culture and rhetoric of the answer poem 1485-1626

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restrictions placed upon female speech. Finally, the study includes a ‘Select Catalogue of Answer-Poetry... 19

THE ART OF POLEMICAL RESPONSE: WIT, REPUTATION AND PATRIOTISM IN FLYTINGS AND VERSE ANSWERS TO LIBEL AND SATIRE

Introduction 20

whereby “giving the lie”, or casting a slur upon someone’s honour, is responded to by a formal challenge to combat... 21

exchanges of abuse. Poetry manuals are equally dismissive of the practical value of vituperative riposte... 22

CHAPTER 1: “WHAT LYFE MAY LYUE, LONG VNDEFAMDE”: PERSONAL AND PROPAGANDIST RESPONSES TO LIBEL AND SATIRE 23

The Verse Libel 23

Sociological Perspective 23

generating a multitude of more formal, scholarly disputations in prose. Since the Reformation... 24

to “disgrace those in authority, cause disobedience and sedition, and bring all to confusion”... 25

sooner happened” for all their venom; however, both Sir Philip Sidney and Thomas Campion... 26

1599), and new laws in response to the posthumous libelling of the Arch Bishop of Canterbury... 27

Frequently, such proclamations also provide evidence that outlawed literature... 28

social stratification, attitudes towards what might be the appropriate form of response to defamation... 29

with individuals when it came to preserving their good name. A cultivated aptitude for riposte could... 30

The emphasis placed upon defending one’s honour personally was also an indirect... 31

Honour, Reputation and the Verbal Duel 32

civil conduct in his autobiography, makes a direct comparison between the two... 33

response that by the early-seventeenth century, and probably long before... 34

from terrestrial combat and the legalese of the Inns of Court. It forms part of a poetics... 35

of “superfluous words” in order to “shewe the dexteritie of their wits, [rather] than the valour... 36

challenger (attore), summoning Cavalier B, the defendant (reo), to fight... 37

combative effrontery is not only antisocial but also morally bankrupt... 38

answers Edward De Vere, the Earl of Oxford’s poem “Weare I a kinge I could commande content... 39

between earls and gentlemen [and] the respect inferiors ought to their superiors... 40

Weare I a kinge I coulde commande content, Weare I obscure unknowne shoulde be my cares... 41

Stuart periods. Lodowick Bryskett claims in his Discovrse of Civill Life, published in 1606... 42

it is reputed so great a shame to be accounted a lyer, that any other iniury is cancelled... 43

The Verse Answer as Proclamation 44

wit-combats, including the composing of competitive verses and answers to them. Jonson... 45

his ability to refute his assailant and repay him effectively if only his identity were known... 46

like Skelton’s response to his unknown assailant, provided a means of threatening publicly... 47

of verse answering as a substitute for, or complement to, proclamations. Andrew Hadfield... 48

acting as substitute proclamations against the rebels. If only for this and for... 49

Knell is keen to point out in his answer (beginning “How now my maisters/ popish Priestes... 50

privilege (cum privilegio). The proclamation from July is concerned explicitly... 51

following year when James responds personally to a libel (now perished) that interferes ... 52

clear that there is a distinction between the princely decorum of the king’s “own person”... 53

strategy but, more importantly, by failing to distinguish properly between the good subject... 54

occasions. By fostering the impression that he wields royal prerogative independently... 55

discernment in matters of statecraft and is a common trope in proclamations... 56

Mathew XIII, both in its distinguishing clearly between loyal and disloyal subjects... 57

murder of her husband, Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley. The first line of Elizabeth... 58

persons, who in fauour of the sayd Sc. Q. [...] sought to interrupt the quiet of the Realme... 59

sphere. The effectiveness of this ruse, if such it is, is evident from the extent... 60

Elizabeth’s reservations about those who befriended Mary by continuing the dialogue... 61

pardoned. He professes loyalty to Elizabeth and seeks to disassociate himself from the potential... 62

The Verse Satire 63

Verse Answering and the Provocative Satirical Outlook of some Tudor Self-Publicists 63

dedications to detraction) in order to lure others into literary debate in a way not dissimilar... 64

Combative, provocative and confrontational, these satirists court such hostility... 65

satire. His stance is antagonistic and confrontational, and he appears ready both to attack... 66

immorality, their infection by the sins they castigate and their salacious language... 67

John Skelton’s Satirical Idiom 68

made his name out of rude remarks uttered in public about other people... 69

The rhetorical strategy of promising to amend or retract a contentious or controversial literary... 70

compare himself with his adversary’s irreverence: Holde me excusyd for why my wyll is gode... 71

censure him will end up tying himself in rhetorical knots. In an answer that likewise suggests Skelton’s irreverence... 72

