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Renaissance
The cultural shift known as the Renaissance (which emerged in Italy, then spread across
Western Europe) can be defined as "the full revival of humanism". The term humanism denotes
"an outlook that emphasizes human capabilities and concerns"; the two most visible
consequences of this outlook are secular appreciation (i.e. appreciation for humans and the
human world) and critical thought.
Propelled by humanism, Renaissance scholars sought to revive the study of classical
literature, as well as to create new literature in the spirit of the classics. Renaissance authors
embraced humanism by injecting a measure of realism (physical, social, emotional) into the
characters, plots, and settings of this new literature, distinguishing it from medieval work (which
lacked such realism). Though some new creative writing was produced in Latin, the dominance
of vernacular languages (which had been established by medieval writers) would not be
displaced.
While the Renaissance took place mainly within the period ca. 1400-1600, the roots of the
movement lie in the fourteenth century. This is especially true of literature, the earliest field of
Renaissance endeavour. Thus, in discussion of literary history, it is convenient to define the
span of the Renaissance as ca. 1300-1600. (Alternatively, the period ca. 1300-1400 can be
described as a transitional "pre-Renaissance".)

Reformation
The Renaissance overlaps with most of the Reformation, in which much of northern Europe
was converted to Protestantism. Rise of Protestantism
The seeds of the Reformation (ca. 1500-1650) were sown in the later Middle Ages (ca. 1000-
1500), as the Church grew increasingly wealthy and influential. Misgivings developed over
zealous violence (namely the imprisonment, torture, and execution of "heretics"), political and
economic interference (e.g. Church taxation, restrictions on banking and trade), the vast land
holdings and opulent lifestyles of many clergy, and the sale of indulgences (pardons for sin).
Additionally, the revival of humanism encouraged critical appraisal of Church claims.
Despite grave personal risk, some religious scholars began to argue that the Bible is the only
true religious authority; believers therefore do not require the intermediary of the Church to find
salvation, but can do so on their own (by following the teachings of the Bible).1 This position,
which would eventually be termed Protestantism, was set forth by various scholars of the later
medieval period. At first, Protestant movements remained small and localized; then came the
Reformation, during which Protestantism was embraced across much of Western Europe.
  Protestantism emphasizes salvation through individual faith (as opposed to relying on clergy
as intermediaries), its adherents were encouraged to become literate and personally read the
Bible. Rates of literacy improved, and the Bible was translated into many vernacular
languages (including a German translation by Luther).
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UNIVERSITY WITS
 The drama before Shakespeare, found its full flowering with the dramatists called the
'University Wits'. These dramatists were well-educated scholars. They wrote in the closing years
of the 16’Th century. This name of University Wits was given them because they were nearly all
educated at Oxford or Cambridge University. Wit was the synonym for scholar.
All the University Wits have several features in common. They had stormy careers. All of them
were actively associated with the theatre. They were usually actors as well as dramatists. They
understood the requirements of the stage and felt the pulse of the audience. They often worked
in collaboration with each other. Their store material was also common. With these dramatists
English drama reached the highest point of glory. In many ways they developed English drama.
Christopher Marlowe was most shining star among the university wits. Others were Lyly, Peele,
Greene, Lodge, Nashe and Kyd.
John Lyly: As a dramatist Lyly occupies a peculiar position. He selected classical themes and
stories for his plays. He himself was a courtier and wrote for countries. He wrote eight plays in
all. They are-Campaspe, Sapho and Phao, Gallathea,The Man in the Moon, Midas, Mother
Bombie, Love's Metamorphosis and Woman in the Moon.
Lyly's contribution to English drama is very important. He was a comic playwright. He gave
shape to romantic comedy. Suitable blank verse was used in his comedies. He added to drama
the qualities of delicacy, grace, charm and subtlety. He is well known as originator of Euphustic
style of prose writing.
George Peele: Peele was one of the greatest University Wits. His work has great variety. His
The Old Wives Tales is the first English play of dramatic criticism. His important plays are
Arraignment of Pairs, The Battle of Alcazar, The Famous Chronicle of King Edward the first, The
Love of King David and Fair Bathsheba and The Old Wives Tales. The list shows Peele's
versatility as a dramatist. In his plays we notice a high level of poetic attainment. As a humorist
he showed the way to Shakespeare. He widened the range of English dramas.
Robert Greene: Like Lyly, Greene was a playwright and novelist in one. He attained high
excellence in both arts. His best plays are-The Comical History of Alphonsus, Friar Bacon and
Friar Bungay and James IV. He was a master of his craft in the art of plotting. With him the love
story became central in the art of drama. He contributed much to the development of romantic
comedy.
Thomas Lodge and Thomas Nashe: The dramatic works of these authors are almost
negligible. Lodge's 'The Wounds of Civil War' contains hardly anything that is new. He gave
practically nothing to the theatre. He wrote poems, novels and plays. Nashe was a pamphleteer
and storywriter. He tried his hand at drama also.
Thomas Kyd: The English tragedy moves on its way with Kyd. He adhered to the Senecan
school. It is he who popularised the blood and thunder element in drama. His 'The Spanish
Tragedy' occupies and important place. It is a landmark in English tragedy. It is a well-
constructed play. Kyd brought the revenge theme to the stage.
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Christopher Marlowe: Marlowe was the central sun of the University Wits. He is the true
founder of the popular English drama. His contribution to the English tragedy is very vital. His
main works are Tamburlaine, Dr. Faustus, Edward II, The Jew of Malta and The Tragedy of
Dido. With Marlowe the English drama reached the highest point of its glory. He raised the
subject matter of drama to a higher level. He gave life and reality to his characters. He made the
blank verse smoother and gave unity to drama. Thus, in many ways, he showed a path to
Shakespeare.
Thus, the University Wits contributed much to the English drama. They prepared the ground for
drama. In the spheres of comedy and tragedy they made notable contribution and prepared the
way for Shakespeare.

