The treatment of the theme of repentance in religious verse

Abstract

This study traces the development of the religious application of the "literature of tears" in English verse, beginning in 1595 with the publication of Southwell's Saint Peters complaynt, and concluding in 1610, when the publication of Giles Fletcher's sacred epic and the devotional lyrics of Campion marked the end of the vogue for the penitential "Complaint" established by Southwell's poem. It has been necessary in a few cases to include poems which fall into this category but which were published a few years after 1610.The first chapter deals with the theories of the poets concerning the writing of religious verse, their defensive or defiant attitudes, and their views on style. The second considers briefly the doctrine of repentance according to sixteenth and early seventeenth century theologians and preachers, noting their emphasis on tears and their examples of Biblical penitents. The next five chapters survey the poems grouped around these examples, St. Peter, the Magdalen, the parables, the Penitential Psalms and the Crucifixion, considering in each case theanalysis of repentance and the exhortations to the reader to identify himself with the subject. The last chapter deals in the same way with poems on such penitential themes as the Last Judgement and the transience of life, noting particularly Southwell's and Campion's lyrics, and the application of the sonnet to such topics. The epilogue offers briefly some reasons for the popularity of the theme and summarises the movement of religious verse in the period. Appendices contain unpublished poems from Egerton MS 2477 and biographical information, including some speculations as to the identity of G. Ellis and the relationship of his poem to one by Breton. There is a descriptive bibliography of primary sources and a summary bibliography of secondary sources.