Synopses & Reviews
Examines the powerful influence of the biblical Psalms on sixteenth- and seventeenth-century English literature.
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"Psalm Culture and Early Modern English Literature is clearly and lucidly written."
Renaissance Quarterly"This solid and intelligent study will retain its value and inspire further work."
Modern Philolohy"well researched and readable"
Early Modern Literary Studies
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.
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 'Sobs of a Sorrowful Soule'; 7. Psalm 137: singing the Lord's song in a strange land; Conclusion; Appendix: Psalms 25, 51, and 137 (Coverdale translation).