“The Pillar Perished” thus provides an exemplary
model of Wyatt’s translation, skills which not only
entail linguistic transposition, but also incorporate
semantic and contextual metamorphosis. What appears
to be a straightforward reproduction of an ITALIAN
(PETRARCHAN) SONNET harbors an implicit critique of a
sovereign’s power that could never have been made
explicitly; thus, the oblique language of poetry enables
freedom of speech.
FURTHER READING
Daalder, Joost, ed. Sir Thomas Wyatt: Collected Poems.
Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1975.
Greenblatt, Stephen. Renaissance Self-Fashioning: From More
to Shakespeare. Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
1980.
POETS OF THE NOBILITY (fl. 1282–1526)
The Poets of the Nobility fl ourished after the fall of
independent Wales (1282–84). Metric and thematic
innovation, engagement with outside (particularly
French) literary infl uences, and the element of enter-
tainment characterize this poetry. The best-known
among these poets, DAFYDD AP GWILYM, is credited with
developing the distinctive CYWYDD meter, initially used
exclusively for love poems but eventually applied to
formal poetry. Other notable Poets of the Nobility
include Gruffudd Llwyd (d. 1335), Gwerful Mechain
(fl. 1462–1510), and Llywelyn Bren (d. 1318).
See also POETS OF THE PRINCES; WELSH WOMEN POETS.
FURTHER READING
Loomis, Richard, and Dafydd Johnston, eds. and trans.
Medieval Welsh Poems. Binghamton, N.Y.: Medieval &
Renaissance Texts & Studies, 1992.
Kathleen H. Formosa
POETS OF THE PRINCES (fl. ca. 1100–
1282) The Poets of the Princes sang in the courts of
the independent Welsh princes. They held offi cial
court positions since poetic recitals served a ceremo-
nial function, and their duties, status, and rights were
defi ned and protected by law. Thematically, their
poetry is deliberately nostalgic, celebrating ancient
Welsh heroes and featuring elaborate genealogies.
Common poetic conventions included hyperbolic
praise, ornate metric forms, and complex ALLITERATION,
as well as internal and end rhyme. These poets were
the direct inheritors of a venerable, distinctly Welsh
tradition founded by Aneirin and TALIESIN, and include
such writers as Cynddelw and Cuhelyn of Cemais.
See also POETS OF THE NOBILITY; WELSH WOMEN POETS.
FURTHER READING
Lewis, Ceri W. “The Court Poets: Their Function, Status
and Craft.” In A Guide to Welsh Literature, Vol. 1, edited
by A. O. H. Jarman and Gwilym Rees Hughes, 123–156.
Swansea: Christopher Davies, 1976.
Kathleen H. Formosa“PRIORESS’S TALE, THE” GEOFFREY CHAU-
CER (ca. 1385) “The Prioress’s Tale” is part of GEOF-
FREY CHAUCER’s The CANTERBURY TALES. Written in stately
RHYME ROYAL, the tale is 238 lines long and the shortest
of the completed tales. The shortness of the poem sug-
gests that it had been recited during a visit on March
26, 1387, by King Richard II and Queen Anne to Lin-
coln Cathedral, which houses the shrine of St. Hugh,
the young Christian martyr mentioned at the end of
this tale. “The Prioress’s Tale” belongs to the narrative
grouping called the Miracles of the Virgin, which is a
subgenre of the greater group known by its Latin term
legenda (saints’ legends); it is related to HAGIOGRAPHY.
“The Prioress’s Tale” is based on these stories in which,
upon hearing the pleas from her devotees, the Virgin
Mary rescues them from danger or harm. These stories
of miraculous rescue and protection by the Virgin Mary
became highly popular between the 12th and 15th
centuries and were disseminated throughout Europe
in a variety of narrative forms, both written and oral.
The tale’s prologue is a devotional prayer to the Vir-
gin Mary. The fi ve STANZAs mark an allusion to the fi ve
joys and fi ve sorrows of the Virgin Mary. Praising the
Virgin Mary’s power and goodness, the Prioress pleads
for her aid in telling the story of the little Christian boy
who becomes a martyr in the service of the Virgin
Mary. This devotion is a masterful interweaving by
Chaucer of echoes and allusions from a variety of reli-
gious sources, such as Psalm 8, the biblical story of
Herod’s slaughter of the innocents, the Mass of the
Holy Innocents, and the Little Offi ce of the Virgin
Mary. Emphasis is placed heavily in the tale on the332 POETS OF THE NOBILITY