I found the first part of "Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum" very interesting and different than the other things that we have read thus far. For example it is a women's prospective of Queen Elizabeth. Most of our readings are Men's prospective of the Queen or her own perspective about herself. This poem, instead, shows a different idea and shows a response of the same sex of Elizabeth.
The focus of the first part of the poem is about her adoration of the Queen and through this she compares her to Eve in the garden. By doing this she is putting Elizabeth in the elevated state of Eden, the garden or the ideal pastoral land. Again, here through Lanyer's writing the nostalgia for Elizabeth is shown. She is longing for the previous time. By comparing Elizabeth to Eve she has, like I said, put her in the pastoral land which is a representation of England. Lanyer goes on to say, "And do refer unto your majesty/To judge if it agree not with the text:/And if it do, why are poor women blamed,/Or by more faulty men so much defamed" (75-78). Through this statement Lanyer is making two different comments: one, that Adam was to blame for the fall. It was not the woman's fault and yet she is the one who is constantly blamed while the man is usually uplifted and seen as not as bad as the woman. Secondly she is referring again back to England and Elizabeth's rule. Elizabeth was not to blame for the restoration or the shift in England, instead that had to do with Charles I and the restoration. This unfortunate event, in Lanye's opinion, was because of Elizabeth's death but was not Elizabeth's fault. She is longing for the time of Elizabeth and the pre-restoration land like everyone is longing for Eden and the pastoral time before the fall.
Throughout this poem Lanyer is constantly praising Elizabeth and through this the nostalgia that was the Stuart age is shown in her writing.
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