lic, Marian regime. The format of the poem seems sim-
ple: It contains 12 seven-line STANZAs in ababbcc rhyme;
the lines are almost all in regular tetrameter. The poem
is more complex than it appears initially. It fi ts into
several differing genres and takes advantage of strong
aesthetic effects. The poem is an ALLEGORY depicting
the controversial marriage between Mary and the Cath-
olic king of Spain, Philip II. It is a BEAST FABLE because
it describes the improbable union of a proud eagle and
a disciplined lion—the eagle signifying Spain, the lion
England. The poem can also be called an epithala-
mium—a political and romantic ode—because it cele-
brates a contemporary marriage in a eulogistic manner.
More simply, it can be called a BALLAD because Hey-
wood’s original text identifi es it as such; it conveys a
basic narrative and could conceivably be sung.
The poem begins with a description of the Spanish
“birde” being drawn to Mary, the living embodiment of
the “red and whight” Tudor rose. The object of the
eagle’s affection is Mary, who embodies the leonine
boldness of England. Mary is not a wild lion but a
“lamblike lion feminyne.” Although strong and secure
in her association with English puissance, the queen is
meek and mild, feminine. There is a great match,
because in Philip we have a “kinglie king” and in Mary
we have a “queenelie queene”: “lyke to lyke here
matched is,” announces the celebratory verse. Hey-
wood uses ANAPHORA to stress the royal couple’s com-
patibility: Several lines at the start of stanza 6 are
exclamations of joy that begin with the claim that the
couple is “so meete [fi t] a matche.” Five successive
one-line comments in stanza 8 describe the marital
union’s virtues; each line begins with the word “Suche.”
Sparing use of ALLITERATION heightens the intensity of
satisfaction that English subjects should feel—“what
matche may match more mete then this” (1. 35).
Ultimately, Heywood’s “Ballad on the Marriage”
works as pro-state, pro-status quo propaganda, pro-
viding an artistic instance of pro-Catholicism, its own
complex elaborateness refl ecting the complicated
political situation.
FURTHER READING
Farmer, John S., ed. The Proverbs, Epigrams, and Miscellanies
of John Heywood. Guildford, U.K.: Charles W. Traylen,
1986.
Fisher, Joshua B. “ ‘He is Turned a Ballad-Maker’: Broadside
Appropriations in Early Modern England.” Early Modern
Literary Studies 9, no. 2 (2003). Available online. URL:
http://www.shu.ac.uk/emls/09–2/fi shball.html. Down-
loaded on January 21, 2008.
Kevin de OrnellasBALLAD STANZA Although there is no abso-
lute format set for BALLADs, many share a common
form. This standard, which has become known as the
ballad STANZA, is a QUATRAIN with the rhyme scheme
abcb, alternating four-stress and three-stress lines.
See also BALLAD (FOLK BALLADS), BORDER BALLADS, MID-
DLE ENGLISH LYRICS AND BALLADS, ROBIN HOOD BALLADS.“BALLAD WHICH ASKEW MADE AND
SANG WHEN IN NEWGATE, A” ANNE
ASKEW (1546) Anne Askew (1521–1546) married a
Catholic member of the gentry but converted to Prot-
estantism and left her husband. Questioned numerous
times for heresy, she was burned at the stake on July
16, 1546.
Besides being a prominent fi gure in the English Ref-
ormation, Askew is a notable presence in early modern
literature. She wrote two spiritual autobiographies
while imprisoned: The First Examynacyon and The Lat-
tre Examynacyon. Her writings portray the state of doc-
trinal struggles in the mid-16th century as well as the
importance of biblical learning for women.
“A Ballad Which Askew Made and Sang When in
Newgate” appears at the end of The Lattre Examyna-
cyon. It is divided into three sections of four STANZAs
each, corresponding to faith, hope, and charity. In the
fi rst section, the narrator compares herself with an
“armed knight,” protected by a shield of faith, ready to
face the battlefi eld of the world. In the second section,
hope causes the narrator to rejoice because Christ will
fi ght with her and for her. Her hope in Christ is limit-
less before her enemies’ unending “spight.” In the fi nal
section on the theme of charity, the narrator recalls
that “cruel wit” has swallowed up “rightwisness,” or
justice; nevertheless, she prays for her oppressors, dis-
playing Christ-like charity.
This BALLAD reinforces not only the Protestant ideal
that true faith lies within the Bible, but also illustrates“BALLAD WHICH ASKEW MADE AND SANG WHEN IN NEWGATE, A” 71