Alexander Barclay, Richard Carew, Humfrey Gifford, Anne Dowriche, Sir Walter Ralegh, Sir Arthur Gorges, Joseph Hall, John Ford, Robert Herrick, Sidney Godolphin, William Strode, William Browne, Mary, Lady Chudleigh, John Gay, Samuel Taylor Coleridge. All of these are poets born in the two westernmost counties of England, or - like Hall and Herrick - poets who were active there. In time we stretch from the very beginning of the 16th century until the early 19th century. We begin with Barclay, a priest at Ottery St. Mary, and we close with Coleridge, the son of a priest at Ottery St. Mary, his birthplace. We have names that echo down through the ages (Ralegh), great writers central to the development of English poetry (Herrick, Coleridge), we have divines (Hall, Herrick), we have cavaliers (Godolphin), we have balladeers (Gay), we have under-recognised talents (Gorges, Strode, Browne, Chudleigh), we have virtuoso translators (Barclay, Carew) and we have two women poets (Dowriche, Chudleigh), one of whom influenced Marlowe and another whose work was admired by Dryden.This anthology presents an unusual collection of some fine poets from the south-west corner of England and inaugurates a new Classics series from Shearsman Books.
