English 117: Elizabeth I and Her Age

Both the readings, “Epigram on the Earl of Essex” and “Letter to Essex in Ireland,” seem to be about Essex leading Queen Elizabeth’s army in Ireland. In the letter that Elizabeth writes to Essex, she comes across as upset. Yet she never comes out and straight up tells him that he has distanced the army from the council, that he has not been successful in the battles, and that he needs to be taking the army in a different direction. What she does is beat around the bush about it. She starts off telling him something, then goes into a huge explanation about it, and then finally is like—oh yeah; by the way… you fail. At least this is the impression I got from the letter. If I was Essex, reading this letter would not motivate me to do anything. The letter could have been more direct and to the point, especially if she wants him to do more with the army.

As for the poem, it is like the letter. The poem just sums up the letter, which if the poem was that short and got the point across, the letter could have been way shorter and the same message would have been conveyed. The poem talks about how the Queen sends Essex to war because of “her wrath.” She wanted him to go north, but he wanted to go south… However, the Queen’s will is what matters in the end, so he had to go north. At least that is what I got from this poem.

I don’t know. It will be interesting to discuss these two in class and get everyone’s opinion on them.