SOURCE: “Ralegh's Early Poetry and Its Metrical Context,” in Studies in Philology, Vol. XCIII, No. 4, Fall, 1996, pp. 390-411.

In the following essay, Bajetta finds similarities between Raleigh's two early poems and places them in the context of their literary milieu.

Two poems are generally regarded as the first poetical productions of Ralegh: “Walter Rawley of the middle Temple, in Commendation of the Steele Glasse” (in Agnes Latham's edition, 3, no. 1) and “Sweete are the thoughtes wher Hope persvadeth Happe” (4, no. 2). Their first appearances during Ralegh's life are respectively in Gascoigne's Steele Glas (1576, sig. A4r) and in British Library, MS Harley 7392(2), fol. 36r¹ Both poems show affinities and their style seems to indicate early composition. More recently, Steven May has successfully demonstrated that “Sweete are the thoughtes” belongs to Ralegh's period at the Inns of Court, showing its relationship to a companion poem printed in George Whetstone's The Rocke...