Reading Sixteenth-Century Poetry

“Highly useful in addressing the formal and generic concerns of sixteenth-century poets, and thus in demonstrating close reading, Reading Sixteenth-Century Poetry fails to address the equally important political and theoretical period discourses or the methodologies needed to address them. The unbalanced infatuation with authorial vocation and authorial perspectives thus limits the usefulness of the text. Cheney’s companion text may thus represent a more widespread return to traditional author-centered interpretive theories and a
turn away from poststructural approaches.”  (Journal of the Northern Renaissance, 1 December 2012)

"Cheney's eye for such intertextual allusion transforms what could have been a series of isolated close readings into a delicately unified exposition of a century's worth of literary dialogue." (Times Literary Supplement, 23 December 2011)

"A carefully selected bibliography that focuses on background sources as well as on primary works and significant critical material is a valuable supplement to the author's consideration of the poetry. Cheney develops his thesis clearly and makes an important contribution to Renaissance scholarship. Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty." (Choice, 1 October 2011)

"Patrick Cheney's "Reading Sixteenth Century Poetry" provides a new and indispensible map of English poetry together with its voices, career structures, influences and historical contexts. Cheney's cohesive account challenges the standard narrative about the development of poetry in England and does so through dazzling readings of the verse. The volume's well-paced, lucid prose style also succeeds in making it accessible to undergraduates even as it provides fresh and important insights for scholars. Everybody should teach this book."
—Dympna Callaghan, Syracuse University

"Patrick Cheney's Reading Sixteenth-Century Poetry is remarkable. Not only does it constitute a masterful and eminently readable introduction to some of the greatest poetry in the English language, but it also provides a set of enabling tools with which this poetry is best approached. Providing close analysis and the broad picture, paying attention to text as well as context, Cheney is a compelling guide to how to read sixteenth-century poetry. I cannot imagine a student who will not greatly benefit from this study."
—Lukas Erne, University of Geneva