#english renaissance

Currently reading English Renaissance Poetry: A Collection of Shorter Poems from Skelton to Jonson, ed. John Williams (NYRB Classics). It’s a remarkably wide-ranging anthology that features not only the period’s heavy hitters (Spenser, Shakespeare, Donne) but also lesser-known talents (George Gascoigne, Barnabe Googe, Fulke Greville) and figures famed for reasons other than their verse (Thomas More, Walter Rale[i]gh). Williams’ editorial commentary, though perhaps now somewhat dated (the book was published in 1963), is consistently thoughtful and delightfully well-written. All in all, quite a good little volume.