Anne Lock or Thomas Norton? A Response to the Reattribution of the First Sonnet Sequence in English

Abstract

Literary “firsts” inevitably attract controversy, and the first sonnet sequence in English is no exception. The text is generally agreed to be “AMeditation of a Penitent Sinner: Written in Maner of a Paraphrase vpon the 51. Psalme of Dauid.” Noted for its evocation of the claustrophobic mental state of its titular sinner, it consists of twenty-six sonnets, five of which are prefatory and twenty-one of which paraphrase a prose translation of Psalm 51 included in the margin alongside the verses. In addition to being the first sonnet sequence in English, the “Meditation”