The Sidney Psalter

Author: Sidney Sir Philip & Mary
Publisher: Oxford University Press
The Psalms Of Sir Philip & Mary Sidney

The first complete edition of the Sidney Psalter for over forty years, this new edition makes these beautiful poems available in an authoritative modernized text and sets them in their literary and cultural context. The poems are drawn from the definitive Oxford editions of the two poets. The Sidneys' Psalms are among the most accomplished lyrics of the English Renaissance and Mary Sidney is one of the greatest women poets of the period. Their variety makes them suitable for every occasion, for public worship and private devotion, and their lyrical virtuosity appeals to any poetry lover. Excellent Introduction considers the poems' relationship with the biblical psalms and their astonishing mastery of verse forms, and describes the literary and social contexts from which they came. On-page glosses explain unfamiliar words or usages, and fuller explanatory notes summarize each psalm and provide further background information. Includes up-to-date bibliography and chronology. 'the highest matter in the noblest form' John Donne's description of the Psalms celebrates not only the perfection of the biblical psalms but their translation into poetic form by the Sidneys, who turned them into some of the most accomplished lyric poems of the English Renaissance. Although it was not printed until the nineteenth century, the Sidney Psalter was widely read in manuscript and influenced poets from Donne and Herbert to Milton and beyond. It turned these well-known and well-loved Psalms into sophisticated verse, selecting or inventing a different stanza form for each one. This variety of forms matches the appeal of their content: there are Psalms of praise and blame, Psalms of cursing and lamentation, Psalms of joy and exaltation, Psalms that recount history, and Psalms that describe Creation or divine law. This is the first complete edition of the Psalter for over forty years. The Psalms are provided in an authoritative modernized text, with helpful glosses and notes illuminating points of interpretation, and an introduction setting the Psalms in their literary and cultural contexts.