Skip to content
Home/ Revisiting, Revising, and Regenreing John Day's 'The Parliament of Bees'
Revisiting, Revising, and Regenreing John Day's 'The Parliament of Bees'

Revisiting, Revising, and Regenreing John Day's 'The Parliament of Bees'

by Smid, Deanna
No customer reviews yet ISBN 9783032158451

This newly updated edition of John Day's The Parliament of Bees includes both the 1641 quarto and also a complete transcription of the earlier manuscript of the text. The editions of both manuscript and quarto feature modern spelling and punctuation, extensive explanatory notes and glosses, considerable attention to the differences between ​the two texts, and a lengthy introduction that delves into the significance of genre and character, particularly in the context of animal studies. In the text, Day creates dialogues between a series of upright or misbehaving bees under the rule of the "Master Bee." Day describes each bee in a series of ten poetical scenes, called "Colloquies" or "Characters," and then concludes the text with two more "Characters" in which Oberon, King of the Fairies, holds court to judge the various bees. Deanna Smid makes the case that the work is often misgenred and therefore not fully appreciated, asserting that as a play or masque, it might be considered mediocre, even dull. However, she posits that if the work is analyzed for what it is--a character book--the text reveals the intertwined genres that underpin apian poetics itself and represents a fascinating early modern exemplarof the relationship between literature and the natural world.

About the author

Product details

Pub dateFeb 20, 2026
ISBN-103032158451
ISBN-139783032158451
LanguageEnglish
Last updated 2026-09-07 18:32
$135.43
In stock — ships in 24 hours with free tracking
Delivery by Monday, September 14, 2026
Qty
Sign in to Add to Saved list
Free delivery on orders over $35.
15-day returns. Any reason.
Secure checkout. We never store card details.

Readers who bought this also bought

More from Literary Criticism | Modern | 17th Century
See all
Milton in Translation
<em>Milton in Translation</em> represents an unprecedented collaboration that demonstrates the breadth of John Milton's international reception, from the seventeenth century through today. This book collects in one volume new essays written on the translation of Milton's works written by an international roster of experts: stalwart and career-long Miltonists, scholars primarily of translation studies, and practitioners who have translated Milton's works. Chapters are grouped geographically but also, by and large, chronologically, given that Milton's works radiated further abroad over time. The chapters on the twenty-three individual languages showcased in this volume are framed by 'Part I: Approaches', consisting of an introduction and two major essays on the global reach and the aural nature of Milton's poetry, and by an epilogue. 'Part II: Influential Translations' features the most influential languages in translations of Milton's works (English, Latin, German, French). Then, accounts of Milton's afterlives in specific languages are provided in 'Part III. Western European and Latin American Translations' (Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, Icelandic, Italian, Portuguese, European Spanish, Latin American Spanish), 'Part IV: Central and Eastern European Translations' (Bulgarian, Czech, Hungarian, Polish, Serbian/Montenegrin, Serbo-Croatian languages), 'Part V: Middle Eastern Translations' (Arabic, Hebrew, Persian), and 'Part VI: East Asian Translations' (Chinese, Japanese, Korean). The chapters in Parts II through VI include historical and critical context, a brief history of translation in the language, and a case study on any single work or group of Milton's works in translation.
$69.43
Mastering the Revels: The Regulation and Censorship of Early Modern Drama
Dutton, Richard
$159.41
Curious Eye: Optics and Imaginative Literature in Seventeenth-Century England
Curious Eye: Optics and Imaginative Literature in Seventeenth-Century England
$126.49
Turkisms South Slavonic Lit Omllm C
Graham
$164.89
Poetry and Sovereignty in the English Revolution
Poetry and Sovereignty in the English Revolution
$126.49
Love and Money: A Literary History of Desires
Tratner, Michael
$61.63