Materiality and Lyric Form

The complex materiality of early modern women’s lyrics can be hard to ignore. Yet, rather than seeing it as a barrier to interpretation, this entry proposes that meaning emerges most powerfully at the intersection of form and matter. Using Mary Wroth’s “Song 1” as a case study, it models a flexible approach to the variable interplay of form and matter. It concludes with some ideas for further directions of material/formal study suggested by new work in the field.