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Prepared for the Brittle Books Project, Main Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign by Northern Micrographics Brookhaven Bindery La Crosse, Wisconsin 2010 THE POE SIR THOMAS WIAT EDITED FROM THE MSS. AND EARLY EDITIONS BY A. K. FOXWELL, M.A. (LOND.) Lecturer in English, Late Lecturer and Tutor at the Ladies' College, Cheltenham VOL. II INTRODUCTION COMMENTARY APPENDIXES ~Lonb'on : tlntvcrtzt of %iontbon fIrees PUBLISHED FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF LONDON PRESS, LTD. BY HODDER & STOUGHTON, WARWICK SQUARE, E. C. 1913 INTRODUCTION WIAT's position as a poet has not yet been clearly defined. The fact that he has so long remained an isolated figure in literature partly accounts for this want; for he has ever been considered as one who, dissociated from the past, struggled to reform verse without definite knowledge of verse-structure. His connection with Surrey, the younger poet, has served still further to obscure his work; because it has never been sufficiently emphasized that Surrey prac- tically began where Wiat left off,' and was able to proceed along a path cleared by Wiat from the literary debris of over a century. The intention of this Introduction is first to set Wiat in relation with continental writers, and secondly to gather up sroe of the strands of thought running through his poems. First, a clearer vision of Wiat's aim and work is obtained by regarding him in his relations with the continental writers of his day, instead of viewing him as an isolated English poet, for in this respect he was fifty years before his time. Scholar and diplomatist, his life was either spent amongst books, with great men of the past, or in the stirring times of his day in the company of the most eminent men in Europe. This dual element in Wiat's life helps to the understanding of his poetry. His intellectual side preferred thoughtful retirement and a certain amount of ease, with the recreations of lute-playing and versifying; whereas his 1 Late criticism has, however, pronounced Wiat to be the pioneer. Of. Cambridge, History of Literature, Vol. III., and Courthope, History of English Poetry, Vol. II. v 56283 vi INTRODUCTION interest in life and humanity, coupled with a keen observation and brilliant wit, made him at home at Courts, where his linguistic gifts allowed him to gain a deeper insight into the literary life of the countries he visited than would have been possible otherwise. Fortune favoured him in the early years of his diplomatic career by opening out opportunities which brought him into direct contact with the leaders of Europe. Visiting France with Cheney, he was chosen to carry, and deliver personally, messages from Henry VIII to the French King. He could speak French with ease, and "had as much wit to mark and remember everything as any young man in Europe." ' At Rome with Russell the following year, he was chosen to carry the letters to the Venetian Council on account of a slight accident to the ambassador which prevented him from performing the duty. The year 1527 marked a serious political crisis in Italy; great diplomatists met at Rome and in Venice. Wiat actually came into contact with Ghiberti, papal datary and patron of letters, and Berni his secretary, who is chiefly remembered for his easy letters in terza-rima, marked by a certain fluency and freedom of style rarely found in this measure. At Venice, amongst other great statesmen, he met Navagero and Baldassaro Castiglione, the two men whose influence was most felt among other nations. At this time Castiglione's famous book, II Cortegiano, had been in manuscript for some years, and was published a few months later at Venice. I1 Cortegiano immediately became the text-book for courtly manners at every Court in Europe, and was responsible, to a great extent, for the general ideas concerning Neoplatonism, which until then had been reserved for the scholar and thinker. The book is written with great charm of style, and, in imitation of the Platonic discourses, consists of conversations SState Papers. Sir Thomas Cheyne to Wolsey. May 1, 1526. INTRODUCTION vii carried on by the men and women of the Court of Urbino. The characters are well-known personages; Bembo, for example, as the author of the Asolani,1 utters the discourse on Platonic love. The whole book is a reflection of Plato's thought, and Ficino's Commentary on Plato; and in dealing with love the author sometimes translates Petrarch, as, for example, the passages which describe the power of the lover's glance. Wiat appears to have derived many hints from II Corte- giano for his translations from Petrarch and for his more ambitious Court poems. His choice of several sonnets on the power of the eye is traceable to this work. For example: "The courtier shows by signs rather than wordes, and the Iyes are the trusty messengers of the heart"; again, "the lye is a guide to love "; and the mediaeval idea of a'glance from the eye wounding the heart of the lover reappears in 11 Cortegiano, and is re-echoed by Wiat in the song "So unwarely." The curious epistolary poem "Greting to you both" is derived from a passage from the same book. The perfect courtier is prohibited from "fayning" or using "jestes." One of the original sonnets begins "To rayle or jest ye know I use it not"; and in his last fragment, the "Song of lopas," there is considerable resemblance to a passage in II Cortegiano concerning the heavens. The interest in the book was strengthened for Wiat by his acquaintance with the author. One of the most beautiful characters of that time, he was to Italy what Garcilasso de la Vega was to. Spain and Sir Philip Sidney to England. Diplomatist, courtier and idealist, he actually bore out in his own life the ideals he expressed in the Courtier.2 The personality, as well as the work of the author, had a great 1 The A solani, a little treatise on love in prose and verse, addressed to Lucrezia Borgia, attained very great fame; every person of culture was supposed to have read it. 2His discourses on women have special force. His own married life was ideally happy. viii INTRODUCTION effect upon Wiat. Castiglione's ideals corresponded with Wiat's own view of life, and the platonism which is ex- pressed later in the poem "Lo what it is to love" was quickened by his knowledge of the Courtier, and developed as he came into contact with the eager spirits of the literary circle at Lyons in later years. Further, II Cortegiano kept Wiat in actual contact with Italian contemporary thought, for though some of the per- sonages were dead when the book appeared, others, like Bembo, lived for many years later. I emphasize this point, because Wiat's poetry shows 1 that he started with the translation of Petrarch side by side with his following of Chaucer; he continued with the poets of the fifteenth century, and thence to contemporary Italian writers, such as Sannazaro, Ariosto, Alamanni and finally Aretino. The Courtier seems to provide a background of ideas throughout his work. Another personality probably went far to quicken Wiat's ambition for English verse. Navagero, poet and writer of the history of Venice, whose descriptions of the countries he passed through are of inestimable value to-day, was a great patron of letters, and encouraged foreign poets to write in the Italian hendecasyllable. He undoubtedly had some influence on M. Save, the great Lyons poet, and in 1526 he had encouraged Boscan, the Spanish poet, to substitute the Italian hendecasyllable for the short Castilian measures. This was a few months before Wiat met him at Venice. Boscan's letter to the Duchess of Soma serves as a pro- logue to the second book of Bosc6n's poems, published in 1543, after his death. In it occurs the following famous passage- "Porque estando un dia en Granada con el Navagero (al qual por haber sido tan celebrado en nuestros dias, he querido aqui nombralle a vuestra Sefioria), tratando con e1 en cosas 1 See lines of poems as they occur in the E. MS., end of Vol. I. INTRODUCTION ix de ingenio y de letras, y especialmente en las variedades de muchas lenguas me dixo por que no probaba en lengua castellana sonetos y otras artes de trovas usadas por los buenos autores de Italia. Partime pocos dias despubs para mi casa; y con la largueza y soledad del camino discur- riendo por diversas cosas, fui a dar muchas veces en lo que el Navagero me habia dicho; y asi comence a tentar este genero de verso." Thus Wiat came under the influence of two eminent Italians at the beginning of his career as a poet, and he was encouraged to formulate definite principles, for English verse, at the time when similar influences were at work in Spain and at Lyons.