career as well as alleging that Wolsey completed particular diplomatic feats more quickly (perhaps) than he actually did. It will also allow us to consider the textual effect of interrupting his work on the in order to write the Metrical Visions Life. Cavendish’s The Rota Fortuna and Lamentations Metrical Visions: Wolsey’s Though the is an extraordinarily valuable text, it often eclipses poetic Life Cavendish’s works. During roughly the same period as he was writing the Cavendish also Life composed a series of poems now referred to as the (the title given to Metrical Visions the collection by Samuel W. Singer in his 1825 edition). To understand more fully images of Wolsey, it is crucial that we do not make the same mistake and Cavendish’s allow the to be eclipsed by the The are unique: Metrical Visions Life. Metrical Visions they are first-person poems written by a court insider who almost certainly de casibus was personally acquainted with most (if not all) of his subjects. They reveal early Tudor poetical practice and invention, provide firsthand (if poeticized) accounts of a range of Tudor court figures, and reflect a moderate personal politics and religious Catholic’s beliefs. Perhaps understandably, Tudor literature—particularly that literature which deals with the great men and women of the period—has typically presented very strong authorial opinions, both evangelical and conservative. The in Metrical Visions particular demonstrate that Cavendish was a moderate Catholic who, while resistant to the Edwardian Reformation, deplored the cycle of religious violence which had most recently manifested in 1549. The also provide an essential mid-century Metrical Visions point of contact proving that Cavendish (and by extension other early and mid-Tudor writers) was participating in a continuous and developing literary tradition firmly connected to medieval poetry and which foreshadowed Elizabethan pastoral de casibus poetry.
career as well as alleging that Wolsey completed particular diplomatic feats more quickly (perhaps) than he actually did. It will also allow us to consider the textual effect of Cavendish’s interrupting his work on the Metrical Visions in order to write the Life. The Metrical Visions: Rota Fortuna and Wolsey’s Lamentations Though the Life is an extraordinarily valuable text, it often eclipses Cavendish’s poetic works. During roughly the same period as he was writing the Life Cavendish also composed a series of poems now referred to as the Metrical Visions (the title given to the collection by Samuel W. Singer in his 1825 edition). To understand more fully Cavendish’s images of Wolsey, it is crucial that we do not make the same mistake and allow the Metrical Visions to be eclipsed by the Life. The Metrical Visions are unique: they are first-person de casibus poems written by a court insider who almost certainly was personally acquainted with most (if not all) of his subjects. They reveal early Tudor poetical practice and invention, provide firsthand (if poeticized) accounts of a range of Tudor court figures, and reflect a moderate Catholic’s personal politics and religious beliefs. Perhaps understandably, Tudor literature—particularly that literature which deals with the great men and women of the period—has typically presented very strong authorial opinions, both evangelical and conservative. The Metrical Visions in particular demonstrate that Cavendish was a moderate Catholic who, while resistant to the Edwardian Reformation, deplored the cycle of religious violence which had most recently manifested in 1549. The Metrical Visions also provide an essential mid-century point of contact proving that Cavendish (and by extension other early and mid-Tudor writers) was participating in a continuous and developing literary tradition firmly connected to medieval de casibus poetry and which foreshadowed Elizabethan pastoral poetry.
GSL_PhD_Thesis_Library_Copy.docx