Skelton’s rejoinder that Lily is an impotent, blunt toothed aggressor anticipate the dispute... 73

patriotic flyter. As Nelson has noticed, the Ballade of the Scottysshe Kynge... 74

John Marston and the late-Elizabethan Satirists 75

involve the poets, John Weever, Nicholas Breton and Edward (or Everard) Guilpin when the dispute... 76

(‘A Post-script to the Reader’, ll.6-8). 144 By styling himself as the first of the English satirists Hall... 77

economical stroke creating an equivalency between the two writers’ reputations... 78

The dispute between Marston and Hall centres upon disagreement over the best way to write satire... 79

belongs to the same satirical fraternity as Hall. He suggests that there exists a brotherhood of satirists... 80

The Hall-Marston controversy was the progenitor of a complex sequence of disputes... 81

he more (l.94). 152 Hall’s satire is no less censorious than Marston’s and... 82

Confutation, counters with an outright defence of satire. In the opening pamphlet Weever... 83

Our noble Princesse (Lord preserue her Grace) Made godly lawes to guide this Common-weale... 84

Weever’s exhortation, “Well looke the rowles, no office ouerskippe,/ And see if you can finde... 85

He takes us on a librarian’s tour, pointing out the faults of the Satirist, Humourist and Epigrammatist... 86

the Hare:/ Swifte, sayes the Tortoise: vertuous the Ape”, and so forth... 87

CHAPTER 2: ROYALISM, RAILLERY AND RITUAL: DOMESTIC AND CROSS-CULTURAL FLYTING 88

flyting from libel most clearly is its self-conscious and fervent display of patriotism and loyalty... 89

Churchyard and Thomas Camel during 1551-2 and nine in one between Thomas Smyth and William Gray... 90

Cross-Cultural Flyting 91

is distinctly Scottish has also been fostered by the influence of The Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedie... 92

sixteenth century. Since such cross-cultural skirmishes arise primarily during times of international... 93

kirmishes are part of a literary tradition that most usually arises only at particular historical moments... 94

Anglo-French Flyting 95

he potential advantages for monarchs of surrounding themselves with competent orators... 96

amore,/ Sed semper socios federe suos meos” (“Never have I abandoned those whom I embrace... 97

utilitarian objective and its role as a form of entertainment, and this flyting is no exception. 98

their love of debate and, as Nan Cooke Carpenter has commented, flytings were “much cultivated in Italy”... 99

other work. His attempt failed and when his epigrams reached Brixius’s attention it took Erasmus... 100

show that Brixius is ineloquent and his metre is cumbersome, moreover, he includes an epigram... 101

Anglo-Scots Flyting 102

unity” and this drew him into fierce literary attacks upon those he perceived to threaten... 103

and implicitly makes the point that an able rhetorician might also be a virtuous man... 104

reflects his loyalty to the new English-supported regime under the protectorate of James Stewart... 105

Skelton makes similar accusations against James IV, as does Gaguin against Henry VII... 106

right to the throne and presents himself as the champion of the king and his regent... 107

from a Scottish one (‘The Answeir to the Englisch Ballad’)... 108

Domestic Flyting 109

Henrie, duke of Hereford, accused Thomas Mowbraie duke of Norfolke of certeine words... 110

equivalents, are highly heterogeneous. They do not recognise formal or generic boundaries... 111

flyting has been seen as a characteristically Scottish genre, it appears with near equal frequency south... 112

John Skelton and Christopher Garnish 113

upon Skelton and Garnish the responsibility for something more than a minor court entertainment... 114

between setting out to entertain and expressing genuine hostility. Bawcutt describes flyting... 115

that his time might be better occupied in the king’s service than in spending his vituperative... 116

known of Garnish’s challenge it is certainly suggestive of a provocation to settle... 117

Your brethe ys stronge and quike; Ye ar an eldyr steke... 118

attacking Garnish’s lack of literary talent in the fourth and attributes this primarily to his wanting... 119

rhetorical virtuosity. Rhetorical control is exactly what Skelton exhibits, and he changes the course... 120

Thomas Smyth and William Gray 121

the sequence, and it has been suggested both that Gray may have been responsible for this poem... 122

Ernest W. Dormer observes of such sycophantic outbursts by the combatants... 123

(“loke better about”) and, by implication, the necessity for more reasoned inquiry... 124

that Gray has papist sympathies, although he claims to be unaware of how they might become manifest... 125

of his papist sympathies, thereby reducing the basis of his evidence to a contrived etymology... 126

annulment of his marriage to Anne of Cleves. As such his office as Catherine’s clerk suggests... 127

