave,

I little have, and seek no more:
They are but poor, though much they have,
And I am rich with little store:
They poor, I rich; they beg, I give;
They lack, I leave; they pine, I live.

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I laugh not at another's loss,
I grudge not at another's gain;
No worldly waves my mind can toss,
My state at one doth still remain.
I fear no foe, I fawn no friend;
I loathe not life, nor dread my end.

Some weigh their pleasure by their lust,

Their wisdom by their rage of will;
Their treasure is their only trust,
A cloaked craft their store of skill:
But all the pleasure that I find
Is to maintain a quiet mind.

My wealth is health and perfect ease:

My conscience clear my chief defense;
I neither seek by bribes to please,
Nor by deceit to breed offence.
Thus do I live, thus will I die;
Would all did so, as well as I.

Sir Edward Dyer

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