Review Of Aemilia Lanyer's Country House Poems

As the first self-proclaimed female poet of the sixteenth century, Aemilia Lanyer at age 42 rattled the poetic world with her declaration. Lanyer’s first, and only book of poetry Salve Deus Rex Judeorum contained the first published ‘Country House’ poem, “The Description of Cook-Ham” in 1611 predating Ben Johnson’s famous country-house poem “To Penshurst” by five years. However, like Johnson Lanyer relied on patronage from wealthy, upper-class citizens to make a living as a poet, but unlike Johnson, Lanyer was not as popular nor paid as much. “The Description of Cookham” is one of Lanyer’s products of writing for patrons, specifically Margaret Countess of Cumberland, and her daughter Lady Anne Clifford. During her stay at Cookham with the women, Lanyer developed a friendly bond with them. Lanyer however was of lower class than the Countess and her daughter. The country-house poem exemplifies Lanyer’s anxieties and dejection over the ever present gap that existed between herself and the Countess. While Lanyer’s …show more content…
Through pleasant descriptions of the landscape, Lanyer describes how just the presence of the Countess has a profound effect upon the land itself, “How often did you visit this fair tree, / Which seeming joyful in receiving thee” (Cookham 79-60)), Lanyer personifies nature in order to establish the otherworldly characteristics of the Countess, in turn elevating her far above herself as a poet. In reference to the Countess and her influence, Elaine V. Beilin suggests that, “The Countess’s presence blesses the landscape, her daughter, and the poet, who is enabled to write her poem in praise of divine virtue” (Beilin 202), which is reflected throughout the poem, as Lanyer mirrors her praises through direct mention of herself, and through the animals, and landscape’s personified