The Poems of Aemilia Lanyer: Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum (Women Writers in English 1350-1850) [Paperback]

Aemilia Lanyer (Author), Susanne Woods (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 16, 1993 | ISBN-10: 019508361X | ISBN-13: 978-0195083613

Aemilia Lanyer (1569-1645) was the first woman poet in England who sought status as a professional writer. Her book of poems is dedicated entirely to women patrons. It offers a long poem on Christ's passion, told entirely from a woman's point of view, as well as the first country house poem published in England. Almost completely neglected until very recently, her work changes our perspective on Jacobean poetry and contradicts the common assumption that women wrote nothing of serious interest until much later. Mistress and friend of influential Elizabethan courtiers, Lanyer gives us a glimpse of the ideas and aspirations of a talented middle class Renaissance woman.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Woods has given us a balanced, informative, and above all usable edition, one that deserves the wide audience at which it is aimed."--ANQ

"A beautiful edition of an extraordinary collection of woman-centered poems from the Renaissance. I wish I'd known of them 30 years ago in graduate school!"--Toni A.H. McNaron, University of Minnesota

"Woods's deeply knowledgeable and sensitive editing brings the powerfully revisionary poetry of Aemilia Lanyer to us in an authoritative edition. This is a feminist collaboration, across the centuries, of the highest order."--Janel Mueller, University of Chicago

"It's wonderful to have Lanyer in a decent paperback edition. Like the Chudleigh volume, it's a great contribution to Renaissance classes."--Byron Nelson, West Virginia University

"Will be most helpful for my students."--Anthony Low, New York University

About the Author

Vice President and Dean of Franklin & Marshall College, Susanne Woods is also Director of the Women Writers Project at Brown University, where she taught for many years.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (September 16, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 019508361X
• ISBN-13: 978-0195083613
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #286,441 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Refreshing Woman Writer of the Renaissance, March 30, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Poems of Aemilia Lanyer: Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum (Women Writers in English 1350-1850) (Paperback)

In Aemilia Lanyer's only volume of published poems, SALVE DEUS REX JUDAORUM, this Renaissance author uses beautifully crafted poetry to defend women against prevailing negative female stereotypes of the time. In "Eve's Apology," this portion of the poem is spoken from the point of view of Pontius Pilate's wife, who is begging for the life of Christ. She explores who really bares the guilt in original sin. She is passionate, yet uses reason in her argument (something women were not thought cabable of doing) and makes her point that any guilt all women may bear in original sin will be far overshadowed by the guilt men, in turn, may bear for Pilate's order to execute Christ.

In addition, in "To the Virtuous Reader", Lanyer states that her purpose in writing is to praise women, and to make it known that they are not all lazy, gossiping, lecherous, deceitful, or stupid as most men of the time supposed. She includes a list of virtuous women to encourage and praise other women to use them as exemplum. If you are interested at all in a female writer's perspective on Renaissance ideas, I highly recommend Aeilia Lanyer's beautiful poetry.