Pamphilia to Amphilanthus

by Lady Mary WROTH (1587 - 1653)

06 – Part 06 (Four Songs and Nine Sonnets)

Pamphilia to Amphilanthus

Pamphilia to Amphilanthus is the first sonnet sequence written by an Englishwoman. Published in 1621, the poems invert the usual format of sonnet sequences by making the speaker a woman (Pamphilia, whose name means "all-loving") and the beloved a man (Amphilanthus, whose name means "lover of two."). It is possible that Wroth based the story on her own fraught relationship with her cousin, William Herbert. (Summary by Elizabeth Klett.)