The Choise Of Valentines By Zora Neale

Nashe justifies the appropriateness of ‘The Choise of Valentines’ by claiming the text’s truthfulness, and therefore bears out Sidney’s claim that literature should teach, as Nashe uses the text of convey his own moral ideology. ‘The Choise of Valentines’ is therefore a poem which presents authentic literature, allowing for the argument that ‘poetry conveys the truth of moral philosophy’. As Guy-Bray explains, Nashe celebrates and stresses his reason for writing ‘Choise’ as a move against depending on structures from other literary traditions, as this ‘leads to a literature that is unauthentic.’ While much of Renaissance literature focused on tradition and copies, Nashe focused on the presentation of truths through plain speaking language.

Skelton delights through the connotations regarding the symbol of the ship. The reader is introduced to the ship in the description which informs the reader that ‘the shyp that ye here see, / The Bowge of Courte it hyghte for certeynte.’ (Skelton, line 48-49) This presentation of ship as a symbol for great prospects evokes concepts to the reader that a ship in the 15th century would hold; ideas of workmanship, flagship and holding majestic qualities. The stately symbol also contains the concept of purpose, destination and cohesiveness, as everything must work in coordination for it to function, and this idea is supported as the ship is described as ‘our grete shyppe sayle.’ (Skelton, line 170) This initial conception of what a ship would mean to the contemporary reader therefore acts as an ‘external ornament to a moral truth’, which the poem holds. If the moral truth to be comprehended from ‘The Bowge of Courte’ is that the court operates on a mechanism of falsity, the ship acts externally, though in conjunction, with the literal concept of the court, delighting the reader and supporting the moral of the text. Skelton 's knowledge of the weight that the symbol of the ship would carry, coupled with his ‘ambivalent relationship’ towards the Tudor court supports this reading. (Roberts) The ship, more than just a general symbol, functions as a symbolic statement around the concept of the court, giving distance from the reality of the court setting, while maintaining the social structure of the court. The ship is therefore deceptive in appearance, as it how it operates goes against this stately