ABSTRACT
Southwell’s poetry, circulated in Catholic circles during his lifetime and printed shortly after his martyr’s death in 1595, had enormous influence upon the turn to religion discernible among English poets from the mid-1590s onwards. But it was often not easy for Protestant writers to acknowledge him in a straightforward manner. Southwell is in any case less interested in self-representation than in urging the reader towards repentance and witness, making him unusually susceptible to readerly appropriation and remodelling. This chapter argues that, for all these reasons, the extent of Southwell’s influence has been underplayed in literary history.
