construction of the Psalter as well as Elizabeth’s rule and
her connection to the Protestant scriptures. The biblical
Psalms were attributed to the Old Testament’s King
David, an attribution that enhanced their appropriate-
ness for a monarch. Indeed, Herbert’s dedication of the
Sidnean Psalms to Elizabeth falls perfectly into a lengthy
tradition of Tudor piety, and Herbert herself under-
scores the connection between David and Elizabeth in
the poem when she says, “A King should onely to a
Queene bee sent” (l. 53). Herbert relies on this associa-
tion between David and Elizabeth throughout the poem,
drawing lengthy comparisons between his life and hers.
“Even now that Care” maintains a gracious and
highly complimentary tone throughout its 12 STANZAs.
The cares mentioned in the fi rst line draw attention to
Elizabeth’s heavy burdens of state, but the second
stanza metaphorically lightens the weight of the queen’s
responsibilities by drawing attention to her accom-
plishments and her God-given gifts, as well as her
endurance: “To others toile, is Exercise to thee” (l. 16).
To Elizabeth, work—which might include reading the
Psalms—is but a trifl ing exercise.
Interestingly, “Even now that Care” differs from
other dedicatory poems in its lack of references to Eliz-
abeth’s beauty or to mythological fi gures. Instead, Her-
bert tenders a higher compliment: She orients the
poem around Elizabeth’s political accomplishments as
well as her relationship to Protestantism, praising
actual accomplishments instead of fantastic adven-
tures. Thus, the queen’s real accomplishments are
raised to the level of biblical heroism. The poem also
contains subtle reminders of Elizabeth’s role as effec-
tive guardian of Protestantism; part of her ruler’s bur-
den is to “dispose / What Europe acts in theise most
active times” (ll. 7–8), suggesting that she is a guardian
of Protestantism abroad as well as in England.
Early in the poem, Herbert acknowledges the dual
authorship of the Psalms, noting that “Which once in
two, now in one Subject goe, / the poorer left, the
richer reft awaye” (ll. 21–22). SIR PHILIP SIDNEY had
begun the work, but Mary Sidney Herbert was actually
responsible for the bulk of the translation, as her
brother died having completed only Psalms 1–43. Her-
bert expresses her grief for her brother’s death as well
as her own determination to fi nish the work: “hee did
warpe, I weav’d this webb to end” (l. 27). Herbert’s
comparison of the Psalter to a cloth or a piece of cloth-
ing allows her to commend her own translation, as she
notes that the Psalms have often worn worse—or been
translated in inferior versions.
Much of the poem, unsurprisingly, consists of praise
for the duration and extent of Elizabeth’s rule. As
queen, Elizabeth controls “two hemispheres” (l. 75),
suggestive of both her inherited throne and the power
she wields in the New World. Elizabeth’s dominion
over men also merits mention. Herbert observes that:Kings on a Queene enforst their states to lay;
Main-lands for Empire waiting on an Ile;
Men drawne by worth a woman to obey;
One moving all, herself unmov’d the while
(ll. 81–84)Despite her sex, Elizabeth rules at the center of the
world, and perhaps the universe, as the image of Eliza-
beth “unmov’d” suggests the Elizabethan concept of
the primum mobile, or prime mover, responsible for
the revolution of the heavens, but not itself moved.
The poem ends with the hope that Elizabeth will
continue to live and thrive far beyond her peers, until
she rivals “Judas Faithful King” (l. 94), David. Herbert
ultimately encourages Elizabeth to do “more then hee”
(l. 95) and to “Sing what God doth, and doo What men
may sing” (l. 96). Elizabeth not only parallels David’s
life and rule, but ultimately exceeds it—and is, fi nally,
a deserving recipient of David’s Psalms.
See also “TO THE THRICE-SACRED QUEEN ELIZABETH.”
FURTHER READING
Hannay, Margaret P., Noel J. Kinnamon, and Michael G.
Brennan, eds. The Collected Works of Mary Sidney Herbert,
Countess of Pembroke. 2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press,
1998.
Hannay, Margaret P. Philip’s Phoenix: Mary Sidney, Countess
of Pembroke. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990.
———. Silent But for the Word: Tudor Women as Patrons,
Translators, and Writers of Religious Works. Kent, Ohio:
Kent State University Press, 1985.EXEGESIS Exegesis, the science of biblical inter-
pretation, was heavily infl uenced in Europe by earlyEXEGESIS 169