Synopses & Reviews
The first full study of the origins and authorship of A Lover's Complaint.
Synopsis
When Shakespeare's Sonnets were published in 1609 a poem called A Lover's Complaint was included by the publisher, Thomas Thorpe, who was notorious for several irregular publications. Many scholars have doubted its authenticity, but recent editions of the Sonnets have accepted it as Shakespeare's work. Now Vickers, in this text, the first full study of the poem, shows it to be un-Shakespearian both in its language and in its attitude to women. It is awkwardly constructed and uses archaic Spenserian diction, including many unusual words that never occur in Shakespeare. It frequently repeats stock phrases and rhymes, distorts normal word order far more often and more clumsily than Shakespeare did, while its attitude to female frailty is moralizing and misogynistic. By close analysis Vickers attributes the poem to John Davies of Hereford (1565-1618), a famous calligrapher and writing-master who was also a prolific poet. Vickers' book will re-define the Shakespeare canon.
Synopsis
Shakespeare's Sonnets (1609) included a poem called A Lover's Complaint, of questionable authenticity. In the first full study of this poem, Vickers shows that it has many un-Shakespearian features. It is awkwardly constructed, uses archaic Spenserian diction, and many unusual words that never occur in Shakespeare. It frequently repeats stock phrases and rhymes, while its attitude to women is misogynistic. Using detailed analysis Vickers attributes the poem to John Davies of Hereford (1565-1618), a famous writing-master and prolific poet. An important work which will re-define the Shakespeare canon.
About the Author
Brian Vickers is Distinguished Senior Fellow at the School of Advanced Study, London University.
Table of Contents
1. Thomas Thorpe and the 1609 Sonnets; Part I. Background: 2. John Davies of Hereford: a life of writing; 3. A Lover's Complaint and Spenserian pastoral; 4. 'Poore women's faults': narration and judgement in the Female Complaint; Part II. Foreground: 5. A poem anatomized: the rival claims: 1. Diction, 2. Rhetoric, 3. Metaphor; 4. Compositio; 5. Verse form; 6. A Lover's Complaint in Davies's canon: 1. Diction, 2. Rhetoric, 3. Metaphor, 4. Verse form; Appendix 1: the text of A Lover's Complaint; Appendix 2: John Davies, Uncollected Poems; Bibliography.