The Example of Vertu

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Pages: 85

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About this book

In a dream set among flowers and sweet-smelling trees, a young speaker meets a lady who offers to guide his conduct. Her counsel ranges from loyalty to the king to caution about flattering speech and the instability of worldly success. Stephen Hawes gives these moral lessons the shape of an adventure in verse, with a dangerous sea crossing leading to an island of precious stones and golden earth.

The poem turns human qualities into figures who speak, advise and govern richly described places. In the middle passage, the speaker is prepared to seek Clennesse, a king's daughter, and receives help against the temptations expected along the way. Rivers, a dark wilderness and wild creatures make the outward route part of his moral education. Readers interested in older English poetry can follow its stanza patterns, unfamiliar spellings and blend of religious instruction with courtly scenery.