The Poems of Aemilia Lanyer: Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum (Women Writers in English 1350-1850)

Description

Aemilia Lanyer (1569-1645) was the first woman poet in England who sought status as a professional writer. Her book of poems is dedicated entirely to women patrons. It offers a long poem on Christ's passion, told entirely from a woman's point of view, as well as the first country house poem published in England. Almost completely neglected until very recently, her work changes our perspective on Jacobean poetry and contradicts the common assumption that women wrote nothing of serious interest until much later. Mistress and friend of influential Elizabethan courtiers, Lanyer gives us a glimpse of the ideas and aspirations of a talented middle class Renaissance woman.

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Customer Reviews

Refreshing Woman Writer of the Renaissance
In Aemilia Lanyer's only volume of published poems, SALVE DEUS REX JUDAORUM, this Renaissance author uses beautifully crafted poetry to defend women against prevailing negative female stereotypes of the time. In "Eve's Apology," this portion of the poem is spoken from the point of view of Pontius Pilate's wife, who is begging for the life of Christ. She explores who really bares the guilt in original sin. She is passionate, yet uses reason in her argument (something women were not thought cabable of doing) and makes her point that any guilt all women may bear in original sin will be far overshadowed by the guilt men, in turn, may bear for Pilate's order to execute Christ.

In addition, in "To the Virtuous Reader", Lanyer states that her purpose in writing is to praise women, and to make it known that they are not all lazy, gossiping, lecherous, deceitful, or stupid as most men of the time supposed. She includes a list of virtuous women to encourage and praise other women to use them as exemplum. If you are interested at all in a female writer's perspective on Renaissance ideas, I highly recommend Aeilia Lanyer's beautiful poetry.

2000-03-30 | Helpful Votes: 7 | Rating: 5

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Lanyer: A Renaissance Woman Poet

Description

Aemilia Bassano Lanyer published poetry to and for women in 1611, at the height of the largely misogynistic reign of James I. Her verse compliments and extends our view of her contemporaries, such as Spenser, Shakespeare, Jonson, and Donne, whose work in turn provides a context for her unique and engaging voice. This book situates Lanyer within the rich tradition of Jacobean poetry.

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Aemilia Lanyer: Gender, Genre, and the Canon (Studies in the English Renaissance)

Description

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Customer Reviews

A Book of Essays.
If you don't know who Aemilia Lanyer was, please read about her or better yet read her works. She lived in London during the 1600s and was of Jewish-Italian descent. She became the mistress to Lord Chamberlain and may well have been Shakespeare's "dark lady". The most amazing and fabulous thing she did was publishe poems. Her poem "Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum" is a bold, well written poem and defends women of negative stereotypes which have been forced upon them since Eve. In "Eve's Apology," this portion of the poem is spoken from the point of view of Pontius Pilate's wife, who is begging for the life of Christ. She explores who is really guilty in original sin.

The essays in this book written about Lanyer and her works tell of her life and poetry and sheds new light on gender and class identity. Her male contemporaries at the time were John Donne, Ben Jonson and William Shakespeare.

The experts who write the essays for this book have done their research and make good, convincing arguments. I highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to understand Lanyer more thoroughly.

2005-09-16 | calliopemuse (Tennessee) | Helpful Votes: 3 | Rating: 5

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Renaissance Women: The Plays of Elizabeth Cary : The Poems of Aemilia Lanyer (Pickering Women's Classics)

Description

This volume brings together two of the earliest women writers. Elizabeth Cary's (1585-1639) "The Tragedie of Mariam" is one of the first in English known to be the work of a woman writer. Aemilia Lanyer (1569-1645) came from a class of artisans and civil servants dependant on court and aristocratic patronage. She wrote professionally, though only the strongly feminist "Salve Deus Rex Judaorum" (1611) was published.

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Refiguring the Sacred Feminine: The Poems of John Donne, Aemilia Lanyer, and John Milton (Medieval & Renaissance Literary Studies)

Description

Theresa DiPasquale's study of John Donne, Aemilia Lanyer, and John Milton demonstrates how each of these seventeenth century English poets revised, reformed, and renewed the Judeo-Christian tradition of the sacred feminine. All three poets are deeply invested in the ancient, scripturally authorized belief that the relationship between God and humankind is gendered: God is father, bridegroom, king; the human soul and the Church as corporate entity are daughter, bride, and consort. All three poets, DiPasquale demonstrates, thus engage in literary projects that modify, expand upon, challenge, or rethink the natures of men and women, the duties and privileges of the female sex, and the essential role played by feminine powers and influences in healing the sin-forged rift between God and humanity.

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The Poets I: Isabella Whitney, Anne Dowriche, Elizabeth Melville, Aemilia Lanyer, Rachespeght and Diana Primrose, Printed Writings 1500-1640 (Early Modern ... Facsimile Library of Essential Works) (Pt.2)

Description

Isabella Whitney is the earliest Englishwoman known to have written original secular poetry in English for publication. "The Copy of a Letter" contains four poems written in the personae of persons jilted in love. The only known copy of this volume is held at the Bodleian Library and is reproduced here. Whitney's second collection "A Sweet Nosgay" contains poetry in traditional stanzas and in prose format. Reproduced here is the unique copy held at the British Library. "The French Historie" by Anne Dowriche takes as its subject three events from the religious wars in France. Reproduced here is the copy of "The French Historie" held at the Huntington Library and appended are two short poems thought to be hers. "Ane Godlie Dreame, Compylit in Scottish Meter" is Elizabeth Melville's first-person account of a pilgrim who is guided through the afterworld. While many of the variations in the different editions are merely accidental, there are some substantial changes. As an aid to bibliographic study of the poem therefore, copies of the following four editions are reproduced here: 1603 National Library of Scotland; 1604 National Library of Scotland; 1606 Huntington Library; 1620 British Library. Aemilia Lanyer was the first woman writing in English to produce a substantial volume of poetry designed to be printed and to attract patrongage. "The Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum" was published in 1611 and is arguably the first genuinely feminist publication in England. The edition reproduced here is held at the Huntington Library. Rachel Speght is best known for her responses to the anti-woman tracts that formed a distinct genre in the Tudor and Stuart periods. These are reproduced in Part One of the "Early Modern Englishwoman" series. Her other published work is the poetry reproduced in this volume "Mortalities Memorandum" (1621), consisting of the title poem (dealing with the personal reality of death) preceded by "A Dreame", an allegory describing her thirst for learning. The text reproduced here is held by the Huntington Library. Very little is known of Diana Primrose. "A Chaine of Pearle" is the gift of a pearl necklace, consisting of ten pearls (poems), from Primrose to all noble ladies and gentlewomen. Reprinted here is the Huntington Library copy.

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