John Skelton (poet)
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John Skelton | |
---|---|
Born | c.1463 England |
Died | 21 June 1529 (aged 65–66) Westminster |
Resting place | St Margaret's, Westminster |
Occupation | Poet, tutor |
John Skelton, also known as John Shelton (c. 1463 – 21 June 1529), possibly born in
Education
Skelton is said to have been educated at
The laureateship referred to was a degree in
Poet laureate
In the last decade of the 15th century he was appointed tutor to Prince Henry (afterwards King
Skelton frequently signed himself "regius orator" and
During the rest of the century he figured in the popular imagination as an incorrigible practical joker. His sarcastic wit made him enemies, among them: Sir Christopher Garnesche or Garneys, Alexander Barclay, William Lilly and the French scholar, Robert Gaguin (c. 1425–1502). With Garneys he engaged in a regular "flyting," undertaken, he says, [citation needed] at the king's command, but Skelton's four poems read as if the abuse in them were dictated by genuine anger. Earlier in his career he found a friend and patron in Cardinal Wolsey, and the dedication to the cardinal of his Replycacion is couched in the most flattering terms. But in 1522, when Wolsey in his capacity of Papal legate dissolved convocation at St Paul's, Skelton put in circulation the couplet:
Gentle Paul, laie doune thy sweard
For Peter of Westminster hath shaven thy beard.
In Colyn Cloute he incidentally attacked Wolsey in a general satire on the clergy. Speke, Parrot and Why Come Ye nat to Courte? are direct and fierce invectives against the cardinal. To avoid another arrest Skelton took sanctuary in Westminster Abbey.[6] He was kindly received by the abbot, John Islip, who continued to protect him until his death. According to his biographer, Edward Braynewood, Skelton was buried before the high altar of Saint Margaret's Church with this inscription on alabaster: Joannes Skeltonus vates pierius hic situs est (Here lies John Skelton, Pierian bard).[4]
His works
In his Garlande of Laurell Skelton gives a long list of his works, only a few of which are extant. The garland in question was worked for him in silks, gold and pearls by the ladies of the
Skelton, falling into a dream at
The Boke of Phyllyp Sparowe, the lament of Jane Scroop, a schoolgirl in the
By the end of the 16th century he was a "rude rayling rimer" (Puttenham, Arte of English Poesie), and at the hands of Pope and Warton he fared even worse. His own criticism is a just one:
For though my ryme be ragged,
Tattered and jagged,
Rudely rayne beaten,
Rusty and moughte eaten,
It hath in it some pyth.
Colyn Cloute represents the average country man who gives his opinions on the state of the church. It is an indictment of the sins of the clergy before the
"Skelton Laureate against the Scottes" is a fierce song of triumph celebrating the
Skelton also wrote three plays, only one of which survives. Magnificence is one of the best examples of the morality play. It deals with the same topic as his satires - the evils of ambition. The play's moral, namely "how suddenly worldly wealth doth decay," was a favourite with him. Thomas Warton in his History of English Poetry described another piece titled Nigramansir, printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 1504. It deals with simony and the love of money in the church; but no copy is known to exist, and suspicion has been cast on Warton's statement.[2]
Illustration of Skelton's hold on public imagination is supplied from the stage. A play (1600) called Scogan and Shelton, by
Very few of Skelton productions are dated; their titles are here necessarily abbreviated. De Worde printed the Bowge of Court twice. Divers Batettys and dyties salacious devysed by Master Shelton Laureat, and Shelton Laureate agaynste a comely Coystroune have no date or printer's name, but are evidently from the press of Richard Pynson, who also printed Replycacion against certain yang scalers, dedicated to Wolsey. The Garlande or Chapelet of Laurell was printed by Richard Faukes (1523); Magnificence, A goodly interlude, probably by John Rastell about 1533, reprinted (1821) for the Roxburghe Club. Hereafter foloweth the Boke of Phyllyp Sparowe was printed by Richard Kele (1550?), Robert Toy, Antony Kitson (1560?), Abraham Veale (1570?), John Walley, John Wyght (1560?). Hereafter foloweth certaine bokes compyled by mayster Shelton ... including "Speke, Parrot", "Ware the Hawke", "Elynoure Rumpiynge and others", was printed by Richard Lant (1550?), John King and Thomas March (1565?), and by John Day (1560). Hereafter foloweth a title boke called Colyn Cloute and Hereafter ... Why Come Ye nat to Courte? were printed by Richard Kele (1550?) and in numerous subsequent editions. Pithy, plesaunt and profitable workes of maister Shelton, Poete Laureate. Nowe collected and newly published was printed in 1568, and reprinted in 1736. A scarce reprint of Filnour Rummin by Samuel Rand appeared in 1624.
