Tuesday, April 26, 2016

English Poetry, Jonson to Marvell

We have a lot on our plates tomorrow Marvell-wise, but tomorrow is also the last day of what has essentially been a  9-week overview of 17th-century poetry. So take a moment to reflect on where what we've read and discussed so far and try to develop some general ideas about this body of writing.

Are there any central conflicts, struggles, or preoccupations that seem to hold this diverse group of poems together as a coherent group?

What are the primary conversations taking place in seventeenth century poetry? 

If you were to tell a little two-minute story about 17th-century English poetry (if, say, someone were to put you on the spot and force you to), what would it sound like?

Interregnum, 1649-1660



Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Sir John Suckling and Richard Lovelace




Sir John Suckling, by Anthony Van Dyck (1637-38), and Richard Lovelace, attributed to William Dobson (1645).

"Charles I and the Duke of York," Peter Lely (1647)

King Charles I and Queen Henrietta Maria


All of these paintings were executed by the great Flemish painter Anthony van Dyck between 1632, when he was appointed Principal Painter to Charles I, and 1635.

Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Two Broad Questions

Hello again. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's chat about Aemilia Lanyer and Lady Mary Wroth. I'll be concluding the session with two broad questions and I thought I'd stick them up here in advance.

(1) Like Jonson, Lanyer is invested in community-making through literary production. Like Donne, she engages actively with religion and scripture. So what makes her version of these undertakings different?

(2) Taking Lanyer and Wroth as case studies, how does attending to women's writing enrich, complicate, or challenge the way we understand seventeenth-century English literary culture?

Selections from Cavalier Poets, for next Wednesday, April 13

Robert Herrick, "The Hock-Cart"
Thomas Carew, "The Rapture"
Sir John Suckling, "A Ballad Upon a Wedding," "The Constant Lover," "A Candle"
Richard Lovelace, "To Lucasta, Going to the Wars," "To Lucasta. From Prison," "To My Worthy Friend Mr. Peter Lilly," "The Ant"

Trust me, this is great stuff. Give it a chance. Be sure to make use of the DNB so you can put together a bit of a context. And, of course, our discussions in class will help, too.

Early Modern Women Writers: Aemilia Lanyer and Lady Mary Wroth

Here's a link the to a copy of Aemilia Lanyer's Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum (London, 1611). We'll talk about it.

Here's the frontispiece to Lady Mary Wroth's The Countesse of Mountgomeries Urania (London, 1621). For the full text on EEBO, click here.