Fingerprints of Thomas More's Epigrammata on English Poetry

Abstract

Thomas More’s Latin epigrams, published with the second edition of Utopia in 1518, were apparently widely read both among contemporary European intellectuals and during the subsequent development of English poetry. With a humble audacity that could engage Classical authors in a Christian posture, More cultivated a literary climate that could retain the earthiness of the middle ages in dialogue with the ancients, and is more responsible for the ensuing expansion of vernacular poetry than perhaps any other Henrican author. This thesis probes the Classical influences and Humanist practices at work in the epigrams, explores their contemporary reception on the continent, and traces their legacy among sixteenth- and seventeenth-century English poets.