PRESENTATION OUTLINE
beginning of the 17th century, with the death of Queen Elizabeth
social tensions would ultimately rip England apart for almost 20 years became acute
merchants of the middle class, who were often Puritan in their sympathies, gained more power through the reigns of James I and Charles I
Younger associates of William Shakespeare, such as Ben Jonson were changing the face of drama and literature in general
poets, such as John Donne were experimenting with rough and dramatic poetry that explored personal and spiritual themes
Jonson, especially, set himself up as the forerunner of the professional literary man
He began in the theater as an actor and a playwright
He, along with other playwrights, also composed poetry; Jonson began to make an independent living at it by becoming Poet Laureate
Jonson had never attended a university
set himself up as a scholar, a critic, a translator, and the founder of a poetic school, first called the Sons (or Tribe) of Ben
became the unofficial literary dictator of early 17th-century London
By 1640, the strict rule of Charles I had so inflamed the Puritan members of Parliament that open rebellion began
In 1642, all theaters in England were closed. They would not reopen until the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660
In 1649, Charles was executed, and Parliament formed a republican government called the Commonwealth
failure of the Commonwealth a few years later led to the Puritan dictatorship of the Protectorate under Oliver Cromwell
Two years after Cromwell's death in 1658, the Protectorate was replaced by a renewed monarchy under Charles II
restoration of royal power caused major changes in literary taste, especially in terms of the revived medium of drama
two major poets of the early 17th century, Ben Jonson and John Donne, differ both in their poetic styles and their biographies
Jonson, coming out of the theater and the army, and having escaped hanging for killing a man in a duel through benefit of clergy (an English law absolving people from the death penalty if they had the ability to read), was always a controversial figure
He fought "literary wars" with other poets
insulted Scotland early in the reign of James and was imprisoned for it
converted to Catholicism
suspected in the Gunpowder Plot to blow up the buildings of Parliament
hounded by James' secret police and reconverted to Anglicanism
his poetry, which is smooth and rhythmic, imitates Greek and Roman verses and was intended to be public
He wrote elegies and epitaphs, compliments and tributes, songs, epigrams (short satiric poems with an unexpected twist), and philosophical poems on the nature of the good life
inspired and mentored a group of younger poets−Robert Herrick, Thomas Carew, and Sir John Suckling, among others
−who were first known as the Sons of Ben but later became known as the Cavalier Poets
name Cavalier had political significance:
during the Puritan revolution
the Parliamentary armies
Also known as the Roundheads, while royalist forces were known as the Cavaliers
John Donne
-started his literary life as a rakish outsider
-a melancholy lover of many women trying to find a position at court
born in 1572 to a Roman Catholic family, but seemed to have quietly abandoned that faith sometime in the 1590s
participated in military expeditions against Spain after taking training at both Oxford and Cambridge Universities and serving an apprenticeship as a lawyer at London's Inns of Court
1598, he was appointed secretary to Sir Thomas Edgerton, and his prospects for a court career looked very good
prospects came crashing down in 1601, when Donne secretly married Edgerton's niece, Ann More
marriage doomed any prospects he had for advancement at the royal court
For almost fourteen years, he and his family lived a life of relative poverty
King James told Donne that his only avenue of advancement would be through the Church of England
1615, Donne took orders as an Anglican priest and spent the rest of his life as a minister
first as Reader in Divinity at Lincoln's Inn, and then as Dean of Saint Paul's Cathedral
famous for his marvelous sermons
Though Donne's life had completely changed, his poetic forms (though not his subjects) remained much the same
Donne's poetry broke sharply from the smooth verse of the Elizabethans
His rhythms are rough, and his metaphors are strained, both in his early verse on love and his later religious verse
poetry
not especially popular with his contemporaries
soon after his death, Donne was forgotten, until T.S. Eliot revived his reputation in the early 20th century
Next time....
- George Herbert, The Altar and Easter
- Complete corresponding CPA
references
- Harmon, W., & Holman, H. (2006) A handbook to literature. (10th ed.) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall.
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