Journal of Early Modern Studies, n. 4 (2015), pp. 71-98 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.13128/JEMS-2279-7149-15781 ‘I keepe my watche, and warde’: Richard Robinson’s Rewarde of Wickednesse (1574)* Emily Buff ey University of Birmingham (<
[email protected]>) Abstract In response to the recent call to re-evaluate what C.S. Lewis called the ‘Drab Age’, the article reassesses one sixteenth-century poem, Th e Rewarde of Wickednesse(1574), and its author, Richard Robinson. Th e poem is framed in such a way that the topos of service is central to an understanding of Robinson’s authorial identity, an identity determined by his proclaimed status within the household of the sixth Earl of Shrewsbury. Th e poet claims to be one ‘of a hundreth’ serving the family during the captivity of Mary, Queen of Scots. Th e article locates the Rewarde of Wickednesse within the relevant geographical, literary and socio-political contexts and reveals aspects of Robinson’s artistry that have remained hitherto unexplored. Keywords: de casibus, Dream Vision, Mary Stuart, Mirror for Magistrates, Richard Robinson, Servant Writing 1. Introduction Th e Rewarde of Wickednesse Discoursing the Sundrye Monstrous Abuses of Wicked and Ungodlye Worldelinges is a little-known Elizabethan poem dedicated to Gilbert Talbot, son of the sixth Earl of Shrewsbury. It was written by Richard Robinson, a ‘Servaunt’ in the household of George Talbot and his wife, Elizabeth Cavendish (‘Bess of Hardwick’) and published in 1574, during * I would like to thank David Griffi th and Gillian Wright of the University of Birmingham for their valuable suggestions and abiding support during the process of writing this article.