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This study is concerned with Early Modern English psalm translations. It focusses on the connection between inspiration and formal perfection as it appears in George Wither´s A Preparation to the Psalter, Philip Sidney´s The Defence of Poesy, the Sidney Psalter and the Bay Psalm Book. Taking into account theological, philosophical, and literary contexts of the time, it reveals the struggle to find a suitable language in praise of God as a main concern of Early Modern religious writers, and presents concepts which are highly relevant for the religious poetry of the time.

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Janina Niefer worked as researcher at the Department of English at the Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany.

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