[Willobie His Avisa] or The true Picture of a Modest Maid and a Chaste and Constant Wife].

This was a pamphlet originally published in 1594. I read the modern spelling version in book form, with an essay towards its interpretation by Charles Hughes published in 1904. It is basically a poem of 74 cantos which takes the form of arguments between the virtuous Avisa, a woman of modest social status and various disreputable suitors who ply her with courtship both before and after marriage. Anything with a connection to William Shakespeare is going to be of interest and this poem has two: in an introductory poem following the usual dedications there is a direct reference with the line "And Shake-speare, paints poore Lucrece rape" (Shakespeare's The Rape of Lucrece was printed in 1594) and in the poem itself the author's friend who gives him advice on how to pursue Avisa is identified as W. S.

Initials, false names, fake news perhaps, certainly adds to the mystery of who may have written this poem. There is a record of a Henry Willobie being a student of law at the time but no record of his friend Hadrian Dorrell who writes an introduction. If Henry Willobie was the author he goes by the initials H. W. in the poem along with a D. H. and a D. B. There has of course emerged a number of theories as to who all these people were and who actually wrote the poem (George Gascoigne anyone?). There has also been speculation as to whether Avisa was a real person. (Queen Elizabeth anyone?). While all of this is not without interest I concentrated mainly on the worth and readability of the text in front of me.

“ The mirror of this sinneful age
That gives us beasts in shapes of men
Such beasts as still continue sinne,
Where age doth leave, there youths begin."

The poem is written in six line stanzas with eight syllables to a line, this is instead of the usual pentameter line of 10 syllables. This gives the whole thing a song like rhythm and feel. It has a rhyming scheme of ababcc with little deviation. In my opinion this gives the whole thing a lighter feel than much of the poetry written at the time. The first seven cantos provide the reader with a long introduction and then we get the first of the would be lovers N. O. B. who promises Avisa a life of luxury if she will be his mistress and perhaps his wife. This seems to be a man of the nobility. Avisa refuses him and his love turns to hatred he finishes:

I was thy friend, but now thy foe,
Thou hadst my heart, but now my hate,
Refusing wealth, God send thee woe,
Repentance now will come too late,
That tongue that did protest my faith
Shall waile thy pride, and wish thy death.

The second tempter is Caveleiro (a lusty hot headed Spaniard)
'And therefore wench, be not so strange,
to grant me that which others have,
I know that women love to change,
T'is but deceite, to seem so grave,
I never have that women tri'd,
Of whom as yet I was Deni'd

From Avisa's response it is now evident that she is newly married and she will not entertain the Spaniard. The next tempter is D. B. a frenchman; he is more subtle. However he also fails to bed Avisa and after an exchange of letters he accepts her decision with some grace:

Though thou in sorrow make me dwell
Yet love will make me wish you well

The next tempter is D. H. an Angle-German. His pursuit of Avisa takes place over a number of years and he visits her house in order to leave some verse he has written for her. He realises that Avisa will not consent to his wishes.

Now grant I Pray this last request,
That fraudlesse hart doth frendly send,
That if my fayth deserves it best,
Accept me for your honest friend
And if I seek your spoil, or shame,
Then raze me out, and blot my name.

It is interesting that in her replies to her suitors; Avisa increasingly differentiates between love and lust. She accuses her suitors of foul lust and so lust is taking on a more modern meaning: something sexual rather than just adventurous in spirit.
The final suitor is H. W. (Henry Willobie himself?), but first he asks advice on how to court Avisa from his good friend W. S. We are told that W. S. has recently been successful in love and his advice to H. W. is to keep on pursuing Avisa as she is bound to consent in the end. H. W. certainly takes W. S. advice and there is a long exchange of verse between him and Avisa. At first she chides him for his youthful puppy love, but when he continues to chase her, she must again use all her powers of persuasion to fend him off. The poetry now has become a little repetitive. A sort of challenge in thinking up different ways for Avisa to say no. Finally she puts an end to it all and asks him not to write to her anymore.

The 1904 book ends with two final poem celebrating a chaste and constant wife and then a contented mind. There follows a postscript in the form of an Apologie where the mysterious Hadrian Dorrel writing now two years later in 1596 (a subsequent reprinting) asks to be forgiven for suggesting that Avisa was a real person. He states categorically that the author had made up the name as a generic for a constant wife.

This is not difficult poetry to read and it certainly highlights the problems that a faithful wife, who is also very attractive would face from would be suitors. She is threatened, cajoled, made to feel guilty, promised everything she could want, and she must find a way to say no. There is very little evidence that she has encouraged the men and the poetry owes much to the courtly verse of earlier times. However, here it seems more concrete, not quite a new reality, but plainer speaking does not always lead to better poetry. 3 stars. ( )