This work investigates the historical shift in the conceptual relationship between music and poetry in English literature from the Renaissance through the late seventeenth century. John Hollander, a distinguished scholar of literature and music, utilizes a vast array of primary source poetry and philosophical treatises to trace how the classical notion of 'musica mundana'—the music of the spheres—gradually dissolved into more modern, secular understandings of musical art. The book argues that this 'untuning' reflects a broader intellectual transition in how language and sound were perceived in relation to the cosmic order.

This text is widely regarded as a foundational study for scholars interested in the intersection of musicology and literary history. Its rigorous methodology and depth of research provide an essential framework for understanding the intellectual climate of the English Renaissance.