having found a way to retain the appearance of virgin-
ity despite having lost it. Finally, the skilled rhetoric of
the seducer is reminiscent of the cad in WILLIAM SHAKE-
SPEARE’s A LOVER’S COMPLAINT.
See also MIDDLE ENGLISH LYRICS AND BALLADS.
FURTHER READING
Cartlidge, Neil. “ ‘Alas, I go With Chylde’: Representations
of Extra-Marital Pregnancy in the Middle English Lyric.”
English Studies 79, no. 5 (1998): 395–414.
Klinck, Anne L. and Ann Marie Rasmussen, eds. Medieval
Woman’s Song. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania
Press, 2002.
Allegra C. Johnston
WISDOM POETRY See ANGLO-SAXON RIDDLES.
“WOMANHOOD, WANTON” JOHN SKEL-
TON (1527) It is possible to attach the date of com-
position for “Womanhood, Wanton” to JOHN SKELTON’s
fi rst period at court (between 1485 and 1504), thanks
to its dedication to “Anne” of “Temmys street” (pre-
sumably Thames Street in London), though the poem
was fi rst printed in 1527. Skelton wrote “Womanhood”
in rough tetrameter, formally similar to his early lyrics
and suggesting that it may have been set to music. If
so, this music has been lost.
While the poem is often read as a monologue by a
man berating his lover, Anne, reading it as a dialogue
between lovers makes sense of otherwise baffl ing phal-
lic imagery and weak transitions between STANZAs.
The poem begins with a male speaker cataloguing
what are presumably his lover, Anne’s, faults: her
meddling, railing, and putting on of undeserved airs.
Anne responds to him in kind, attributing his abuse
to his fear that the price of her sexual favors will rise
(ll. 9–10) and assuring him he will not have to pay for
them (l. 11). This only further angers the male
speaker, who compares Anne to a “pohen” (peahen)
who spreads her tail proudly and is hence likely to
chase away himself and “others”—simultaneously
accusing Anne of pride and promiscuity (ll. 13–14).
At the beginning of the third stanza, Anne appropri-
ates the speaker’s language for her retort, comparing
the male speaker’s tongue to both an adder’s sting
and a scorpion’s tail (ll. 16–17).
At this point, the male speaker decides that the argu-
ment has gone on for long enough, and he tries to pla-
cate Anne with affectionate language and pet names
(“What prate ye,” he asks, “praty pyggysny?”) (l. 20).
The fourth stanza sees the lovers’ reconciliation and a
fi nal deployment of sexual imagery: Keys and locks
represent predictably situated male and female genita-
lia. The poem ends with a dedication to “Anne,” who
lives at the “Key” on “Temmys strete” (ll. 29–30).
This poem is typical of Skelton in that it combines
the conventions of 15th-century COURTLY LOVE poetry
(here, the berating of a proud and promiscuous
woman) with those of the seduced-serving-maid class
of popular lyrics (here, the frequent sexual imagery
and innuendo)—reacting to medieval poetic conven-
tions rather than anticipating the conventions of the
early Renaissance.
FURTHER READING
Dent, J. M. John Skelton. London: Orion Publishing Group,
1997.
Fish, Stanley Eugene. John Skelton’s Poetry. New Haven,
Conn.: Yale University Press, 1967.
Gordon, Ian A. John Skelton. New York: Octagon Books,
1970.
Nathaniel Z. Eastman“WOODMANSHIP” GEORGE GASCOIGNE (1572–
1573) “Woodmanship” is an autobiographical poem
in a mildly satiric, self-deprecating vein. GEORGE GAS-
COIGNE uses the occasion of a hunt with Lord Grey of
Wilton—and his own conspicuous lack of skill in the
pastime—as a poetic CONCEIT, or extended metaphor,
for his apparent ill fortune at every stage of life. The
poem is an address to Lord Grey, and in it Gascoigne
attempts to explain why he cannot hit a deer with an
arrow, even at close range. The reason, the poet says, is
that no matter what the target in life or learning, he
always misses. The bulk of the remainder of the poem
is a meditation on the failures he has experienced.
The cases Gascoigne expounds on are as follows: He
tried “philosophy” (l. 18) but found his wits “awry,” or
insuffi ciently rigorous (l. 20). His attempt at the study
of law, presumably at the Inns of Court, went similarly
askew (ll. 21–32). The next “miss” recounts his attempts“WOODMANSHIP” 473