The Psalmes of David (Sidney Psalms)

Sir Philip Sidney

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A poetic version of the Psalms by Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1586) and his sister, Mary Sidney Herbert, the Countess of Pembroke (1561-1621). "It is possible that the original Autograph manuscript of Sir Philip Sidney may still exist in the library at Wilton. It would have been desirable to have ascertained this, as it might prove which were versified by him, and which by his sister. This I have not been able to accomplish." Some of the Psalms may have been written by a third party.

The Christian Remembrancer magazine for June, 1821 contains a paper by Dr. Cotton on English Psalmody. In speaking of this translation, he says, "By what strange means it has happened that this version has slept in unmerited obscurity for nearly two centuries and a half, I am utterly at a loss to divine. I see in many of them passages of considerable beauty; and notwithstanding the stiffness characteristic of the poetry of the day, there is often peculiar happiness of expression, a nerve and energy, a poetic spirit that might have disarmed, even if it could not extort praise, from the fastidious Warton himself." (Summary from the Advertisement) (8 hr 4 min)