Baroque English Poetry

1. Baroque English Poetry

2. Literary developments • There was no typical seventeenth-century outlook • Strict division into Puritan writers and Cavalier writers ignores many differentiations and considerable crosspollination • As a rule, Cavalier writers are associated with gay, devil-may-care poetry extolling the transient pleasures of love, youth, happiness, and beauty. • Puritan writes would normally write fervent Puritan hymns and political tracts. • Restoration theatre was a theatre for the court, the nobility, the ladies and gentlemen of fashion. Women’s roles, formerly played by boys, were now played by actresses, such as the famous Nell Gwyn • French tradition continued to be influential but not to the same degree it was in visual arts

3. Restoration theatre Restoration theatre was a theatre for the court, the nobility, the ladies and gentlemen of fashion. Women’s roles, formerly played by boys, were now played by actresses, such as the famous Nell Gwyn (1650 – 1687), mistress of King Charles II of England

4. John Donne (1572-1631), a metaphysical poet • Born to a wealthy and famous family • Raised as Roman Catholic • Travelled, studied law, theology, medicine • Handsome and brilliant • Wrote wild, worldly, cynical “harsh” love lyrics; known for his apt use of paradox • Secretly married the 16-year-old Anne More, whose infuriated influential family did everything in their power to block Donne’s career • Years of obscurity and soul-searching • At 43, was ordained a priest • Dean of St. Pail’s Cathedral • Composed religious poetry and magnificent sermons

5. Donne’s Woman’s Constancy (poetry reading) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-DrmjIApWg

6. Robert Herrick (1591-1674), a lyric poet • The son of a goldsmith, who worked at his father’s craft • A degree at Cambridge • Ben Johnson’s greatest student and admirer • The Church of England chaplain • Obtained from Charles I a church living in Devon: at first hated this rough and rocky exile; later discovered in himself an understanding – even a love - for the brooks, blossoms, birds of the West Country. • Wrote pure songs of secular nature as well as religious verse

7. John Milton (1608-1674) As a Puritan, Milton believed that: • the individual’s relation to God was the heart of Christianity • the individual’s chief aid was the Bible, the revealed voice of God • Kings, bishops, the intricate theological disputes of the Middle Ages, officials and institutions which tried to make rules for the believer had to be replaced • The son of a scrivener (lawyer, in today’s words) • At school, studies Latin and Greek, grammar and rhetoric • Degree at Cambridge university