Also Read
Mirror for Magistrates is a large huge collection of tragic tales in verse written by various hands and published in several editions between 1555 and 1610. This work consists entirely of stories from English history, legendary or real. It provides a mirror for the rulers and suggests the moral of how the kings and governors would rule. The first edition mirrors the instability of fortune and punishment of vice in nineteen historical tales from the century between Richard II's reign and Edward IV's (1377-1483).
The first edition of the book has much historic significance, but no poetic value. The second edition, in 1563, added eight other lives, and among them one by a new and young writer which strangely outshines all the rest. Thomas Sackville (1536-1608) handles the rime royal as few poets have done since Chaucer and even Chaucer, though far greater in pure narrative has left little to equal the complaint of Henry Duke of Buckingham for still beauty and sustained emotion. Sackville's poetry is quite different from the moral works of Lydgate and other writers who followed the Lydgatian frame of moral teachings. Sackville's meter was Rime Royal, the great measure which has been used by Chaucer. Sackville's stanza has a rhythm and a majesty which none except the great poets achieved. In Induction, his mighty vision and rhythm are evident in the opening description of winter and are sustained all through. One other notable contribution is that of Thomas Churchyard's Shore's Wife.
 |
| The Mirror for Magistrates |
Other editions of Mirror followed and John Higgins and Thomas Blennerhasset (1578) published supplementary series of tragedies which carried the story back to the legendary years of Loctine, Lear and King Arthur. The Mirror for Magistrates produced a liking for historical narrative in verse which stimulated work by some of the least known as well as some of the obscurest poets.