Bibliography

Kinsman, Robert S. and Yonge, Theodore. John Skelton: Canon and Census. New York: Monographic Press, 1967, 88 p.

Primary and secondary listings of Skelton's work.

Biography

Nelson, William. John Skelton: Laureate. New York: Columbia University Press, 1939, 266 p.

Survey of Skelton's life and the historical circumstances surrounding his poetry.

Criticism

Archibald, Elizabeth. "Tradition and Innovation in the Macaronic Poetry of Dunbar and Skelton." Modern Language Quarterly 53, No. 1 (March 1992): 126-49.

Assesses the tradition of combining both English and Latin or Greek in the same poem.

Carlson, David. "John Skelton and Ancient Authors: Two Notes." Humanistica Lovaniensia XXXVIII (1989): 100-09.

Analyzes Skelton's allusions to Latin poetry and concludes that the poet's classical allusions, though accurate, were not of the same sophistication as Renaissance humanists.

Colley, John Scott. "John Skelton's Ironic Apologia: The Medieval Sciences, Wolsey, and the Garlande of Laurell" Tennessee Studies in Literature XVIII (1973): 19-32.

Explores the political climate surrounding Skelton's The Garland of Laurel.

Doherty, M. J. "The Patristic Humanism of Skelton's Phyllyp Sparowe." In From Cloister to Classroom: Monastic and Scholastic Approaches to Truth, edited by E. Rozanne Elder, Cistercian Publications, 1986, pp. 202-38.

Maintains that Skelton's satire promotes intellectual and spiritual values.

Evans, Maurice. "John Skelton." In English Poetry in the Sixteenth Century, pp. 47-64. London: Hutchinson & Co., Ltd., 1955.

Determines Skelton's place in English literary history and suggests that he played an important role in the beginning of the English Renaissance.

Fish, Stanley Eugene. John Skelton's Poetry. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965, 268 p.

Critical study of Skelton's verse.

Gillespie, Vincent. "Justification by Good Works: Skelton's The Garland of Laurel. " Reading Medieval Studies VII (1981): 19-31.

Examines Skelton's ideas about the uses of poetry, particularly its role in religious and political debates.

Gingerich, Owen, and Tucker, Melvin J. "The Astronomical Dating of Skelton's Garland of Laurel. " Huntington Library Quarterly XXXII, No. 3 (1969): 207-20.

Links a descriptive passage in the poem with a known astronomical event to date the writing of the majority of the Garland of Laure.

Heiserman, A. R. Skelton and Satire. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1961, 326 p.

Explores the relationship between Skelton's satirical works and medieval literary tradition.

Kinney, Arthur F. John Skelton, Priest as Poet: Seasons of Discovery. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1987, 236 p.

Maintains that the primary purpose of Skelton's poetry is religious instruction.

Kinsman, Robert S. "Skelton's 'Uppon a Deedmans Hed': New Light on the Origin of the Skeltonic." Studies in Philology L, No. 2 (April 1953): 101-09.

Traces the roots of the English meter known as the "Skeltonic" to Latin and English poetry from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.

——. "Skelton Mocks the Muse: References to Romance Matters in His Poetry." In Medieval Epic to the "Epic Theater" of Brecht, edited by Rosario P. Armato and John M. Spalek, pp. 35-46. Los Angeles: University of Southern California Press, 1968.

Examines Skelton's poetic relationship to chivalric romances such as Morte Arthur.

Lawton, David. "Skelton's Use of Persona." Essays in Criticism XXX, No. 1 (January 1980): 9-28.

Explores Skelton's use of personae, or characters, to narrate his major poems.

Loewenstein, David A. "Skelton's Triumph: The Garland of Laurel and Literary Fame." Neophilologus 68, No. 4 (October 1984): 611-22.

Contends that Garland of Laurel "deserves attention because it evaluates, in a lively and imaginative manner, Skelton's poetic career and the meaning of literary fame."

Newman, Robert D. "The Visual Nature of Skeiton's 'The Tunnying of Elynour Rummying."' College Literature XII, No. 2 (1985): pp. 135-40.

Discusses both the visual details and the social panorama in Skelton's poem.

Scattergood, John. "Skelton and Traditional Satire: Ware the Hauke" Medium Aevum LV, No. 2 (1986): 203-16.

Examines the historical basis of Skelton's poem.

Skelton, Robin. "The Master Poet: John Skelton as Conscious Craftsman." Mosaic VI, No. 3 (Spring 1973): 67-92.

Contends that Skelton identified his own poetic skill with the medieval guild tradition of master craftsman.

Wallace, Nathaniel Owen. "The Responsibilities of Madness: John Skelton, 'Speke, Parrot,' and Homeopathic Satire." Studies in Philology LXXXII, No. 1 (Winter 1985): 60-80.

Considers the role of madness in Skelton's poem and asserts that the poem has a sharply defined moral purpose.

West, Michael. "Skelton and the Renaissance Theme of Folly." Philological Quarterly L, No. 1 (January 1971): 23-35.

Maintains that the fools in Skelton's poetry occupy a transitional position between medieval and Renaissance conceptions of folly.