The Description of Cooke-ham Summary

In the voice of an unnamed first-person speaker, Aemilia Lanyer writes about her residence in, and departure from, her patron’s estate in Cooke-ham. The speaker begins with a farewell to Cooke-ham, then acknowledges Margaret Clifford, Countess of Cumberland (Lanyer’s patron and the poem’s commissioner), who accompanied the speaker during her pleasant stay in the estate. In a flashback to the countess’s first arrival at Cooke-ham, the speaker describes how the trees, flowers, birds, streams, and winds seemed to welcome the lady. One oak tree was exceptionally handsome. Cooke-ham was memorable not only because of its beautiful views, but also because of the deeply religious countess whose piety was comparable to that of important Biblical figures. The speaker also remembers her virtuous daughter, Anne Clifford, who would later leave Cooke-ham to get married. The departure of her noble friends saddens the speaker, who then recalls the day the countess left Cooke-ham, putting its flora and fauna in great distress and deterioration. The countess’s parting gesture was to kiss her favorite oak tree, inciting the jealousy of the speaker. The poem closes with a reiteration of the speaker’s nostalgia for Cooke-ham and her desire to remain in a close relationship with her patron.