Analysis
Thomas Lodge, a prominent figure in Renaissance poetry, is best remembered for his innovative contributions to English literature. His works are characterized by musicality, a lightness of tone, and an adeptness at blending different poetic forms. However, while Lodge's creative ventures were not always seamless, his willingness to experiment with new forms and styles made him a pivotal figure in the literary landscape of his time.
Rosalynde and Lodge's Lyricism
Thomas Lodge’s most notable work, Rosalynde, is often recognized as the source material for William Shakespeare’s As You Like It. While the prose narrative of Rosalynde itself falls outside the scope of this analysis, it includes lyrical poems that stand out for their excellence. These poems were highly appreciated by Lodge’s contemporaries and many found their way into England’s Helicon in 1600. Lodge’s lyrics, characterized by simple yet vivid imagery, explore the paradoxes of the Petrarchan lover without excessive embellishment. A master of metrics, Lodge's lyrics often present themselves as songs, with “Rosalynds Madrigal” being a particularly fine example. The poem features a rhythmic alternation of long and short lines, creating a musical effect that is both sophisticated and light-hearted. Images such as love building a “neast” in Rosalynde’s eyes lend a playful tone to the work, showcasing Lodge’s skillful balance of simplicity and complexity.
Other poems Lodge composed for various miscellanies demonstrate similar deftness with meter and imagery:
My bonnie Lasse thine eie,So slie,Hath made me sorrow so:Thy Crimsen cheekes my deere,So cleere,Hath so much wrought my woe.
Phillis with the Tragical Complaynt of Elstred
In Phillis with the Tragical Complaynt of Elstred, Lodge's lyrics sometimes falter when they lack the lightness necessary to support their solemn tone. Often, these pieces simply catalog the grievances of the Petrarchan lover, failing to rise above their derivative origins. The sonnets within this sequence vary in quality; some, like Sonnet 13, open with fresh imagery, such as comparing Cupid to a bee, "If I approach he forward skippes,/ And if I kisse he stingeth me." Yet, as the poem progresses, Lodge’s imagery becomes conventional, culminating in a typical declaration of constancy. Others, such as Sonnet 37, burdened by heavy hexameter lines, lack the lightness found in his better works.
The sequence concludes with a lengthy medieval lament, "The Complaint of Elstred," which, despite its lack of inspiration, reveals Lodge's affinity for pre-Renaissance verse. "Truth’s Complaint over England" similarly conveys a medieval sensibility, voicing Truth’s lament over England’s state. Lodge’s early satire is a mixed bag, with "Truth’s Complaint over England" leaning heavily on moralizing, a common feature of medieval complaint. In contrast, Lodge's A Reply to Gosson displays an awareness of other satirical possibilities, albeit with the common Renaissance confusion between satire and satyr.
This conceptual muddle, which posited that tragedy evolved from satyr plays, led writers to view satire as a harsh form of expression akin to Juvenal rather than the more refined Horace. Lodge’s follow-up to Scillaes Metamorphosis with "The Discontented Satyr," extols discontent as the noblest emotion in a corrupt age, exemplifying this harsher satirical approach.
A Fig for Momus
In A Fig for Momus , Lodge adopts a more Juvenalian mode of satire. The series opens with a critique of flatterers and hypocrites, with Lodge shining in his creation of vivid characters and scenarios. For example, upon encountering an innkeeper sporting "a silken night-cap on his hed," the narrator humorously deduces the man’s true ailment to be "the poxe by Luce," rather than the ague he claims. The second satire, mislabeled as the third, draws extensively from Juvenal’s Satire 14, urging parents to set...
(This entire section contains 1289 words.)
Unlock this Study Guide Now
Start your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.
Already a member? Log in here.
virtuous examples for their children. Though it sometimes slips into moral preaching, the sheer variety of vices detailed keeps it engaging.
Perhaps Lodge’s most compelling character study emerges in the fourth satire, which portrays a miser, old and frail, yet obsessively accruing wealth. The realism in this depiction highlights Lodge's skill. The fifth satire, drawing from Juvenal’s Satire 10 with a nod to Horace, contemplates the contented life. This piece is less bitter and harsh, possibly due to Horace's influence. Beyond introducing Juvenal to English literature, Lodge was the first to employ the epigrammatic pentameter couplet in satire.
Despite the presence of satirical elements, A Fig for Momus does not devolve into pure invective, as Lodge intersperses it with eclogues and verse epistles. His eclogues, while contributing little new to English literature, echo the works of predecessors like Alexander Barclay and Edmund Spenser, often reiterating themes of human corruption. However, his verse epistles, the first in English literature, sometimes sparkle with wit and lightness. The epistle "To his Mistress A. L." begins with a clever setup, "In that same month wherein the spring begins,/ And on that day when Phoebe left the twinnes," only to deflate expectations humorously. It reveals itself to be about weight loss, ultimately concluding that being "fat, slicke, faire" is preferable to being "leane, lancke, spare." Another epistle, "In praise of his Mistris dogge," opens with a witty entreaty for the mistress to grant him the dog’s place for a night, culminating in a pun, "Thus for your dog, my doggerell rime hath runne."
Scillaes Metamorphosis
Among Lodge’s pioneering works is Scillaes Metamorphosis, an early instance of Ovidian narrative in English literature. This genre would later flourish in works like Christopher Marlowe’s Hero and Leander and Shakespeare’s Venus and Adonis. Lodge expands Ovid’s original 143 lines to nearly 800, adding a frame story to the tale of Glaucus and Scilla. The narrator, a rejected lover, meets Glaucus, who recounts his own story of unrequited love to a group of nymphs. The narrative is interrupted by Venus, who arrives with Cupid. Cupid’s intervention causes Scilla to fall for Glaucus, who then rejects her, leading to her transformation into a flinty isle by personifications of Fury, Rage, Wan-hope, Despair, and Woe.
Lodge’s rendition of Ovid is marked by its "embroidery"—a penchant for stopping the narrative to luxuriate in detailed and sensuous descriptions. This is seen in the touching portrayal of Venus mourning Adonis, "How on his senseless corpes she lay a crying,/ As if the boy were then but new a dying." Glaucus's description of Scilla is similarly elaborate, transforming Ovid’s brief mention of her beauty into an extended praise of her physical attributes.
However, the poem's weaknesses stem from its excessive detailing and lack of variation in tone. Long sections of lamentation merge into a monotonous whole, and the narrative’s pace suffers from Lodge’s heavy emphasis on description. The initial frame story, which could have provided an interesting perspective, ultimately goes undeveloped. Here, Glaucus's admonishment of the narrator's lovesickness is humorously contradicted as he succumbs to the same plight, offering a touch of irony that the rest of the poem does not explore. Moreover, the medieval allegory elements, such as personifications transforming Scilla, feel misplaced, as if Lodge had not fully resolved the tone he wished to establish in his Ovidian narrative.
The chosen verse form, a stanza comprising a quatrain (abab) followed by a couplet (cc), impedes the narrative flow. This structure, characterized by its stopping couplets, doesn’t lend itself to a swift narrative pace. Instead, it underscores the leisurely descriptive passages Lodge favors. Nevertheless, Lodge manages to mitigate some of the awkwardness by strategically beginning a new clause with each couplet, maintaining a semblance of continuity.
Lodge’s larger body of work, characterized by its experimentation and introduction of new poetic forms, is marked by its unevenness. Nonetheless, his innovative spirit and ability to blend music and lightness of tone render him a significant contributor to the evolution of Renaissance poetry.
