Lady Mary Wroth - Pamphilia and Amphilanthus (Small Works List)

Lady Mary Wroth – first reflection on this author – the first image I find on Wikipedia is one of her holding a lyre that looks a lot like a modern day guitar which is awesome. Also, she knew Ben Jonson quite well and Jonson wrote one of his famous poems about her castle in London which is fascinating.

Here are some selections of the of the longer work that I enjoyed as I read them. 

from Song 1:

 

The Barke my Booke shall bee,

Where dayly I will write,

This tale of haples mee,

True slaue to Fortunes spite.

The roote shall be my bedd,

Where nightly I will lye

Wailing [inconstancy],

Since all true loue is dead

 

from Sonnet 42:

 

I am that heartlesse Trunck of hearts depart;

 

from Song 7:

 

Nor let me euer cease from lasting griefe,

But endlesse let it be without reliefe;

To winn againe of Loue,

The fauour I did prooue,

And with my end please him, since dying, I

Haue him offended, yet vnwillingly.

 

Sonnet 3 from Part 4:

 

Then did the God{33}, whose pleasant Reede did smite

All Argus eyes into a death-like night,

Till they were safe, that none could Loue reprooue.

 

from Sonnet 6 part 4

 

MY paine still smother'd in my grieued brest,

Seekes for some ease, yet cannot passage finde,

To be discharg'd of this vnwellcome guest,

When most I striue, more fast his burthens binde.

Like to a Ship on Goodwins{35} cast by winde,

The more she striues, more deepe in Sand is prest,

Till she be lost: so am I in this kind

Sunck, and deuour'd, and swallow'ed by vnrest.

Lost, shipwrackt, spoyl'd, debar'd of smallest hope,

Nothing of pleasure left, saue thoughts haue scope,

Which wander may; goe then my thoughts and cry:

Hope's perish'd, Loue tempest-beaten, Ioy lost,

Killing Despaire hath all these blessings crost;

Yet Faith still cries, Loue will not falsifie

 

from Sonnet 8

 

Let not my care be to my ioyes a Tombe

 

Hey, look, I read this long work of connected poems. I understand that it is couched within a longer work of which I had no interest in reading. The story of Lady Mary Wroth was more enjoyable for me personally to invest in that reading this series of poems. It may have helped to have more context for where these poems are situated. I had these sonnets and songs in front of me on a screen while I had a Libravox recording read them aloud to me. With poetry like this, sometimes I get lost in the meter of the line and it can force to read and reread things, so having a professional who is familiar enough with the verse to read it aloud is helpful. There are moments that I enjoyed this poetry and have collected some of them here.

 

The issue of the division of the sexes, especially at the time of writing this work in the 16^th century in England, is demonstrated throughout Wroth’s writing. It is her central concern. The introduction that I read, after reading through the work, by R.S. Bear was fascinating and very helpful in situating this writing in historical, political and social context. I think a work of literature should stand on its own two feet and that there should be some sense of enjoyment that any can get out of the text, the words (properly translated) on the page itself. At there are at times some true enjoyment one can get from portions of this text.

 

This text comes down through the ages to us from a very specific time and place but speaks to all times and places before and after. Somewhere in my reading for this piece, I found that Wroth’s writing is considered to be the first complete work written by a woman in the English language. This seems baffling to me. As that is said, it is significant, and that the first thing a woman would write in this context is a treatise on the nature of the separation of the spheres, with men in the primary and women being placed in the secondary is doubly significant. Pamphilia is a female protagonist written by a female author, Amphilanthus is a male character and the person in the position of complaint in this text. These are all significant developments. Apparently, Wroth’s work was deemed too damaging to the upper class at the time and not republished which makes this work something of a rebellious and subversive act, also a very significant act. Wroth lived from 1587-1652. She was involved in the English Court life at the time. She would have known of Shakespeare and the others of the time. Shakespeare would not have read this work as it was published after he died in 1616. Wroth was good friends with member of this list, Ben Jonson. She was the adopted daughter of Philip Sidney who is also on the Small List. This text’s being banned or not republished is just a such a fascinating bit of information about the time that could have led to its not being more widely studied. Somewhere along the way, Norton or Penguin included Wroth’s name in one of their lists, and it ended up in my lap and I am glad for that.

 

There is a mention of a performance that Wroth participated in that had the actors paint themselves with black paint and perform the play, The Masque of Beauty. Obviously, it is hard to look back on especially the middle ages and judge such actions against 21^st century sensibilities, but this is noted in almost everything I read about Lady Mary Wroth. It is an interesting thing to be remembered for and for these details to stick around like that.