ABSTRACT
His Maiesties poeticall exercises at vacant houres, the second collection of poetry by James VI of Scotland, appeared in 1591 to the polite acclaim of laudatory verse.1 The volume opens with the King’s letter to the reader, which is succeeded by a series of commendatory poems from four authors. By comparison with the more substantial pageant of praise which preceded the poetry in James’ earlier work, the 1584 Essayes of a prentise, it is a modest list – but it is also an intriguing one, and one which, I suggest, has consequences for our understanding of the development of religious poetry in England in the succeeding decades.2
