1521 - Skelton, John - Speke, Parrot
From International Robin Hood Bibliography
By Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2013-07-29. Revised by Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2018-07-28.
Allusion
Wherfor he may now come agayne as he wente,
Non sine postica sanna, as I trowe,
From Calyse to Dovyr, to Canterbury in Kente, [p. 17:]
To make reconyng in the resseyte how
Robyn loste his bowe,
To sowe corne in the see sande, ther wyll no crope growe.[1]
IRHB comments
John Skelton's poem Speke, Parrot was written c. 1521. This probable Robin Hood allusion seems to have been hitherto overlooked. Philip Henderson in his edition of Skelton's works glosses the Latin "Not without a grimace behind his back".[2] The passage is one of Skelton's many satirical attacks on Cardinal Wolsey.
Editions
- Skelton, John; Dyce, Alexander, ed. The Poetical Works of John Skelton (London, 1843), vol. II, pp. 1-25, 338-52. Allusion: vol. I, pp. 16-17, notes p. 347.
- Skelton, John; Henderson, Philip, ed. The Complete Poems of John Skelton, Laureate (London & Toronto, 1948), pp. 288-307; allusion p. 300. Modernized spelling. First published 1931.
Lists
- Not included in Dobson, R. B., ed.; Taylor, J., ed. Rymes of Robyn Hood: an Introduction to the English Outlaw (London, 1976), pp. 314-19.
- Not included in Sussex, Lucy, compil. 'References to Robin Hood up to 1600', in: Knight, Stephen. Robin Hood: A Complete Study of the English Outlaw (Oxford, UK; Cambridge, Massachusetts: Blackwell, 1994), pp. 262-88.
Background
Notes
- ↑ Skelton, John; Dyce, Alexander, ed. The Poetical Works of John Skelton (London, 1843), vol. II, pp. 16-17 (ll. 338-42).
- ↑ Skelton, John; Henderson, Philip, ed. The Complete Poems of John Skelton, Laureate (London & Toronto, 1948), p. 300 n. 2.