Five of Skelton's "Tudor Portraits", including The Tunnying of Elynour Rummyng were set to music by Ralph Vaughan Williams in or around 1935. Although he changed the text to suit his music, the sentiments are well expressed. The four others are "My pretty Bess", "Epitaph of John Jayberd of Diss", "Jane Scroop (her lament for Philip Sparrow)", and "Jolly Rutterkin." The music is rarely performed, although it is considered funny,[by whom?] and captures the coarseness of Skelton in an inspired way.
See The Poetical Works of John Shelton; with Notes and some account of the author and his writings, by the Rev. Alexander Dyce (2 vols., 1843). A selection of his works was edited by WH Williams (London, 1902). See also Zur Charakteristik John Skeltons by Dr Arthur Koelbing (Stuttgart, 1904); F Brie, "Skelton Studien" in Englische Studien, vol. 38 (Heilbronn, 1877, etc.); A Rey, Skelton's Satirical Poems... (Berne, 1899); A Thummel, Studien über John Skelton (Leipzig-Reudnitz, 1905); G Saintsbury, Hist. of Eng. Prosody (vol. i, 1906); and A Kolbing in the Cambridge History of English Literature (vol. iii, 1909).
Family
John Skelton's lineage is difficult to prove.[
It is said that several of Skelton's works were inspired by women who were to become mothers to two of Henry VIII's six wives.[10] Elizabeth Boleyn (Howard), Countess of Wiltshire and Ormonde, was said to be so beautiful that Skelton compared her to Cressida. This comparison may have been a double entendre, because Cressida, as depicted by Chaucer in his work Troilus and Criseyde, was notable as a symbol of female inconstancy.[11] A popular but unverifiable legend suggests several poems were inspired by Margery Wentworth; she is noted as one of the women portrayed in Skelton's Garland of Laurel. She also is reported as having an eponymous poem written in her honour by Skelton.[12] Elizabeth was the mother of Anne Boleyn, Henry's second wife; Margery was the mother of his third, Jane Seymour.
See also
Notes
- ^ Ward, A.W.; Waller, A.R., eds. (1907–21). "Phyllyp Sparowe" The Cambridge History of English and American Literature. Vol. III. Renascence and Reformation. – via Bartleby.com.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "John Skelton". britannica.com. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. p. 185. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
- ^ "Skelton, John (SKLN493J)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
- ^ a b "John Skelton Poet Details 1460–1529". poetryfoundation.com. Poetry Foundation. Archived from the original on 12 January 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
- ^ A. à Wood (ed. P. Bliss), Athenae Oxonienses, with the Fasti, 3 Vols (F.C. & J. Rivington, etc, London 1813-), I, pp. 49-54, at p. 50 (Google).
- S2CID 203245657.
- JSTOR 3816746.
- ISBN 9781479883820.
What Skelton did do forcibly was hold high the banner of Christian morality against a crooked ecclesiastical institution.
- ISBN 9780521521390.
- ISBN 978-0874133721.
- ISBN 9780771089237.
- ISBN 9781445606781.
References
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Skelton, John". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 184–186. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
- "John Skelton". Poetry Foundation. Retrieved 2017-01-26.
- Edwards, Anthony, ed. (1981), John Skelton: The Critical Heritage, Routledge, ISBN 978-0415134019
- Kinsman, Robert S. (1963). "The Voices of Dissonance: Pattern in Skelton's "Colyn Cloute"". The Huntington Library Quarterly. XXVI, Number 4
- Lindvall, Terry (2015). God Mocks: A History of Religious Satire from the Hebrew Prophets to Stephen Colbert. NYU Press. pp. 69–71. ISBN 9781479883820
- Norton, Elizabeth (2009). Jane Seymour: Henry VIII's True Love. Amberley Publishing Limited. pp. 9–10. ISBN 9781445606781– via Books.google.com.
- Skelton, John (1992). Brownlow, F.W., ed. The Book of the Laurel. University of Delaware Press. pp. 32–33. ISBN 978-0874133721– via Books.google.com
- Skelton, John. Dyce, Alexander, ed. The Poetical Works of John Skelton: With Notes, and Some Account of the Author and His Writings. London: T. Rodd, 1843. 2 vols.
- Sobecki, Sebastian; Scattergood, John, eds. (2018). A Critical Companion to John Skelton. D.S. Brewer ISBN 978-1-84384-513-3
- Walker, Greg (2002). John Skelton and the Politics of the 1520s. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521521390– via Books.google.com
- Ward, A.W.; Waller, A.R., eds. (1907–21). "Phyllyp Sparowe" The Cambridge History of English and American Literature. Volume III. Renascence and Reformation. – via Bartleby.com
- Weir, Alison (2011). Mary Boleyn: Mistress of Kings. Random House Publishing Group
External links
- Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900. .
- The Skelton Project
- Works by or about John Skelton at Internet Archive
- Works by John Skelton at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- The Poems of John Skelton Complete works in modern spelling with notes, for online reading and multiple download formats at Ex-classics.
- Skelton's Grave
- Ware the Hawk
- Philip Sparrow
- John Skelton's "Speke Parott" video