Poet as Songwriter
An essential thematic union in the poetry of Campion is that between music and verse. Campion did not write poetry without setting the rhythm of the verse to music. He was a talented composer in addition to being a writer and it is very appropriate to suggest that Campion was really more of a songwriter than a poet. Reading his poetry—perhaps even understanding his poetry—is facilitated by trying to figure out that accompaniment and singing it rather than merely reading or even just reciting it.
Renaissance Love Poetry
Reading the poetry of Thomas Campion can often seem like reading a generic conceptualization of Renaissance courtly love. The imagery is filled with shepherds and nymphs, rakish males and goddesses and, of course, Cupid shooting his arrows. The language is simple and direct, but marked with the kind of playful wordplay that disguises eroticism behind symbolism. Importantly, the symbolism is weighty with allusion, but not abstruse and the conceits engage courtly ideals rather than polemical debate acting as metaphor for contemporary intrigue. Campion is a poet of romantic love, plain and simple.
Political Allegory
Which is not to say that Campion did not excel in the writing of political allegories. This verse is usually held in high esteem as an examples of his musicality rather than the content, however, because they are includes as part of masques. The masques of Campion are notably less dramatic than the master of the masque, his contemporary Ben Jonson, but the allegorical stories celebrating such royal events as the marriage of Lord Hay and the wedding of Princess Elizabeth are notable for their songs which served to rouse the attending audiences through stories of classical characters like Apollo and Orpheus standing in for contemporary figures like King James.
