SOURCE: Wilkes, G. A. “The Poetry of Sir John Davies.” Huntington Library Quarterly 25, no. 4 (August 1962): 283-98.

In the following essay, Wilkes examines Davies's poetry, discusses his ideas, themes, and influences, and surveys the issues debated by his critics.

There is no justification at present for calling attention to Sir John Davies as a neglected poet, or for claiming any higher position for him than he now enjoys. As the author of Nosce teipsum he has always had a certain repute, and more recently Orchestra has come into prominence as an aid to the exposition of the Elizabethan world picture. We are in no danger of overlooking Davies or of mistaking his stature: the danger is that we may mistake the kind of poet that he was. The isolation of Orchestra and Nosce teipsum from the rest of his work is tending to place Davies' poetry in a false...