Meditation Of A Penitent Sinner By Anne Locke Analysis

The act of translation is an inherently derivative act, while simultaneously giving the author a new agency over the material. The translator becomes the new works author, in this case a translation of the Psalms of David translated by Anne Locke. The piece was distributed anonymously, so the credibility of the author’s work cannot lie with reputation, but with literary talent. An author can prove their intellect and the importance of their work to the audience through alluding to classical literary traditions, demonstrating their authority over the subject matter. A Meditation of a Penitent Sinner is unique in being the first English sonnet sequence. This means that while it is an inherently derivative work it is also implicitly new and innovative. Anne Locke would have been very aware of the importance of this poetic piece …show more content…
Anne Locke didn’t sign her name to the piece, instead signing her initials, creating even more anonymity as to who is the translator. This evokes the trope of the modesty topos, which poets had been using for centuries to both distance themselves from their work and call attention to how talented they are. The modesty topos is furthered by the fact that she says “it well agreeth with the same argument”. By doing this she is saying that the argument presented below isn’t hers but someone else’s so if the reader finds it problematic, she is not the one to blame. And yet, at the same time, if they find it problematic, perhaps the reader is the one that is wrong, as the argument is similar to that of Calvins, who has higher moral and spiritual authority than the average reader. She is apologizing, distancing, and refuting any arguments and criticisms from the piece, shielded from all possible attacks. This immediately shows her mastery over words and her ability to make many contradictory points in the same