A. W. (poet)

The anonymous poet A.W. is responsible for the long poem "Complaint", printed in A Poetical Rapsody, a volume issued in 1602 by two brothers, Francis and Walter Davison.[1] In the Rapsody the poem is ascribed to Francis Davison, but in Davison’s own manuscript, to "A. W.". Not only the eight rhyme-endings, but the actual words that compose them, are the same in each of eight stanzas, a virtuoso display.

The mysterious "A.W." has never been identified but the songs of "A.W." found places in many anthologies and song-books of the early seventeenth century.

References

Ward, Adolphus William; Waller, Alfred Rayney; Trent, William Peterfield; Erskine, John; Sherman, Stuart Pratt; Van Doren, Carl, eds. (1907–21). "VI. The Song-Books and Miscellanies". A Poetical Rapsody; Francis Davison; "A.W."; Sir Edward Dyer. The Cambridge History of English and American Literature. IV. Prose and Poetry: Sir Thomas North to Michael Drayton. Cambridge, England: University Press. 25. ISBN 1-58734-073-9 – via Bartleby.com.

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[Cambridge-1] Ward, Adolphus William; Waller, Alfred Rayney; Trent, William Peterfield; Erskine, John; Sherman, Stuart Pratt; Van Doren, Carl, eds. (1907–21). "VI. The Song-Books and Miscellanies". A Poetical Rapsody; Francis Davison; "A.W."; Sir Edward Dyer. The Cambridge History of English and American Literature. IV. Prose and Poetry: Sir Thomas North to Michael Drayton. Cambridge, England: University Press. 25. ISBN 1-58734-073-9 – via Bartleby.com.