Pamphilia to Amphilanthus

by Mary Wroth

A beautifully produced paperback of Lady Mary Wroth's work.

Genres: Poetry, Classics, Romance

114 pages, Paperback

First published January 10, 2010

About the author

Lady Mary Wroth (1587–1651/3) was an English poet of the Renaissance. A member of a distinguished literary English family, Wroth was among the first female British writers to have achieved an enduring reputation. She is perhaps best known for having written The Countesse of Mountgomeries Urania, the first extant prose romance by an English woman, and for Pamphilia to Amphilanthus, the first known sonnet sequence by an English woman.

Reviews

[Miles Hupert · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is especially interesting to see how her poetry is different and altered due to her being a woman at this time, looking at how the paradigm of the lyric poem's structure changes when the pursued is a man and not a woman. I want to learn more about her larger form of writing as a roman à clef for her own marital life.

[Kayla Randolph · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately, it really didn’t hold my interest.

That said, my favorite song was “The spring time of my first loving” (1:13:43). Also, Pamphilia is an authorial name if I’ve ever heard one.

[Mandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

These poems and songs are written from Pamphilia's perspective; she loves Amphilanthus but he cannot remain constant to her, so she's constantly suffering and berating the gods of love for her state.

I was most interested in how this poetic sequence portrayed constancy, which is typically a feminine virtue, but in Wroth's poems it is interestingly made a male one that Amphilanthus lacks.

[Lecy Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poems about a woman who loves a man who cannot stay faithful to her. Meh.

[Amaranta · Rating 5 out of 5]

*edited after taking my class about Mary wroth*
so i do not have idea why there is a discussion of "scholars" saying this is boring, well, in fact i think i know, and it is because Mary wroth is amazing, her poetry unlike men's poetry is very deep and has many subtexts and different layers. i will come again to edit my review because mary wroth deserves a good review



Is Mary Wroth's poetry boring?
I truly do not know because I do not like sonnet sequences. I fell sleep reading even shakespeare lol. However, I think her poems told me something when I read them as individual pieces.
I was looking for more info about Mary Wroth and I found this blog that I really hated. So, this guy or "professor" is telling me that he quit Mary Wroth from his syllabus just because "she is boring"??????????????????????????? well, in fact, for me and my classmates men from this period are worst than boring and obsolete. I think he was just so used to read men, that reading another perspective of life seems just wrong and boring.

I prefer to read Wroth's poetry than Jonson and others.

But I should say that I agree in one point... Lanyer was more interesting for me. BUT I should remember all of us that well... this is not a competition and there is plenty of space to read both of them (wroth and lanyer), not only to erase them and keep reading "paradise lost" as this "professor" suggests.

[Dominique Clarke]

adivinen quién tiene la defensa oral del grado la próxima semana? (parte 1)
igual impactante ver que una mujer tenía MUY CLARA la película de lo que era el amor romántico en 1621:
(las citas estan en inglés moderno lo ziento)
“Yet this Sir God, your boyship I dispise
Your charmed I obay, butt love nott want of eyes”
->women were rejecting blind, boyish-whim love in the 1600s

“Must I be still, while it my strength devours
And captive leads me prisoner bound, unfree?”
->está loca dijo “basta” qué es esta pelotudez del amor romántico. DEMANDA DIJO LA LULI

[cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will say, she's not my favourite Renaissance poet BUT I'm such a sucker for sonnet sequences, I'm always blown away by them probably because I know I could never write anything like that, ESPECIALLY the Crown of Sonnets? That's insane.

[jules · Rating 3 out of 5]

super interesting to read a petrarchan sonnet sequence written by a woman, and to look at how some of the poems from manuscript to print. not all of them did much for me but the crown of sonnets dedicated to love was VERY cool.

[marta · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Phoebe Meikle · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 better than her uncle, but completely copied her uncle

[Gemma Falasconi]

- only read: Pam Philip to amphilanthus 16, 40

[Lily · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked some of the poems but unfortunately they didn't capture me as much as her uncle's sonnet sequence.

[Charlotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

lady mary wroth is so angry about things and it's pretty inspiring. lovely sonnets.