Whatever the actual purpose of the poems, the exasperating lack of substance... 128

Thomas Churchyard and Thomas Camel 129

Churchyard’s rival, Thomas Camel, who in one instance purports to be a cattle farmer... 130

anti-government satire, presented as a pastoral dream vision presumably to distance the author... 131

curtail further enclosure by landlords and to raise badly needed revenue for the treasury... 132

Having expressed opposition to Dudley and his allies, it is remarkable that Churchyard... 133

continue their argument publicly for a considerable time. Camel’s first response... 134

literature generally (Skelton, for instance, reminds Garnish to “Pay Stokys hys fiue pownd”)... 135

since it is straightforward to read honest peers for honest Piers; a conveniently evasive pun... 136

flyting he argues (probably ingenuously), “Ye passe from your purpose in such vnworthi sorte/... 137

elitist, courtly credentials as well as pastoral/agrarian sympathies. The next shot fired, Thomas Hedley... 138

country in his name, or “To serue the king, and pray for hym, and all his counsell ryght... 139

agrarian community in this way. Firstly, when placed alongside the stereotypical scold... 140

John Taylor and William Fennor 141

of flyting by James VI in his ‘Schort Treatise’ on the art of poetry... 142

read it are a typical feature of flyting. 257 In the case of this flyting, according to Fennor... 143

by feuding in public with a writer already well-known”, as Marston had done in his dispute with Hall... 144

he contest and even the possibility of recouping this expense seems doubtful... 145

when only Jonson had done so during his own life previously. Accusations of unpaid debt... 146

Although this dispute between town wits is removed historically and socially from earlier courtly flytings... 147

that he envisages him committing. Although both men claim that their verse possesses the potency to rhyme the other to death 148

his Ryming Poet/ Although too farre vnworthy, I confesse,/ To merit it, the Title I possesse... 149

In Fennor’s version of events his whereabouts on the day of the competition... 150

surrounding the 1602 performance has obvious pertinence to Taylor’s accusations against Fennor... 151

THE “SOCIALLY DIALOGIC” ANSWER-POEM: MARRIAGE, FRIENDSHIP AND COURTSHIP/ COURTIERSHIP

Introduction 152

The antisocially dialogic verses examined in Part One only tell half of the story... 152

Such exchanges often self-consciously share a mediating influence that acts as a nexus between them.... 153

rebuking their correspondents for deviating from moderation in perspective and behaviour... 154

CHAPTER 3: REFORMING PROPAGANDA IN ANSWER-POETRY UPON MARRIAGE, 1550-1570 156

he time of the Edwardian Reformation. They fall into two basic types... 157

been deprived of its sacramental status following its exclusion from Cromwell’s Ten Articles of 1536... 158

books, was intended to be read in church services throughout the country... 159

Debates for and against Marriage 160

Aunswere’ (no. 256), blames an unhappy marriage upon an overbearing husband... 161

stoic epistemologies, in which the worth of life in all its variations are disputed... 162

Yong bloods be strong: old sires in double honour dwell. Doo waye that choys, no life, or soon to dye: for all is well... 163

In his correction of Maria, Pamphilus assumes the formulaic stoical position... 164

Grimald is popularising reforming values by aligning himself with the reformers’ identification... 165

These poems appear ostensibly to have more to do with humanistic enthusiasm for deliberative rhetoric... 166

contentment, but also implies that natural, married sexual activity might be preferable to imposed celibacy... 167

exaltation of procreation over celibacy; insisting alternately that there is no worse condition than infertility... 168

matrimony borne out of a combination of mutual affection and pragmatic consideration here... 169

Debating the Duties of Husbands and Wives 170

obligations towards their wives, and his allowance of a degree of authority to wives... 171

explained similarly by the gender of the audiences that they envisage. In the first pair from Tottel’s Miscellany... 172

contrasting emphases in these two pairs reflect the theoretical range of liberties and restrictions... 173

Them all, O Lord, maintain my will, To serue with all my force and skyll... 174

If dutie wyf leade the to deeme That trade moost fytt I hold moost deere... 175

negotiated, not rights to be defended”. 311 She is tractable to her husband’s conventionally... 176

which both husband and wife share responsibility within their relationship... 177

State of Matrimony’, the husband can nurture concord with his wife if he.. 178

There is a manuscript version of the poem in two parts. The first is a four-stanza denunciation... 179

provided Gray with the opportunity for a cutting edge satire of them and, according to Dormer... 180

excise the anti-Catholic matter from the poem, but he nonetheless appropriates the remaining four stanzas... 181

towards Gray’s depiction of his wife. The answer-poet does not commit himself to the portrait... 182

