The Complete Poems of Sir John Davies. Volume 2 of 2. — A Reader’s Guide

Epigrams and the Satirical Voice

The epigrams that open the volume establish a voice that is direct, ironic, and often dismissive. Davies writes in the tradition of Martial, using short lines and a closing twist to deflate his subjects. In "Of a Gull," the target is a pretentious fool; in "In Quintum," the poet mocks a man who boasts of his wealth. The language is plain but pointed: Davies does not embellish but instead relies on the force of the final line to land the critique. Many of these poems are only a few lines long, and their brevity mirrors the swift judgment they deliver. The satirical stance is consistent: the poet positions himself as a clear-eyed observer of human folly, and the epigrams function as a series of small, precise attacks on vanity, greed, and hypocrisy.

The Psalm Paraphrases: A Shift in Register

Later in the volume, Davies turns to biblical paraphrase, and the change in tone is pronounced. The psalm versions are longer, more regular in meter, and filled with a different kind of intensity. In Psalm 32, for instance, the speaker confesses sin and celebrates forgiveness: "My sinne I will acknowledge Lord to Thee, / My secret faults shall not concealèd bee." The language is more formal, the syntax more balanced, and the emotional register shifts from satire to supplication. Davies uses repetition and parallel structure to create a meditative rhythm, as in Psalm 33: "Rejoyce yee righteous in the Lord, and singe; / To giue God thankes, it is a comely thinge." The focus is now on divine justice, mercy, and the proper response of the faithful. This section of the volume demonstrates Davies's ability to move beyond the epigrammatic mode into a more sustained, devotional voice.

Occasional and Unpublished Poems

The volume also includes a range of occasional pieces, many marked as previously unpublished. These include a lottery presented before Queen Elizabeth, a contention between a wife, a widow, and a maid, and a set of sonnets to Philomel. The variety is considerable: some poems are playful, others elegiac. In "A Contention betwixt a Wife, a Widdow, and a Maide," Davies uses dialogue to explore different perspectives on love and marriage. The sonnets to Philomel, by contrast, are more conventional in their Petrarchan imagery, with the poet lamenting his mistress's coldness. The unpublished section also contains a metaphrase of several psalms and a fragment of a love elegy. These pieces, while uneven in quality, offer insight into Davies's range and the editorial work of Grosart, who sought to recover poems that had not appeared in earlier collections.

Readers approaching this volume will find it useful to attend to the contrasts in voice and pace. The epigrams demand quick reading and reward attention to the final sting; the psalms ask for a slower, more reflective pace. Grosart's editorial notes, though not reproduced here, provide context for the poems' occasions and textual history. This collection does not offer a single, unified poetic identity, but rather a series of experiments in tone and form, from the satirical to the sacred.

Reading Davies's quieter devotional verses, I kept thinking of that other book, the one set among Irish woods and old heroes. It’s strange how the gravity of one poet’s psalms can echo the somber twilight of another’s tales. A shared stillness, perhaps. I found myself returning to In The Seven Woods: Being Poems Chiefly of the Irish Heroic Age — Background and Themes for that same feeling—a memory of a place where time slows down.