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GARLAND OF LAUREL (OVERVIEW)
JOHN SKELTON (ca. 1495) The centerpiece poems of
Garland of Laurel—those that describe the ladies of the
embroidery circle of Elizabeth Tylney Howard, count-
ess of Surrey—were probably composed by JOHN SKEL-
TON about 1495 when he was a guest of the Howard
family at Sheriff Hutton Castle near York. The entire
work did not reach print until its publication by Rich-
ard Fakes on October 3, 1523. The second printed edi-
tion appeared in 1568 in the Pithy, Plesaunt, and
Profi table Workes of Maister Skelton, Poet Laureate, a col-
lection edited by John Stow, and there is one extant
manuscript.
Garland of Laurel summarizes Skelton’s accomplish-
ments in his bid to become lionized at the court of
Fame. The work is framed as a DREAM VISION in which
the poet/narrator encounters Fame, who accuses him
of writing SATIREs and other scurrilous poems but not
poems of love, in which endeavor the poet “is wonder
slak” (l. 68). To prove his worth as a love poet, Skelton
proceeds in 11 verses to praise each of the aristocratic
ladies who are making him a garland, or chaplet of lau-
rel, the poet’s laureate crown. The astronomical data
and locale cited in the poem identifi es these ladies as
the daughters and gentlewoman in the circle of Eliza-
beth, countess of Surrey (née Tylney), fi rst wife of
Thomas Howard, earl of Surrey and eventually duke of
Norfolk.
The poet declaims to the ladies within a courtly
chamber, fi rst addressing his noble patroness and then

her ladies by rank. In the manuscript, the short poems

are rendered one to a page, which gives the impression

of reading intimate personal letters, though in the

printed editions this layout has not been retained. The

dream-narrator is then shown into the presence of the

Queen of Fame. She is given Skelton’s book of writ-

ings, which is adorned in the Flemish style with realis-

tic depictions of insects, fl owers, “and slymy snaylis” (l.

1154) in the margins; every other line is written in

aurum musicum (“gold,” l. 1161). From this book,

Occupation then recites a lengthy list of Skelton’s pub-

lications, not all of them surviving (and some, like “The

Balade of the Mustarde Tarte,” possibly invented).

Thousands of orators and poets shout “Triumpha, tri-

umpha!” and trumpets and clarions sound as Skelton

is admitted to the ranks of other eminent English poets

such as GEOFFREY CHAUCER, JOHN GOWER, and JOHN

LYDGATE, who themselves appear in the poem as Skel-

ton’s sponsors. The loud acclaim wakes the sleeping

poet-narrator, and the poem concludes with a series of

Latin, French, and English verses, showing Skelton’s

wit and virtuosity at translation.

Skelton invented SKELTONICS, a verse form generally

characterized by short, rhythmic lines and variable,

often unusual rhyming. This form allowed Skelton to

write a range of poetry, from scathing satire to realistic

scenes of lower-class life to comic verse, as is found in

Garland of Laurel. Among Skelton’s sources for Garland

of Laurel are Chaucer’s The HOUSE OF FAME and the pro-

logue to The LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN. But the verses of

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