Line Endings in Renaissance Poetry

This book looks at how Renaissance poets ended their poetic lines. It considers a range of strategies and argues that line endings are crucial to our understanding of the poems. It begins with an introduction summarizing the work that has already been done in this area and demonstrating the author’s own method. The main part of the book is divided into three chapters: one on rhyme; one on enjambment; and one on the sestina. These are the most significant kinds of line endings used by English Renaissance poets. The book ends with a brief afterword, wherein the author’s findings and some new areas for research are sketched out.

Stephen Guy-Bray is Professor of English at the University of British Columbia. He specializes in Renaissance poetry, in queer theory, and in poetics.