William Warner
William Warner was a British poet and novelist born in London in 1558, whose life coincided with the reign of Elizabeth I. Although often overshadowed by contemporaries like William Shakespeare and Edmund Spenser, Warner's most significant contributions to literature include his verse chronicle, *Albion's England*, and the prose romance, *Pan, His Syrinx*. His works draw heavily on British history and reflect the tastes and beliefs of Elizabethan England. *Pan, His Syrinx*, inspired by Ovid, weaves together classical themes of identity, tragedy, and moral lessons, while *Albion's England* is an ambitious blend of chronicle, epic, romance, and fable, structured in a complex verse form.
Warner's literary style is marked by a mix of imaginative storytelling and allegory, though critics have noted that the broad scope of his works can lead to a lack of coherence. Despite his initial popularity, his writings have not endured in the literary canon, which may be attributed to their derivative nature and the challenges they present to readers. Nonetheless, Warner's contributions provide valuable insights into the social and historical context of his time, making his works significant for understanding the literary landscape of Elizabethan England.
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William Warner
Attorney
- Born: 1558
- Birthplace: London, England
- Died: March 9, 1609
- Place of death: Great Amwell, Hertfordshire, England
Biography
Although some British critics have called William Warner “our English Homer,” this poet and novelist has been generally relegated to a position of minor importance. While his works have been termed inventive and influential, they have failed to pass the test of time. Warner is known primarily for two monumental works: a verse chronicle entitled Albion’s England, written between the years 1586 and 1612, and his romance novel Pan, His Syrinx (1584). Both works are eminently ambitious and draw upon British history, revealing much about the tastes, beliefs, and assumptions of Elizabethan England.
Born in London in 1558, Warner’s year of birth coincided with Elizabeth I’s accession to the throne. Little is known of his life beyond the minimal facts that he was educated at Cambridge, became an attorney, settled in Hertfordshire, married (possibly twice), had several children, and died suddenly in 1609. As many literary figures of the day, Warner possessed patrons but did not seem to have amicable relationships with them. He was a contemporary of William Shakespeare, Edmund Spenser, and Sir Philip Sidney.
Warner based Syrinx, his prose romance, on Ovid’s rendition of the mythological tale in which Pan chases and transforms Syrinx into reeds that are ultimately fashioned into Pan’s musical pipe. The work is divided into seven tales or calami; these tales were later adapted by seventeenth century playwrights. In a complex story line, the romance combines classical plot elements of lost children, identity mix- ups, tragic shipwrecks, incredible reunions, star-crossed lovers, and surprise resolutions that mark the traditional Greek romance. The tales also include often sententious moralizing and deliberate, transparent attempts at audience edification. Some tales are horrifically harsh, mirroring the Greek concept of man’s impotence in an uncontrollable, chaotic, and unknowable world. This basic premise of the world’s corruptness and impenetrability is at odds with Warner’s attempts to obtrude Christian ideals on his materials. The results, some feel, are contradictory.
Similarly, Warner’s other massive work, Albion’s England, combines not only disparate elements with a historical focus but also utilizes a mixture of genres (chronicle, epic, romance, and fable), all composed in a difficult verse form of fourteen syllables per line. The work’s original four books were expanded and revised in later editions to sixteen books. Though augmenting his work, Warner never altered his grand apotheosis of England’s history. Viewed as an ambitious attempt at literary tour de force, these books present an almost encyclopedic knowledge of national history while incorporating imaginative storytelling, allegory, digressive speeches, and political references. Monumental, but clearly derivative, Albion’s England suffers from too large a scope and artificial connections between its varied sections. These textual weaknesses may explain the little notice Warner’s work commands today, despite his popularity with contemporaries. Warner’s works, however, remain noteworthy for the vision of his enterprise, the complexity of his delivery, and the social commentary he provides about his age and his England.