‘The “inward warre”: William Habington’s Castara (1640) and an early modern Catholic poetics’

Bailey, R ORCID: 0000-0002-1722-5826 ‘The “inward warre”: William Habington’s Castara (1640) and an early modern Catholic poetics’. British Catholic History. ISSN 2055-7973 (Accepted)

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Abstract

This article explores the third edition of William Habington (1605-1654)’s lyric poems, Castara (1640). This final edition of Castara—originally published in 1634 as a series of love poems to his wife, Lucy Herbert—was transformed by a prose sketch of ‘A Holy Man’ and twenty-two devotional poems. The article draws on Habington’s recusant roots and his engagement with French, Counter-Reformation Catholicism emanating from Queen Henrietta Maria’s court circle, and argues for an early modern Catholic poetics. It explores why these poems were published in 1640 and argues that this edition of Castara, by one of the ablest Catholics of his generation, offers a unique glimpse into, and understanding of, English Catholicism at the volatile political moment prior to the outbreak of the English Civil War.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	William Habington; 'Castara'; lyric poetry; 1640; Catholic poetics
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General)
Divisions:	Humanities and Social Science
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Date of acceptance:	1 January 2026
Date of first compliant Open Access:	19 January 2026
Date Deposited:	19 Jan 2026 13:27
Last Modified:	19 Jan 2026 13:27
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/27940

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