distance. Morfudd, described as fair-haired and tem-
peramental, features in over 35 poems that refl ect dif-
ferent stages of her life. Dafydd’s poem about her old
age is especially masterful and moving.
Nature also features prominently in Dafydd’s poetry,
usually in combination with love or religion, and only
rarely on its own. In Dafydd’s work, nature is used to
enhance his experiences of love or, occasionally, to hin-
der him in his pursuit of love trysts. Sometimes this has
led to his being termed a “summer poet.” However,
Dafydd’s poetry is wide-ranging and masterful on many
levels, and it is paradoxical in nature: part of the native
Welsh tradition, yet seemingly infl uenced by foreign
ideas; comprised of experimental poetic forms, yet
refl ective of the traditional meters; lighthearted and
humorous, yet insightful and astute. A nature poet in
love with love, Dafydd ap Gwilym is very diffi cult to pin
down, and perhaps this is part of his enduring charm.
See also “TROUBLE IN A TAVERN.”
FURTHER READING
Bromwich, Rachel. Aspects of the Poetry of Dafydd ap Gwilym.
Collected Papers. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1986.
———. Dafydd ap Gwilym: A Selection of Poems. Llandysul,
Wales: Gomer Press, 1993.
Edwards, Huw Meirion. Dafydd ap Gwilym: Infl uences and
Analogues. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996.
Fulton, Helen. Selections from the Dafydd ap Gwilym Apocry-
pha. Llandysul, Wales: Gomer Press, 1996.
Parry, Thomas, ed. Gwaith Dafydd ap Gwilym. Cardiff: Uni-
versity of Wales Press, 1952.
Thomas, Gwyn, trans. Dafydd ap Gwilym: His Poems. Cardiff:
University of Wales Press, 2001.
Sara Elin Roberts
DANIEL, SAMUEL (ca. 1562–1619) Born in
either Somerset or Wiltshire, Samuel Daniel entered
Magdalen Hall, Oxford University, on November 17,
1581, leaving three years later without taking a degree.
In 1585, he published The Worthy Tract of Paulus Jovius,
a translation of Paolo Giovo’s book of impresas (a com-
bination of enigmatic pictures and accompanying mot-
tos), Dialogo dell’imprese militari et amorose (1555).
Daniel’s translation marks the fi rst exposure England
had to French and Italian EMBLEM books. DELIA, a SON-
NET SEQUENCE, was clandestinely published alongside
SIR PHILIP SIDNEY’s ASTROPHIL AND STELLA and then repub-
lished with the Sidney family’s consent. Daniel then
came under the PATRONAGE of MARY SIDNEY HERBERT,
countess of Pembroke, publishing Cleopatra (1594), a
Senecan closet drama, as a companion piece to the
countess’s translation of Robert Garnier’s Marc-Antoine.
By 1593, Charles Blount, Lord Mountjoy, had
befriended Daniel, and he became the poet’s new
patron. Daniel appropriately dedicated his works to
Mountjoy, such as The Poetical Essays (1599), which
include “Musophilus, or a Defence of All Learning”;
and “A Letter from Octavia.” He continued writing,
and by 1604, he was working under the patronage of
Queen Anne, wife of JAMES VI/I. Daniel primarily wrote
plays and masques for the queen, including The Queen’s
Arcadia (1605), the fi rst PASTORAL drama in English. He
spent the last few years of his life on a prose history of
England, of which he published the First Part of the
History of England (1612) and later the Collection of the
History of England (1618). For many years, he was
remembered as a historian rather than as a poet. Daniel
was buried on October 14, 1619, at Beckington in
Somerset.
See also EKPHRASIS.
FURTHER READING
Rees, Joan. Samuel Daniel: A Critical and Biographical Study.
Liverpool, U.K.: Liverpool University Press, 1964.
Seronsky, Cecil. Samuel Daniel. New York: Twayne Publish-
ers, 1967.
Josie PanzutoDARK LADY This title refers to the mistress in
SHAKESPEARE’S SONNETS. She becomes the particular
focus of Sonnets 127–154. Scholars have dubbed the
mistress the Dark Lady, though WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
only calls her “dark” once, in Sonnet 147. The poems
devoted to her feature highly sexualized language and
are the most discordant passions of the SONNETs. Some
scholars believe that the Dark Lady is married to a man
whose name is Will, that she is pursued by Will the
poet, and that she is also sought after by a third Will, a
friend of the poet. Other scholars have linked her to
Mary Fitton, a noted beauty of the Tudor court (see
COURT CULTURE).DARK LADY 139