Early Sixteenth Century Lyrics
Thomas Wyatt the elder and Henry Earl of Surrey were leading lights of English poetry in the early renaissance period. They had both travelled in Italy and France, both admired the work of Petrarch, and both produced translations and adaptations of Petrarch's poems. Through their work they were responsible for the introduction and development of the sonnet form into English poetry.
Following the poems of Wyatt and Surrey, there is a section of "miscellaneous" poets - these include George Buleyn, W Cornysh, Nicholas Grimoald, Guido Guinicelli, Rychard Hattfield, Henry VIII, John Heywood, Anthony Lee, Sir Thomas More, Sir Thomas Phelyppis and Edwarde Somerset.
In preparing this work the editor, Frederick Morgan Padelford, went back to the original sources to make fresh transcriptions. Each poem is followed by variant readings which had previously appeared, for example in Tottel's Miscellany.
There are extensive notes, including biographies of Wyatt and Surrey, a glossary and a bibliography.
The bibliography includes a reference to an article in the Gentleman's Magazine containing "Unpublished Anecdotes" about Sir Thomas Wyatt. The article has been posted here
Revised 2017.
Early Sixteenth Century Lyrics Amazon US
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The Dunnett connection:
Some of the poems or songs contained here were clearly in the extensive memory of the hero of The Lymond Chronicles, being quoted by him at appropriate moments.
