Publisher's Synopsis
Compiled by the Oxford poet and divine Abraham Wright, Parnussus Biceps is an essentially nostalgic and royalist publication designed to demonstrate, at a time of cultural dearth during the Interregnum, what an 'Ocean of Wit' flowed from 'those brests of this Nation, the two Universities' before the disruptions of the Civil War. Chosen to celebrate the enjoyment of civilised life, love, wine and beauty, the 94 poems represented date mainly from the period 1610-1640. The majority written by Oxford men, they include pieces by Donne, Corbett, Strode, King, Carew, Jonson, Herrick, Waller and Shirley, among others. This edition includes as an appendix facsimiles of Abraham Wright's extracts from Shakespeare in his manuscript commonplace book (British Library, Add. MS 22608).
