The Anchor Book of Sixteenth Century Verse

Book excerpt: This comprehensive anthology contains selections from the work of twenty-five poets of the sixteenth century. Employing the original, rather than normalized, texts, the volume includes complete, non-excerpted poems by John Skelton, Philip Sidney and others. The selections - which include such works as 'The Steele Glass'. Richard S. Sylvester examines the evolution of English poetry through the century, tracing the development of the early Tudor poets through the eloquence of Surrey.