Synopses & Reviews
Examining the influence of the biblical Psalms on sixteenth- and seventeenth-century English literature, this study explores the imaginative, beautiful and ingenious as well as sometimes ludicrous and improbable ways in which the Psalms were 'translated'. Spanning ancient Israel to Renaissance and Reformation England, the book focuses on literature of major writers that ranges from Shakespeare and Milton to less prominent ones: George Gascoigne, Mary Sidney Herbert, and George Wither.
Review
"Translations have often proved resistant to close reading, which is why Hamlin's achievment in Part Two of the book is particularly impressive... Hamlin is attempting something more literary than any previous commentator, and he succeeds beautifully in showing that translations can be very original indeed."
The Times Literary Supplement
Synopsis
Psalm Culture and Early Modern English Literature examines the influence of the biblical Psalms on sixteenth- and seventeenth-century English literature. It explores the imaginative, beautiful, ingenious and sometimes ludicrous and improbable ways in which the Psalms were âtranslatedâfrom ancient Israel to Renaissance and Reformation England. The book focuses on literature from major writers like Shakespeare and Milton to less prominent ones like George Gascoigne, Mary Sidney Herbert and George Wither, but it also explores the adaptations of the Psalms in musical settings, emblems, works of theology and political polemic.
Synopsis
Examines the powerful influence of the biblical Psalms on sixteenth- and seventeenth-century English literature.
About the Author
Hannibal Hamlin is Assistant Professor of English at Ohio State University, Mansfield.
Table of Contents
List of figures; Acknowledgements; Note on the text; Introduction; Part I. English Metrical Psalmody; 1. 'Very mete to be used of all sortes of people': The 'Sternhold and Hopkins' psalter; 2. 'Out-Sternholding Sternhold': some rival psalters; 3. The Psalms and English poetry I: 'Greece from us these Arts deriv'd': psalms and the English quantitative movement; 4. The Psalms and English Poetry II: 'The highest matter in the noblest forme': psalms and the development of English verse; Part II. Case Studies in Psalm Translation: 5. 'Happy me! O happy sheep!': Renaissance pastoral and Psalm 23; 6. Psalm 51: sin, sacrifice and the 'Sobbes of a Sorrowfull Soule'; 7. Psalm 137: singing the Lord's song in a strange land; Conclusion; Appendix: Psalms 23, 51, and 137 (Coverdale translation); Bibliography; Index.