Politics and the ‘Heauenly Sonnets’: George Wither's Religious Verse, 1619-1625

Abstract

In the last years of his reign, James I experienced an unprecedented level of opposition to his government of England. Whilst the king remained committed to negotiating a Spanish bride for his son and refused to intervene to assist Protestants internationally, his subjects protested, railed and implored against royal policy. The bold and controversial satires of the poet George Wither are often employed by historians as examples of this political opposition. However, assigning Wither to the role of outspoken satirist in the early 1620s relies on neglecting his religious verse as irrelevant and at times contradictory to the ideology perceived in his secular poetry. This article seeks to restore the political value in Wither's religious verse and to demonstrate the consistency of purpose that can be identified throughout his works. Wither's biblical translations and spiritual compositions continued to uphold the Protestant, humanist ideals of his satires and functioned specifically to promote interest in the Protestant cause on the continent. This development of a more complete picture of Wither contributes towards a more nuanced understanding of the diverse and intricate nature of early Stuart political thought.