'A Storm of Lamentations Writ': Lachrymae Musarum and Royalist Culture after the Civil War

Abstract

This article examines in detail a printed collection of elegies, "Lachrymae Musarum," published to mourn Henry Hastings, a young man who died just after the execution of King Charles I. Including elegies by Andrew Marvell, Robert Herrick, Mildmay Fane, and John Dryden, the volume represents a compelling insight into Royalist culture after defeat in the Civil War. The article argues that the volume taken as a whole represents both profound mourning for what has been lost and also an expression of hope for the future.