Divine Poetry and Drama in Sixteenth Century

by Lily Bess Campbell

The Reformation and the impact of the Renaissance were almost simultaneous in England. So the English versions of the Bible appeared at much the same time as the new, worldly forms of verse and drama. It was not long before serious-minded poets and playwrights used the Bible thus made available for new forms of religious verse. There was an important but neglected succession of writers who did this, culminating in Milton. The forms involved include the sonnet, the miniature epic and the popular drama. Miss Campbell treats both dramatic and non-dramatic literature. She shows that both kinds were new and not prolongations of medieval forms: the 'divine' lyric is a counterpart of the new secular lyric, and professedly hostile to it; and the 'divine' drama is an adaptation of current popular forms and not a development of the mystery play.

267 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1972

About the author

Professor Emeritus of English at the University of California at Los Angeles, Miss Campbell is well known for such outstanding studies as Shakespeare's Tragic Heroes: Slaves of Passion and her editions of The Mirror for Magistrates and Parts Added to "The Mirror for Magistrates."

She won the achievement award from the American Association of University Women in 1960 and was named Woman of the Year by the Los Angeles Times in 1962. One of the most eminent literary scholars of her generation in the United States, she published mostly on Tudor literature.