peace, these enemies respond by being quick to arm
themselves for war.
Psalm 120 is a tightly crafted exercise in metrical
precision, allusiveness, and imagery. Beyond its care-
ful composition, what makes this psalm paraphrase
remarkable is the raw yet controlled emotion, the
careful yet earnest political coding, and the succinct
yet expansive religious sentiment that Herbert expresses
so confi dently.
See also SIDNEAN PSALMS (OVERVIEW).
Emily Smith
Sidneian Psalms: Psalm 121 (“Levavi Oculos,”
“Unto the hills, I now will bend”) MARY SIDNEY
HERBERT, COUNTESS OF PEMBROKE (1599) Both the
theme and diction of Psalm 121 combine to produce a
tone of celebration. The people rejoice as they see the
hills of Judaea; their praise and thanksgiving, however,
may be extended to all of God’s people—contempo-
rary Protestants as well as Old Testament exiles. Psalm
121 underscores the dangers of travel, using repetition
and questions to contrast the mortal problems God’s
people face with their eternal expectation of divine
assistance. “What? and doe I behold the lovely moun-
taines, / whence comes all my reliefe, my aid, my com-
fort?” (ll. 1–2) begins the poem. Line 4 repeats the
second line, suggesting that God’s divine support is
both near and far—something that the speaker can see
and believe in, but not something immediately pres-
ent. “March, march, lustily on, redoubt no falling” (l.
5), the speaker encourages. God needs no sleep or rest,
and is never absent when his people face perils.
Then people should march on by day, despite the
heat of the sun. By night, he repeats, the people should
continue to journey, despite the “Moony vapors” (l.
16). Journey by night or day is identifi ed as dangerous;
neither the sun nor the moon look upon travelers with
kindness; both day and night are fraught with peril.
Despite the evident danger, though, God remains con-
stant, offering protection from every hazard. Still, the
psalm ends with confi dent joy. Through God, each
traveler will be “safe in all thy goings, in all thy com-
ings, / now thou shalt by his hand, yea still be guarded”
(ll. 19–20). Though the travelers have not yet reached
their destination, they may still expect God’s contin-
ued comfort and protection as they continue their
journey.
See also HERBERT, MARY SIDNEY; SIDNEAN PSALMS
(OVERVIEW).
Winter ElliottSidneian Psalms: Psalm 139 (“Domine Pro -
basti,” “O Lord, in me there lieth nought”)
MARY SIDNEY HERBERT, COUNTESS OF PEMBROKE
(1599) In the biblical version of Psalm 139, the pat-
tern of stark contrasts of beginning and ends, before
and after, and high and low is intended to show God’s
absolute knowledge and protection. In MARY SIDNEY
HERBERT’s translation, there is a smoothing out of the
contrasts. She replaces them with puns and jangling
wordplay—a characteristic found in Hebrew poetry,
but also a favorite Elizabethan practice.
The wordplay itself becomes a way of deeply know-
ing, a kind of secret probing that seems to hide its
intentions just as it is at work. Both eye and ear are
important to the rhyme that Herbert imposes on the
verse. As the psalm develops, she follows closely the
subject of the biblical psalm, choosing not to inject
herself or typical imagery from her time period. God is
both creator and knower, and cursing against God’s
enemies reveals devotion to God.
Psalm 139 is representative of Herbert’s method in
the translation of the Psalms: Her work shows the tri-
umph of the Protestant vision of the world, especially
in its reliance upon personal reading of the Bible, cou-
pled with religious and political triumph.
See also SIDNEAN PSALMS (OVERVIEW).
Daniel F. PiggSIDNEY, SIR PHILIP (1554–1586) Born to
Sir Henry Sidney, lord deputy of Ireland, and Lady
Mary Dudley Sidney, sister of Robert Dudley, earl of
Leicester, Sir Philip Sidney was a celebrity during his
own lifetime. At age 10, he entered Shrewsbury School,
where he met his lifelong friend and biographer, SIR
FULKE GREVILLE. Though he later attended Oxford Uni-
versity, Sidney did not take a degree; rather, he supple-
mented his formal education with three years of extensiveSIDNEY, SIR PHILIP 407