English Literature - English Poetry - From Elizabethan age to Pre-Romantic

UNIT-I: Poetry from the Elizabethan Age to Pre-Romantic Age

LITERARY BACKGROUND – NOTES

1.      Caroline Age- Poetic Trends:

There are three kinds of poets during the Caroline age – (i) Metaphysical, (ii) Cavalier, and (iii) Puritan. John Donne, George Herbert, Richard Crashaw, henry Vaughan belonged to the Metaphysical school of poetry. Cavalier poets include Ben Johnson and his followers. Robert Herrick, Thomas Carens, Sir John Suckling and Richard Lovelace.  The puritans are opposite to the Cavalier poets.  They are chiefly Milton and Andrew Marvell.

2.      Metaphysical Poetry and Metaphysical Poets:

The Metaphysical poetry developed as a revolt against the outdated and exhausted Elizabethan poetry.  The leaders of this revolt were Ben Johnson and John Donne.  Literally “Meta” means “beyond” and “physics” means “physical nature”. That is Metaphysical poets write about the things which are beyond the physical nature. Their chief subjects are Love and Religion.

The following are the characteristics of the Metaphysical poetry:

(i)                            It is heavily over-loaded with conceits, which may be defined as the excessive use of over-elaborated similes and metaphors drawn from the far fetched, remote and unfamiliar resources.

(ii)                          Metaphysical poets have always perceived similarity between dissimilar objects and used similes and metaphors to convey their perception of that similarity.

(iii)                        They use figures of speech excessively.

(iv)                        They perceive occult relationships.

(v)                          Their images are logical and intellectual rather than sensuous and emotional.

(vi)                        Metaphysical poets use words which call the mind into play rather than those which speak to the senses.

(vii)                      Metaphysical poets start their poems abruptly. Often, the openings will be colloquial. As a result, the poem takes a dramatic form.

The Metaphysical Poets:

            John Donne is the leader of the Metaphysical school of poetry. George Herbert, Richard Crashaw, Henry Vaughan, etc., are the followers of this school.

3.      The Cavalier Poetry:

The Cavalier poetry was largely poetry of the Courts.  The Cavalier poets used to write poetry reflecting the fun and their easygoing life. Ben Johnson was the leader of this group. Other poets who were followers of Ben Johnson called themselves as “Tribes of Ben”.

Clergy man Robert Herrick, the courtiers Thomas, Carew, Sir Johnson Suckling and Richard Lovelace belonged to this tribe. Robert Herrick wrote religious poetry also.  Bulk of his poetry was written under the influence of the court.

4.      The Puritan Poetry:

The Puritan poets are opposite to the Cavalier poets.  They sang of loftier (superior) things and great epic subjects.   Andrew Marvel and John Milton were the chief poets of this school of poetry. Among the Puritan poets, John Milton is a remarkable writer. His famous works are Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes.

Milton’s poetry can be divided into three phases:

1.      Early Poems (1628-1640)

2.      Prose Writings (1640-1660)

3.      Later poetry (1660-1674)

(Milton’s early poetry includes odes like “Ode on the Morning of Christ’s nativity” and other poems “L’Allegro”, “Il’Penseroso”, “Comus” and “Lycidas”, “On Shakespeare”, “On Arriving at the Area of Twenty three”, etc. 

Milton’s prose writings include many pamphlets in support of Public liberty. Out of these, “Areopagitica” is very important.

In the third phase of life, Milton’s genius found the fullest expression.  During this period, he created “Paradise Lost”, “Paradise Regained”, “Samson Agonistes”.)

Milton’s poetry serves a moral and spiritual purpose. He was autobiographical in his poetry.  He wrote like a scholar.  The politics, Religion and Morality are his interesting subjects.  He is a master of Rhyme in his shorter poems and a master of Blank verse in the longer ones. His Grand style in Paradise Lost has taken him to heights.

5.      Restoration Period:

The age of Charles-II is called the Restoration period, because he was restored on the throne out of which his father Charles-I was removed earlier. The term “Neo-Classical” is applied to the literature of this period. The writers of this age believed that the writers of ancient Greece presented the best models and the ultimate standards of literature.

