Mary Sidney stood as a prominent poet and patron of the arts in Elizabethan England. Following the death of her brother, Philip Sidney, she dedicated a significant portion of her career to his memory, completing his translation of the Psalms. Her own literary output included translations of French and Italian works, alongside original poems, such as an elegy for her brother. Her discerning literary taste and support for artists cemented her status as the era's foremost female intellectual, second only to the queen.
Whitney's two volumes of verse miscellany, Sweet Nosegay (1573) and The Copy of a Letter (1567), were part of a literary trend of combining classical and Biblical references with vernacular sources. As well a selection of her original poetry, this volume includes Mary Sidney's version of the Psalms of David and Petrach's Triumph of Death. schovat popis