Thomas Churchyard (–1604)

Thomas Churchyard - A musicall consort of heavenly harmonie (compounded out of manie parts of musicke) called Churchyards charitie.

Thomas Churchyard (1520-1604) was the son of a farmer, who received a good education. He entered the household of Henry Howard Earl of Surrey where he remained for twenty years, no doubt learning something of the art of poetry. In 1541 he began his career as a soldier of fortune and continued this on and off for most of the rest of his long life. He campaigned in Scotland, Flanders, Netherlands Spain and Ireland. He was taken prisoner by the Scots but boasted that he charmed them with his language and writing skills to the extent that he was treated more like an honoured guest, while he waited for a ransom to be paid. He wrote much poetry, history, travelogues and other entertainments, he was employed to provide pageants for Queen Elizabeth, but sometimes his writing got him into trouble and he was forced to go on campaign again.

Now known simply as Churchyards charitie this pamphlet or book was printed in 1595; towards the end of his life and when he had been retired some 20 years from campaigning. It contains a dedication/epistle to Robert Devreux Earl of Essex, An everlasting memorie of Christian comfort to the Queens most Excellent majestie and then an untitled poem of twenty stanzas ; each stanza ending with the short line O charitie help. Much of Churchyard's oeuvre is autobiographical and this poem while telling of the ills that are facing England ends with the ills facing Churchyard himself:

The wo of wars, and pride and pomp of peace,
The toile of world, and trouble here and there
And churlish checks, of fortune I release
Their heavy cross, I can no longer bare
In pieces small, my scribbled scrolls I tear
So slinging verse, and books before your feet
I crave some crownes, to buy my shrouding sheet.
O charitie help.

There follows a single stanza poem to the general reader before we get to the meat of the book and Churchyardes Charitie. This is a poem of 92 stanzas of seven lines making a total of 624 lines. It is an extension of the earlier "O charitie help" poem without that final line. It has the same caesura around the middle of each line that reminds me a little of the 14th century Piers Plowman poem, like a broken back to the poem and like the earlier poem it complains of the ills facing the country, through the greed and pride of the rich, here is a sample:

Who does not sigh, to see the poor opprest
Bye rich men's reach, that wrests away the right
Who will not wail, the woe of troubled breast
Or sore lament, the state of wronged wight
When broad day brings, darke dealings unto light
who will not rue, our wretched race on earth
That keeps till death, no rule from day of birth.

The poem continues with complaints about the unchecked power of the rich and well connected. He tells of the lanes and fields being full of the sick and lame and of overflowing prisons where the inmates reach out through the grills. The rich hoard their wealth and speculate to make more money and do not give a thought to charity. He talks of the golden age of the past and how that has now been transformed:

Words are the waves, that welters on the seas
And works a froth, in colour white as snow
Makes thousands sicke, and breeds a cold disease
To those that with, such swelling surges go
Inconstant words, with tide will ebb and floe
But fruitful deeds, stands firm and fast as rock
That bides the brunt, of every blast and shock

The poem moves on to celebrate the worth and the role of charity and ends this section with God knows but charity is rare. Lust, greed and pride destroy everything and then there is new fangledness among the courtiers. Churchyard is pessimistic, believing that man cannot change. He spends several stanzas speaking of the coldness of the weather and how this is reflected in the ills of the majority of the people. He ends by saying he is old and that his hap and hope is for a better place. He ends with a plea for men to take charity aright.

There is another poem to finish the book which Churchyard calls; A praise of poetry some notes thereof drawn out of the apologie, the noble minded Knight Sir Phillip Sidney. It consists of some 60, four line stanzas, celebrating the power of poetry. Looking backwards to the classical poets and giving fairly short shrift to his contemporary poets, none of whom approach the poetical voice of Sir Phillip Sidney. There are some pleasing stanzas for example:

The childest wit and churlish mind
Lo then how poetry may
Both alter manners and bad kind
To frame a better way.

It is no surprise that Churchyard was scrabbling around towards the end of his life for patronage. His views of society could not have endeared him to the patrons he was hoping to attract. I enjoyed reading his thoughts on the state of contemporary Elizabethan life. He pulls no punches and does not hide the axe he has to grind. His poetry is not the greatest, but the insight it provides outweighs any shortcomings. I am always pleased to read something from this soldier poet and so 3.5 stars… (meer)

[Churchyard's Misery's of Flanders etc.] Calamity of France, Misfortune of Portugal, Unquietnesse of Ireland, Troubles of Scotland and the blessed state of England] by Thomas Churchyard:

What Kyngdome maie, compare with wofull Fraunce,
Whose ciuill warrres, did laste God wot too long:
The mightie men, thereby felt greate mischaunce,
The feeble folke, were forest to suffer wrong,
And no estate, was free from scath and •oile,
Suche furie raingde, in rage of peoples mynds,
The weaklyngs went, to ruin, to wracke, and spoile,
As trees be torne, with blast and whirlyng wynds,
Strong goodly tounes, were beaten doune to grounde
Hye walls and towers, were battred flat as Cake,
When trompetts blast, and drum did slaughter sounde,
And bloudie blade, did wicked murther make.
O listen now, and heare my tale a while,
The warrs of Fraunce, so sharpe and cruell weare,
The sonne hymself, the father would begile,
And brother still, of brother stoode in feare,
With poison foule, and murther euery wheare.