The Poetic Trends of Restoration period:

            The writers of the restoration period opposed the excessive freedom of the Metaphysical poets.  They wanted to have some accepted standards of excellence.  They believed that the ancient Greek and Latin classics would be the best models for them to follow.  In the poetry of Restoration period, we find a significant observance of the rules of the ancient Greek and Latin classics (as expounded by the French Critic Boileau though they were not original but a modified one). The literature evolved during this period was called the “Neo-Classical” or a new form of the original classical.

The characteristics of the Neo-Classical Poetry:

The following are the chief characteristics of the Neo-classical poetry:

1. Realism: Neo-classical poets are mostly realists.  They represented their society, Courts and men as they were. They emphasized vices rather than virtues.
2. Dominance of Reason and Good Sense: Neo-classical poetry is marked by the dominance of reason and good sense.  It has no place for the imagination, enthusiasm, emotion and mysticism.  Their poetry appeals to our intellect and reason.
3. Pre-occupation with the Town life: Neo-classical poetry is exclusively the poetry of the town life lived by the fashionable persons in the great city of London.
4. Insistence on set poetic rules and correctness: The poetic rules and correctness as laid down by the great classical writers of the age of Augustus were insisted.
5. Absence of the Romantic Elements: Their poetry was purely classical, but not romantic.
6. Simplicity, Directness and Polish: The Neo-classical poetry is marked by the simplicity, lucidity, directness and polish in the manner of expression.
7. The Rise of the Heroic couplet: The poets of this age used “Heroic couplet” liberally compared to other stanza forms.

6. Sonnet:

Sonnet was born in Italy.  It was originally a short poem, recited to the accompaniment of music.  The word “Sonnet” is a derivative of the Italian “Sonetto” meaning ‘a little sound or strain’. The Italian sonnet was brilliantly used by ‘Petrarch’. Hence, it was called as the “Petrarchan sonnet”. It is also called the ‘classical sonnet’.  It is a short poem of fourteen lines, expressing one single thought of feeling.  It is composed of two parts- the Octave and the Sestet. The Octave is a stanza of eight lines, with rhyme scheme abba, abba. The Sestet is a stanza of six lines with various rhyme schemes cde, cde or cdc, dcd or cde, dce. .  At the end of the octave, there is well-marked pause of casura (indicated by the punctuation, often emphasized by a space) followed by a volta or turn in the thought.

            Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey introduced the Sonnet into England in the first half of the 16^th century.   In their hands, the form underwent a change.  Surrey adopted a rhyme scheme widely different from the Italian Sonnet. His sonnets contain three quatrains, in alternate rhyme, followed by a concluding couplet: abab, cdcd, efef, gg. This form was successfully used by Shakespeare. Hence, it was later called as “Shakespearean Sonnet”.  Since it is divided into four parts, it has no pause and turn of thought (caesura and volta) at the end of the eighth line.

9. Epic Simile:

            Epic similes are formal and sustained similes, in which the secondary subject (vehicle) is developed far beyond its specific points of parallel to the primary subject (tenor).  Usually it compares one complex action (rather than a simple quality or thing) with another. This was frequently used by Homer in his epic poems, and hence was called as ‘Homeric simile.’ It was also used by Virgil, Milton and others in their literary epics. In his mock-heroic poem, “The Rape of the Lock”, Alexander pope also used epic similes, to give grandness and epic-style to the trivial subject.

10. Satire:

            Satire is a mode of writing that exposes the failings of individuals, institutions and societies to mock and contempt. Satire is often a subsidiary element in literary works that may not be wholly satirical, especially in comedy.  The satire thrives upon abuses, social or individual. Its subjects are the courtier and the court life, the puritan, the woman, the corrupt priests, the dishonest tailor, the Englishman who aped Italian or French fashions.  The heroic couplet was considered by the satirists as the fittest medium for satire.

Its tone may vary from tolerant amusement to bitter indignation.  Various forms of literature may be satirical, The models of Roman satire, especially the verse satires of Horace and Juvenal inspired some important imitations by Boileau, Pope and Johnson in the greatest period of satire- the 17^th and 18^th centuries. In this classical tradition, an important form is ‘formal’ or ‘direct’ satire, in which the writer directly addresses the reader (or recipient of a verse letter) with satiric comment.  The alternative form - the ‘indirect satire’ usually found in plays and novels allows us to draw our own conclusions from the actions of the characters, as for example in the novels of Evelyn Waugh or Chinua Achebe.