to gain favor and position at the royal court, where,
instead of showing proper discretion (l. 40), he fell prey
to prodigality, fl attery, and foppishness—in short, he
found that he could not afford it. He next describes his
military career, which led him to fi ght against the Span-
ish in Flushing in 1572—and convinced him that he is
no soldier.
From this point in the poem, Gascoigne adopts a tone
more overtly indebted to the satirical tradition, as start-
ing in line 73 he describes how he cannot wrest gain
from the multiple forms of dishonesty that other men
fi nd so attractive (ll. 73–86). Typically for the tradition,
he makes his lack of success a mark of simplicity and
honesty—and goes on to assert that his lack of success is
not attributable a lack of virtue. He shows that he does
in fact know some worthwhile things, from Aristotle (ll.
100–102), Cicero (ll. 103–104), and various legal author-
ities from his time at the Inns of Court (ll. 105–106).
Though he did not become a philosopher or lawyer, he
did benefi t in some way. This self-assurance, however,
quickly retreats before renewed complaint about those
whose successes come too easily or unworthily—those
who know less or lack virtue, but somehow manage to
gain position and wealth (ll. 109–124).
The last portion of the poem rehearses the self-pity-
ing possibility that even were the poet to shoot a deer
by some stroke of fate, she would prove a “carrion car-
cass” (l. 130), unfi t for any use. It would not be a total
loss, he adds: Divine providence could very well pro-
vide such a deer to reinforce the lesson that a gold
exterior may very well hide “brass” innards (ll. 143–
144). It is perhaps the case, then, that these kinds of
misfortunes are meant to protect him from the moral
blindness that equates show with substance.
In both its overall tone and its subject matter, Gas-
coigne’s “Woodmanship” owes a lot to earlier satirical
poems such as SIR JOHN WYATT’s “MINE OWN JOHN
POINS,” especially in its conclusions that great position
comes often at too high a cost—that simplicity in life
and manners is preferable if it equates to honesty of
soul. The poem is notable for its humorous, self-depre-
cating tone that strays only slightly into strenuous COM-
PLAINT—which may have something to do with the fact
that it is more or less a litany of failure, not an explana-
tion of a moral choice as in the case of Wyatt’s poem.
In reading the poem, it is helpful to remember that
many of Gascoigne’s poems talk about a misspent
youth and his subsequent desire to reform, so critics
often see “Woodmanship” in particular as a type of
Prodigal Son narrative. In addition to the poet’s own
travails, the poem illustrates that for a young man of
limited means, the path to political or social improve-
ment in Tudor England could be quite rocky.
See also COURT CULTURE, SATIRE, “SEVEN SONNETS FOR
ALEXANDER NEVILLE.”
FURTHER READING
Helgerson, Richard. Elizabethan Prodigals. Berkeley, Los
Angeles, and London: University of California Press,
1976.
Prouty, C. T. George Gascoigne: Elizabethan Courtier, Soldier,
and Poet. New York: Benjamin Blom, 1966.
———. George Gascoigne’s a Hundreth Sundrie Flowres.
Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1970.
Christopher A. HillWORDE, WYNKYN DE (ca. 1455–1535)
Not much is known about the life of Wynkyn de
Worde before his arrival in England. There is some
question about his birthplace; although his 1496 letter
of denization (a legal precursor to naturalization) states
that he was from the duchy of Lorraine, neither of the
locations that have been suggested as his birthplace
(Woerth-sur-Sauer, Wörth am Rhein) were in the
duchy at the time he was born.
It is probable that Worde met WILLIAM CAXTON in
Cologne around 1471–72 and thereafter followed Cax-
ton as his assistant, fi rst to Bruges and, fi nally, to Eng-
land in 1476. Worde worked with Caxton until the
latter’s death in 1492, when he took over the older
printer’s business. He lived in Westminster near Cax-
ton’s shop at the sign of the Red Pale; the records of
Westminster Abbey note that Worde and his wife,
Elizabeth, rented two tenements within its sanctuary,
and the pair were members of the Fraternity of the
Assumption at the church of St. Margaret’s, Westmin-
ster, until her death in 1498.
Worde maintained Caxton’s press in Westminster
for a decade before moving the press to Fleet Street in
the City of London, setting up shop at the sign of the
Sun in 1501; he also maintained a stall in the church-474 WORDE, WYNKYN DE