FURTHER READING
Edwards, Anthony S. G., ed. Skelton, the Critical Heritage.
London and Boston: Routledge/Kegan Paul Press, 1981.
Kinney, Arthur. John Skelton, Priest as Poet. Chapel Hill, N.C.
and London: University of North Carolina Press, 1987.
Walker, Greg. John Skelton and the Politics of the 1520’s. Cam-
bridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1988.
SKELTONICS As the term suggests, Skeltonics
is a verse form associated with the court poet and sati-
rist JOHN SKELTON (ca. 1460–1529). Consisting of two
accented syllables and an irregular number of unac-
cented syllables, the short lines proceed rapidly, almost
breathlessly. This hurried effect is compounded by the
frequent presence of ALLITERATION and rhyming COU-
PLETs and triplets; sometimes as many as a dozen con-
secutive lines end on the same rhyme. When used to
interrupt other metrical forms, Skeltonic passages often
feature catalogues similar to a BLAZON, emphasizing the
comic, even grotesque, features of the verse’s subjects.
Though rejected by GEORGE PUTTENHAM in his ART OF
ENGLISH POESY as “short measures pleasing onely the
popular eare,” the simple meter was praised by Auden
as wonderfully akin to the rhythm of natural speech.
See also GARLAND OF LAUREL; “PHILIP SPARROW.”
Candace Barrington
“SO CRUEL PRISON” (“W INDSOR
ELEGY,” “ELEGY ON THE DUKE OF
RICHMOND,” “PRISONED IN WIND-
SOR, HE RECOUNTETH HIS PLEASURE
THERE”) HENRY HOWARD, EARL OF SURREY
(1537) This poem by HENRY HOWARD, EARL OF SUR-
REY concerns his imprisonment at Windsor Castle in
1537, probably for striking Sir Edward Seymour, the
new queen’s brother. Surrey, a member of the power-
ful Howard family, had spent his youth at Windsor
Castle in the company of HENRY VIII’s illegitimate son,
Henry Fitzroy, duke of Richmond. With the king’s
marriage to Jane Seymour, the Howard family’s infl u-
ence had waned while the Seymour family’s infl uence
had grown. Additionally, Surrey’s friend Richmond
had died the year before. Surrey thus expressed his
double bereavement, personal and political, through
this poem.
Although not a SONNET, the form of this poem grows
out of the sonnet model. It has 14 STANZAs, echoing the
sonnet’s 14 lines. Like an ENGLISH SONNET, all the stan-
zas are QUATRAINs, except for the closing COUPLET. Sur-
rey would place his sonnets’ VOLTA in line 9, and in “So
Cruel Prison” the volta is in the ninth stanza. This
expanded sonnet form indicates that this poem may be
connected to “WHEN WINDSOR WALLS,” a sonnet also
concerning his 1537 imprisonment.
“So Cruel Prison” may be read simultaneously as an
ELEGY, a statement on the political climate, and, to
some scholars, a love poem. The poem begins with a
personal cry lamenting Surrey’s situation. He recalls
his youth at Windsor as passed “In greater feast than
Priam’s sons of Troy” (l. 4). In the next seven quatrains,
Surrey focuses on the activities he and Richmond par-
ticipated in during their youth—hunting, wrestling,
jousting, playing games, riding, courting—and
describes the places connected with each activity. All
these activities emphasize the stark contrast between
Surrey’s experience as the friend of the king’s son and
that of prisoner. His depiction of his earlier experience
highlights the courtliness of the youthful activities and
perhaps indicates that such a noble era has passed,
along with Richmond and the infl uence of the venera-
ble Howard family, and been replaced by the upstart
Seymour family. Thus, this poem of personal loss is
also a refl ection of the changes in English society.
“So Cruel Prison” does not include the elegaic con-
cern that the audience should not only lament the dead
subject of the poem, but also emulate his or her virtue.
Surrey’s aim is solely to lament Richmond’s death and
the loss of the way of life he represented. In this, the
poem is in line with the PASTORAL elegy, which pro-
poses no solutions but instead proposes a concrete set-
ting for posing questions and diffusing grief. This
connection between the setting of Windsor and the
loss of Richmond emphasizes that to Surrey the two
are inseparable.
Recently, “So Cruel Prison” has been interpreted as a
love poem. The catalogue of pursuits recounted in the
fi rst eight stanzas also provides insight into the nature
of Surrey and Richmond’s relationship. All of these
physical contests serve as an acceptable way for two
young males to demonstrate their love for each other.418 SKELTONICS