CHAPTER 4: COLLABORATION AND CHOREOGRAPHY IN AMICABLE VERSE EXCHANGES OF THE LATER TUDOR PERIOD 183

not unrelated. She places herself at the centre of a sequence of verse exchanges... 184

literary conceit used to demonstrate the profundity of personal friendship, the affectation... 185

The Choreography of Friendship in the Verse Exchanges of Barnabe Googe’s Eclogues, Epitaphs and Sonnets 186

role, and participate actively, in the production of the miscellany and their collaboration... 187

corrective palinodes, while ones concurring with his intertexts might be responded to tautologically... 188

he concurs with Googe’s sentiments but adopts a different rhetorical approach... 189

tore of shared knowledge and wisdom, and the effect is that the poets’ creativeness... 190

again” (l.11) and it is similarly implicit in the answer that Googe is “blessed (my Googe)/... 191

commending Blundeston for his wisdom (l.5 in both poems). The parallels between the answers by Blundeston... 192

placing himself in the hopeless situation of the Petrarchan lover resigned to the extremities... 193

contentious poems as foils for his own answers, 335 and by exploring alternative variations... 194

antithesis of that with which Aristotle opens his first book on friendship: For without friends... 195

The Redemptive Pattern of Isabella Whitney’s Familiar and Friendly Verse Epistles 196

series of answer-poems in which successive speakers claim to endure more hardship... 197

her and warns other women not to fall for the same arts of seduction... 198

Good Dido stint thy teares, and sorrowes all resigne... 199

should temper their complaints in order to take account of their predicaments more realistically... 200

of good sense formed between like-minded, virtuous individuals. This marks a turning point in her perspective... 201

hexameters (divided into jerky pairs of trimeters) that she has employed previously in her answer to Dido... 202

thus she should “make accompt for friendship” (ll.35-6 and l.45). 349 Hereby, C. B... 203

consideration and apologising for the brevity of her reply (‘Is. W. Beyng Wery of Writyng... 204

incongruity between Whitney’s ingenuously generous bequests and the cupidity of the city ... 205

John Donne’s Provocative RSVPs and his Philosophy of Friendship in his Familiar Verse Epistles 206

psychologically beneficial to epistolary correspondents is the central thesis of John Donne’s familiar verse... 207

aptitude and soundness of judgement are enhanced by, and even dependant upon... 208

manifestation in the verses they exchange. It is such affected dependency upon his correspondents for his rehabilitation... 209

Wotton’s ‘To J[ohn] D[onne] from Mr H[enry W[otton]’ (“’Tis not a coat of gray or shepherd’s life”... 210

opening poem and that no premeditation is involved. “Here’s no more newes”... 211

authoritative and confident, albeit exasperated, satirical voice... 212

opportunity for a display of stoical condescension. He takes the cynic’s part by depicting a world... 213

provides a further source of antagonism. Black-letter journalism was suspect due... 214

initiating a round of this game. 363 Here is further evidence then that Donne... 215

is expressed through shared ideas and a mutual understanding of the virtue of temperance... 216

Downs-Gamble’s hypothesis since it fits neatly with my own up until, that is, the point 217

epistles; letters are the means “by which we deliver over our affections, and assurances of friendship... 218

it is an especially unfitting and insensitive memorial to the life of the kinswoman of his patroness 219

corrective verse and then by his own subsequent retraction by aligning himself with the answer received... 220

CHAPTER 5: THE RHETORIC OF COURTSHIP AND COURTIERSHIP IN WOMEN’S ANSWER-POETRY AND IN THE FEMALE-VOICED RESPONSE 221

their intellectual and creative presences from their answers. With the exception of works of translation... 222

association between female textual and sexual activity at a time when “women’s secular writings... 223

Women’s participation in verse answering becomes even more conspicuous in the increasingly... 224

Female-Voiced Responses to Courtship: The Circumspect Lover versus the Plain-Speaking Suitor of Henrician Court Answer-Poetry 225

intention are more likely to elicit favourable responses. At the very least they attract answers... 226

implies mutual understanding and an established intellectual rapport.... 227

acrostics. The lover’s blunt question, “When shall I meddle with the”, is met by the lady... 228

Regard my strange mishapp Jove father of the thunder... 229

when exchanged between actual or prospective lovers, were predominantly private affairs... 230

authored. At this juncture the actual gender of the respondents is of little consequence... 231

In the hands of the court poets of the 1530s, however, the Petrarchan lover becomes a figure of bathos... 232

