''The Shadow of Night'' is a long poem written by
George Chapman
George Chapman (Hitchin, Hertfordshire, – London, 12 May 1634) was an English dramatist, translator and poet. He was a classical scholar whose work shows the influence of Stoicism. Chapman has been speculated to be the Rival Poet of Shakesp ...
; it was first published in 1594, in an edition printed by
Richard Field for
William Ponsonby, the prestigious publisher of
Edmund Spenser and Sir
Philip Sidney
Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...
.
The poem was Chapman's first significant literary work; it is furnished with abundant notes and references to classical Greek and Roman authors (41 in total, drawn from the ''Mythologiae'' of Niccolo Conti). The title page of the first edition gives the title in both English and
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
(Σκία νυκτός, "Skia nyktos"). The poem's reception as an important development in English verse established Chapman's initial literary reputation, which he would later expand and deepen with his subsequent poems, plays, and translations.
Chapman dedicated the work, which he calls a "poor and strange trifle," to fellow poet
Matthew Roydon. The dedication contrasts superficial readers, who read verse to "curtail a tedious hour," with those few who "entertained learning in themselves, to the vital warmth of freezing science...." He names three prominent noblemen of the day, "ingenious Darby, deep-searching Northumberland, and skill-embracing heir of Hunsdon...." These were
Ferdinando Stanley, 5th Earl of Derby
Ferdinando Stanley, 5th Earl of Derby (1559 – 16 April 1594), was an English nobleman and politician. He was the son of Henry Stanley, 4th Earl of Derby, and Lady Margaret Clifford. Ferdinando had a place in the line of succession to Eliza ...
, well known as the patron of the acting company
Lord Strange's Men;
Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland
Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland, KG (27 April 1564 – 5 November 1632) was an English nobleman. He was a grandee and one of the wealthiest peers of the court of Elizabeth I. Under James I, Northumberland was a long-term prisoner i ...
, the so-called "Wizard Earl;" and
George Carey
George Leonard Carey, Baron Carey of Clifton (born 13 November 1935) is a retired Anglican bishop who was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1991 to 2002, having previously been the Bishop of Bath and Wells.
During his time as archbishop the C ...
, who succeeded his father as Lord Hunsdon in 1596 and as
Lord Chamberlain
The Lord Chamberlain of the Household is the most senior officer of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom, supervising the departments which support and provide advice to the Sovereign of the United Kingdom while also acting as the main c ...
of England in 1597. Carey served as the patron of the
Lord Chamberlain's Men
The Lord Chamberlain's Men was a company of actors, or a " playing company" (as it then would likely have been described), for which Shakespeare wrote during most of his career. Richard Burbage played most of the lead roles, including Hamlet, Oth ...
, the acting company of
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
.
The three noblemen and their associates, like Sir
Walter Raleigh
Sir Walter Raleigh (; – 29 October 1618) was an English statesman, soldier, writer and explorer. One of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era, he played a leading part in English colonisation of North America, suppressed rebelli ...
,
John Dee and
Thomas Harriot
Thomas Harriot (; – 2 July 1621), also spelled Harriott, Hariot or Heriot, was an English astronomer, mathematician, ethnographer and translator to whom the theory of refraction is attributed. Thomas Harriot was also recognized for his con ...
among others, have been interpreted as members of a clique of advanced thinkers called
The School of Night, who were interested in promoting new ideas like the
Copernican and
Galilean
Generically, a Galilean (; he, גלילי; grc, Γαλιλαίων; la, Galilaeos) is an inhabitant of Galilee, a region of Israel surrounding the Sea of Galilee (Kinneret). The New Testament notes that the Apostle Peter's accent gave him ...
view of a
heliocentric solar system, and the spirit of open inquiry that underlay it. Chapman has been seen by some as the
Rival Poet of
Shakespeare's sonnets.
The work as a whole treats the theme of inspired melancholy, the concept that "melecholia" is not merely a negative state, but rather allows for deep and searching thought, self-examination, and study of the world. While humans often devote their daylight hours to trivial distractions, the night allows serious contemplation. Critics have linked the poem to a strain of abstruse and esoteric Renaissance thought on "Saturnian" melancholy. "No pen can anything eternal write, / That is not steep'd in humor of the night" (lines 376-7).
The poem is divided into two parts, the ''Hymnus in Noctem'' and the ''Hymnus in Cynthiam''. The first section of the poem appeals to Night as a primordial goddess, in the spirit of the hymns of
Orpheus
Orpheus (; Ancient Greek: Ὀρφεύς, classical pronunciation: ; french: Orphée) is a Thracian bard, legendary musician and prophet in ancient Greek religion. He was also a renowned poet and, according to the legend, travelled with J ...
. In the poem's second half, the portrait of the
moon goddess
A lunar deity or moon deity is a deity who represents the Moon, or an aspect of it. These deities can have a variety of functions and traditions depending upon the culture, but they are often related. Lunar deities and Moon worship can be found ...
Cynthia represents
Queen Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen".
El ...
, and comprises the type of hagiographic personification that was common in the later
Elizabethan era
The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personific ...
.
Algernon Charles Swinburne noted that though it is his first published poem, ''The Shadow of Night'' already expresses Chapman's sense of rejection; Swinburne described the poem as "full of loud and angry complaints of neglect and slight, endured at the hands of an unthankful and besotted generation." The poem appears to contain an autobiographical reference, indicating that Chapman served in a military campaign in the
Dutch Republic
The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography ...
under Sir
Francis Vere
Sir Francis Vere (1560/6128 August 1609) was a prominent English soldier serving under Queen Elizabeth I fighting mainly in the Low Countries during the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604) and the Eighty Years' War.
He was a sergeant major-general ...
, in the 1591-2 period. Part of the poem was written about the
siege of Knodsenburg
The siege of Knodsenburg, Relief of Knodzenburg or also known as Battle of the Betuwe was a military action that took place during the Eighty Years' War and the Anglo–Spanish War at a sconce known as Knodsenburg in the district of Nijmegen ...
just outside of
Nijmegen that took place between 15–25 July 1591. There Vere helped defeat the Spanish force under the
Duke of Parma:
The modern composer
Harrison Birtwistle
Sir Harrison Birtwistle (15 July 1934 – 18 April 2022) was an English composer of contemporary classical music best known for his operas, often based on mythological subjects. Among his many compositions, his better known works include '' T ...
composed an orchestral piece (2001) which he titled ''The Shadow of the Night'' after Chapman's poem.
See also
*
1594 in poetry
Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature (for instance, Irish or France).
Events
Works published
England
*Richard Barnfield, ''The Affectionate Shepheard''Cox, Michael, editor, ''The Concise Oxf ...
References
External links
Text of The Shadow of Night included in ''"The works of George Chapman"''Guy, Kimberly. ''Agrippan and Christian Cabbalistic Influences in the Poetics of George Chapman.''Huntington, John. ''Virtues Obscured: George Chapman's social strategy.''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shadow of Night, The
16th-century poems
British poems
Poetry by George Chapman
1594 poems