The Calamity of France is typical of the poetry on offer here. An anti-war poem written by a poet-soldier who had seen it all. Descriptions of torn countryside and the disease of men who are infected by a lust to kill. The poetic form here is 26 line stanzas with a fairly regular rhyming scheme, much of it is in iambic pentameter.

The Misfortune of Portugal tells of a good and graceful ruler that compared well with the ruinous rulers of France, wanted to do a great deed. He could not sit still and so he decided to fight against the Turks. He set sail with an army, but on landing they were thoroughly beaten and he was killed.
Churchyard likens this to a country that lost the lamp that gave them light
There are some decent metaphors used, but the story telling is a little pedestrian

"God is displeasd, and sure his wrathe is greate,
When Turcks doe scorge, and plage the chrsten kings:
This angrie signe, and fearfull sodaine heate,
Maks wisemen waie, the weight of further things.”

In the unquietness of Ireland Churchyard tells of a poor country that cannot find peace. His time is too short to tell of all its troubles.

To all of this he compares the Blessed state of England with our warring neighbours :

No state nor Kyngdome at this daie,
doeth in suche plentie flowe.
The trau'lar that hath paste the worlde,
and gone through many a lande:
VVhen he comes home, and noets these thyngs,
to heauen holds vp hande:”

These poems are well worth searching out on the internet… (meer)

This contains a prose piece about the Scottish wars during the reign of Queen Mary. The Siege of Leith in 1560 is a lively piece in verse format concerning the taking of Leith castle (seaport to Edinburgh) by the English. It is in 7 line stanzas with a regular rhyming scheme.

It is The Earle of Morton’s tragedy the final poem that makes delving into these works so worthwhile. The 4th Earle of Morton ruled Scotland as regent to the infant king James VI, however when James VI reached the age of maturity the 4th earl was implicated in the murder of James’ father in 1567 and was executed in 1581. Churchyard starts his poem with an excellent summation of the perils facing a man in Morton’s position and then switches to the first person to allow Morton to tell his story. Morton is allowed to tell how he ruled in a Machiavellian way in order to hold onto power, he makes enemies and when the time comes they seek retribution. He accepts his fate meekly although makes a spirited defence at his trial, which he knows to be a show trial. “I was condemned, the world would have it so”He now looks to God as he prepares himself for death and Churchyard captures this brilliantly saying “ I felt a spark of grace”

“Blush not to see, the raging world despite
The bloody axe, nor scaffolde full of bils
My mercy seat shall be thy chief delight
And though on earth, thine enemies have their wills
I am the God, that storms and tempests still,
In quiet calme, passe gentle thou away,
And suffer much, but do but little say.”

Churchyard is not finished yet as he imagines the severed head of Morton seeing Churchyard in the crowd, it pulses with blood as it recognises that Churchyard will write the poem about his life. The poem ends with an excellent series of stanzas on fate and fortune and how the mighty and good can fall.

Churchyard had earlier in his career wrote arguably the best poem in the anthology collection “A Mirror for magistrates” His “Shores Wife” told a story from the viewpoint of a kings mistress and how she was mistreated, when she lost her place at Court. I think Churchyard has equalled that here with The Earl of Morton’s Tragedy.
A five star poem.… (meer)

Thomas Churchyard (1520-1604) was the son of a farmer, who received a good education. He entered the household of Henry Howard Earl of Surrey where he remained for twenty years, no doubt learning something of the art of poetry. In 1541 he began his career as a soldier of fortune and continued this on and off for most of the rest of his long life. He campaigned in Scotland, Flanders, Netherlands Spain and Ireland. He was taken prisoner by the Scots but boasted that he charmed them with his language and writing skills to the extent that he was treated more like an honoured guest, while he waited for a ransom to be paid. He wrote much poetry, history, travelogues and other entertainments, he was employed to provide pageants for Queen Elizabeth, but sometimes his writing got him into trouble and he was forced to go on campaign again.

[The Worthines of Wales] is a panegyric to Wales and its people, written mainly in verse using iambic pentameter in eight line stanzas. There are some digressions; at one point he castigates other writers for their lack of knowledge, particularly foreigners, he then goes on to claim that stories about Robin Hood were all based on folk lore while tales about King Arthur were not. Much of this seems to be based on the writing of the old historian Geoffrey of Monmouth. Churchyard soon gets back to his main subject a 'walk through' description of towns and castles in Wales. He pays particular attention to the tombs of famous people, sometimes including a little history. For the most part the verse flows by and is interesting because Churchyard is a good observer.

In his introduction and dedication to queen Elizabeth Churchyard says "It is a work in honour of Wales where your highnesses ancestors took name and where your majesty is as much loved and feared as in any place of your highness domain."
He points out he wishes to describe the castles and warns that some of them are falling into decay. He stresses what good subjects the Welsh are. there are no roberries everyone is law abiding and they would go overboard to welcome anyone from Elizabeth’s court. There is much of interest here, but again the transcription that I read contains the original spelling and so a little patience is required.… (meer)