Reading, Desire, and the Eucharist in Early Modern Religious Poetry

The courtly love tradition had a great influence on the themes of religious poetry-just as an absent beloved could be longed for passionately, so too could a distant God be the subject of desire. But when authors began to perceive God as immanently available, did the nature and interpretation of devotional verse change? Ryan Netzley argues that early modern religious lyrics presented both desire and reading as free, loving activities, rather than as endless struggles or dramatic quests.

shows how poetry can encourage love for its own sake, rather than in the hopes of salvation.