in English. (Terza rima usually consists of tercets in
iambic pentameter.) However, when her husband died
in 1601, Mary retired from public life and from writ-
ing. By the time JAMES VI/I ascended the English throne,
Mary’s sons had taken over her role as literary patron,
and she retired to her estate in Wiltshire. There she
commissioned an “architecturally innovative” house,
and carried on a fl irtation with Sir Matthew Lister.
Mary died of smallpox on September 25, 1621, and
was buried in Salisbury Cathedral.
Besides her obvious literary patronage, Mary Her-
bert served as a inspiration for aspiring female writers,
including her niece, also Mary Sidney, later Lady
Wroth (author of Urania), and Aemilia Lanyer, who
dedicated her poem Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum (1611)
to Mary Herbert. However, she also inspired male
poets, such as John Donne and George Herbert, par-
ticularly through her skillful renditions of the Psalms.
See also “EVEN NOW THAT CARE,” “TO THE THRICE-
SACRED QUEEN ELIZABETH.”
FURTHER READING
Hannay, Margaret P. Philip’s Phoenix: Mary Sidney, Countess
of Pembroke. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990.
Waller, Gary. Mary Sidney, Countess of Pembroke: A Critical
Study of Her Writings and Literary Milieu. Salzburg: Uni-
versity of Salzburg Press, 1979.
Young, Frances B. Mary Sidney, Countess of Pembroke. Lon-
don: David Nutt, 1912.
HEREBERT, WILLIAM See “WHAT IS HE, THIS
LORDLING, THAT COMETH FROM THE FYHT.”
HERO AND LEANDER CHRISTOPHER MAR-
LOWE (1598) Hero and Leander is English literature’s
fi nest EPYLLION, or minor epic, a genre that became
popular in the 1590s. Most scholars date its composi-
tion to 1593, the year of CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE’s death,
though it was not published until 1598, when two edi-
tions appeared. The fi rst edition, published by Edward
Blount, described Hero and Leander as an “unfi nished
tragedy” and printed it with no subdivisions. In the
second edition, George Chapman divided Marlowe’s
poem into two parts, which he called Sestiads (from
the poem’s setting in Sestos), and added “arguments”
(introductory summaries) to each. Chapman then
added an additional four Sestiads of his own, which
completed the traditional story of Hero and Leander.
Both early editions thus indicate that Marlowe’s poem
was unfi nished, though this view has been recently
disputed.
Marlowe’s poem is based on Musaeus’s Hero and
Leander (fi fth century), although Marlowe has
expanded greatly on his source. Marlowe also used the
versions of the story in OVID’s Heroides and the refer-
ence to it in Ovid’s Amores, which he had translated.
The meter of Hero and Leander is the HEROIC COUPLET
that Marlowe had pioneered for All Ovid’s Elegies.
The plot of Hero and Leander is simple. Hero is an
extremely beautiful priestess who attracts many admir-
ers. However, because of her vow of chastity, she has
spurned all lovers. The equally beautiful Leander, who
lives across the Hellespont in Abydos, is a young man
who has not yet known love. When he attends a reli-
gious festival in Sestos, it is love at fi rst sight for both of
them. He speaks to her, declaring both his love and the
foolishness of her preservation of her virginity. Due to
her modesty and her religious vows, Hero is extremely
confused; nonetheless, she invites Leander to her dwell-
ing, a small tower by the sea. The action is interrupted
at this point by a lengthy digression: Cupid’s desire that
the couple’s love be blessed by the fates leads into an
elaborate “myth” of Marlowe’s own making, which
begins with Mercury’s love for a country maiden and
ends with an explanation of scholarly poverty.
Following Hero’s invitation, the lovers exchange let-
ters, and Leander then visits Hero at her tower and
stays the night. However, because of Leander’s inexpe-
rience and Hero’s concern for her chastity, their love
play does not extend beyond kissing. Leander leaves in
the morning, but his wearing of myrtle together with
Hero’s ribbon and ring makes their love apparent
throughout Sestos and Abydos. His father tries to dis-
courage their love, which only makes Leander more
determined. Spying Hero’s tower from across the Hel-
lespont, he resolves to swim to her. As he swims, he
encounters Neptune, who is attracted to him. The
naïve Leander assumes that Neptune has mistaken him
for a woman, until the god attempts seduction by relat-
ing the tale of a shepherd who loved a boy. Impatient
to see Hero, Leander abruptly leaves, which angers theHERO AND LEANDER 217