Kelly is an instructor of literature and creative writing at two colleges in Illinois. In the following essay, he explains how, even though poetry was not the primary interest of Sir Walter Raleigh or Christopher Marlowe, they were able to touch on universal truths about humanity by examining the pastoral tradition in poetry.

Most of what has been written about Sir Walter Raleigh focuses, for good reason, on his fascinating life as a suitor of Queen Elizabeth I, an adventurer and a scoundrel, a slayer of indigenous peoples and, overall, as an opportunist who several times slipped out of the clutches of defeat to redefine his own fortune. He founded colonies, named the territory of Virginia, led an expedition to the fabled City of Gold, and spent thirteen years in the Tower of London, where he wrote a million-wordlong history of the world. Of course, he is...