She that me lerneth to love and suffre And will that my trust, and lustes negligence... 233

fostered an archetype for a credible female literary voice whose artistic and social judgement... 234

discretion and commonsense against the hotheaded excesses of the Petrarchan lover... 235

heed [than male courtiers] that she give no occasion to be ill-reported of, and so behave her selfe... 236

grotesque jester or tethered dancing bear: “Youre chaine ys long, thow you be bound... 237

Predictably, the lady retorts by pointing out that his impatience incapacitates his rhetoric... 238

The courtier might only engage the lady’s “wit” through a display of wit of his own... 239

of self-improvement through education, the female persona provides the answer... 240

uncertain provenance to a man writing the women’s part in the dialogue, such as the above answer which... 241

Late-Elizabethan and Jacobean Women’s Verse Answering 241

first married around half a century earlier. Frances Seymour had enjoyed a meteoric rise... 242

status than their male correspondents. This is not only the case for Elizabeth as queen... 243

difference. We have seen Whitney manufacture such a scenario in her sequence of verse epistles 244

Devonshire Manuscript (c.1536). Douglas’s reputation was damaged seriously by her love affair 245

servys”. Whythorne’s account is illuminating since he attributes the maid’s dismissal 246

The Subjective Petrarchan Heroine in the Verse Answers of Elizabeth Tudor and Frances Prannell Seymour, Countess of Hertford 247

Elizabeth Tudor 247

her symbolic, inviolable masculine body as a prince. The suitability of answer-poetry as a medium... 248

I place myself beneath your royal yoke. Make me your bondsman, lady and be mistress... 249

her identity. Elizabeth becomes a manifestation of the Petrarchan heroine, objectified and apotheosised... 250

seems plausible that she took an interest in the work for much of her adult life... 251

Philosophy to Ralegh’s Boethius, schooling him in a true understanding of the limitations of Fortune... 252

fortune that rules on earth and earthly thinges hath taken my loue in spight of Cupids might... 253

thy brakishe teares” (l.16). Elizabeth leads Ralegh towards enlightenment much more succinctly than Philosophy... 254

Frances Prannell Seymour, Countess of Hertford 255

extravagant histrionic gesture of self-pity designed to invoke guilt rather than love... 256

representation by being cast in the role of the Petrarchan heroine, and declines the opportunity... 257

plain speaking as Ovidian cunning: Poorly, methinks, you strive to play the poet... 258

interest. Thus, Petrarchan poets’ tendency to keep the relationship between their autobiographical selves... 259

he might use them to manipulate the context of their relationship. In retaliation Rodney sonnets... 260

Two Misogynist Satirists and their Female Respondents: Lady Mary Cheke and Lady Mary Wroth 261

upon the literary and intellectual roles available to them were also compounded by misogynist satires 262

Lady Mary Cheke 263

merely “mildly anti-feminist”. 424 Actually, Harington uses the persona of an incompetent preacher 264

argues men are blinde” (ll.1-2). She elaborates: A certayne woeman... 265

deprecating claim that the preacher ought to be ashamed of being outwitted by a woman... 266

Lady Mary Wroth 267

olden mean prescribes a formula for women’s social interaction which, through its paradoxical... 268

point and employing linguistic parallelism in a fashion that proximates Denny’s verse... 269

conomically, making minimal changes to Denny’s sentence structure and the form of verbs and adverbs 270

a career path for her reminiscent of that regularly attributed to Donne, beginning with lascivious juvenilia... 271

wide” (l.9). The accusation is that Wroth is a common scold and prostitute, who broadcasts her opinion... 272

accusation of androgyny since it repulses his imprecations by mirroring and balances feminine... 273

open to the interpretation of being veiled anti-Stuart propaganda. James I was the addressee... 274

rapples with her loss of self-identity upon discovering that she is adopted... 275

possesses the female quality of sensuality rather then the masculine one of reason 276

CONCLUSION 277

influences in the Renaissance, and it should be added that the theory and practice of civil conduct... 278

is apparent that the answer-poem is a pronounced medium through which of personas of good repute... 279

the protagonists, whether it is the fraternity of backbiting late-Elizabethan satirists or a collaborative... 280

detached from the association between female speech and concupiscence... 281

between socially and antisocially dialogic verse exchanges. Both are the effects of a preoccupation... 282

singled out as enemies of the state, though this accusation is now often used as a justification... 283

perhaps the case that the terms used to express and discuss friendship needed to be accentuated... 284

Renaissance education in dialectic all contributed towards the formation of a society... 285

APPENDIX I: SELECT CATALOGUE OF ANSWER-POETRY IN PRINT AND MANUSCRIPT, 1485-1625 289

BIBLIOGRAPHY 346