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.

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