Seven Minor Epics of the English Renaissance (1596-1624)

This volume gathers seven forgotten minor epics from the English Renaissance, offering a vivid glimpse into a literary form that once paralleled the sonnet and pastoral. Produced between the late 1590s and the early 1620s, these poems were originally printed in small, often single‑issue editions, and have survived only in fragile copies. Their revival lets listeners hear the lively language and inventive storytelling that defined the epyllion.

The collection opens with a tender tale of Philos and Licia, a courtly romance that unfolds in lyrical exchanges and sudden turns of fate. Other pieces reinterpret classical myths—Pyramus and Thisbe, Mirrha the mother of Adonis, and Hiren, a Greek heroine—while remaining grounded in the concerns of contemporary love and ambition. The love stories of Dom Diego and Ginevra, and of Amos and Laura, blend witty banter with moral reflection, and The Scourge of Venus delivers a playful yet pointed commentary on desire.