"Solitude and Speechlessness is a book that scholars of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century English poetry will appreciate for its detailed, precise, and accurate analysis of canonical works. It provides a re-reading of such works through a peculiar lens: the pursuit, or fear, of the sense of isolation that allows us to find, but also lose, ourselves."- Elena Brizio, Georgetown University (Renaissance and Reformation / Renaissance et Réforme) "In his remarkable study, Andrew Mattison offers a fascinating examination of the various and self-conscious forms of literary withdrawal within sixteenth and seventeenth-century English writings, and of the implications that such a poetics of isolation have for the writing of literary history."- Joshua Easterling, Murray State University (Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Teaching) "In our current global experience of isolation, Mattison’s book has special resonance. Among many achievements, it reminds us of the virtue of being ambitious readers, challenging ourselves to wander from familiar paths."- Anna Welch, State Library Victoria (Parergon)