Elizabethan Theatre and Drama

The simple definition of Elizabethan theatre and drama is that it is drama written during the reign
of Elizabeth I, but that is absurdly simplistic: Elizabethan drama is much more than that.
Queen Elizabeth I of England and Ireland reigned from 1558 to 1603, during the time when
Europeans were starting to break out of the cultural constraints imposed by the medieval
Church. Great thinkers across Europe were courageously directing their eyes away from the
face of God and turning them towards the mind, the form and the ideas of human beings in a
huge humanistic movement. Instead of just accepting the flat, two dimensional assumptions
about life, God, the planet and the universe itself that the Church pedalled, they were
challenging those assumptions. This led to a blossoming of new perceptions in every area of
human endeavour – art, music, architecture, religion, science, philosophy, theatre and literature.
Artists, composers, scientists and writers looked back beyond the darkness of fourteen
centuries and took their inspiration from the humanist qualities in Greco-Roman culture.
The Renaissance flowered right across Europe but had different emphases in the different
European cultures – it was religion and philosophy in Germany, for example; art, architecture
and sculpture in Italy. And in England, it was Elizabethan theatre drama. All through the Middle
Ages English drama had been religious and didactic. When Elizabeth came to the throne most
of the plays on offer to the public were Miracle Plays, presenting in crude dialogue stories from
the Bible and lives of the saints, and the Moralities, which taught lessons for the guidance of life
through the means of allegorical action. They were primarily dramas about God, not about
people.
By the time Elizabeth’s reign ended there were over twenty theatres in London, all turning over
several plays a week – plays that were secular in their nature, and about people. That
represented a complete revolution in theatre, and makes Elizabethan theatre distinct. What
changed at that time was that the theatre became a place where people went to see, not
dramatised lectures on good behaviour, but a reflection of their own spirit and day-to-day
interests. They wanted to laugh and to cry – to be moved, not by divine reflection, but by human
beings doing good and bad things just as they did – loving and murdering, stealing, cheating,
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acting sacrificially, getting into trouble and behaving nobly: in short, being human like
themselves.
This new Elizabethan theatre scene attracted writers of great caliber who thought of themselves
simply as craftsmen – in the same way as coopers or wheelwrights did, and not ‘great writers,’
as we think of them today. But even so, most of the theatre writers of Elizabethan England have
not been equalled during the four centuries since that time. There was a lot of money to be
made feeding this huge new appetite for plays, and good playwrights who played their cards
well and made good contacts – as Shakespeare did – became rich.
So, when we look back at Elizabethan drama from the twenty-first century what do we see? We
see, for the first time, stage presentations of the human experience. We see acts of great
nobility by flawed heroes – a great theme of Greek tragedy – perfected by Shakespeare in such
plays as Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear etc. We see human beings at their meanest level; we see
psychological studies of the human character, such as the psychopathic Iago in Othello; we see
the exploration of the deepest human emotions, such as love in Romeo and Juliet and Antony
and Cleopatra. Although most of the plays of the Elizabethan period have an underlying
Christian assumption, because of the culture of the time in which they were written they are
essentially humanist – in tune with the Renaissance spirit of the time.
In Elizabethan drama, because it is about people rather than God, we see a lot of humour.
Again, modelled on the Greek comedies, the humour is perfected by the likes of Shakespeare
and Ben Jonson with their memorable comic characters and their satirical look at their own time,
as well as light-hearted social comedies. In Shakespeare’s plays there is humour even in the
darkest plays, such as the frequent ‘laugh’ lines in Hamlet. Shakespeare more or less invented
a form of drama that mixed all genres, so that his tragedies contain comic elements, his
comedies tragic elements, and his histories contain both. In Shakespeare’s case the winds of
Renaissance gave him the freedom to reflect all aspects of human beings in his plays, and he
wrote plays that have not only lasted for four hundred years but which have very rarely (if at all)
been bettered during that time.
Towards the end of Elizabeth’s reign playwrights were developing new themes and techniques
which led to the distinctive Jacobean the distinctive Jacobean theatre with its more crusty,
violent plays that focused on the human being’s capacity for selfishness, dramatized in in-depth
representations of ambition and its effects.

The Elzabethan Poetry (1558-1603)

The age of Shakespeare or the Elizabethan Age witnessed of the reddest periods in the history
of England. The Age witnessed the rise and growth of the feelings of patriotism and nationalism
among the English people and brought about an unprecedented progress in almost all the
branches of its multicoloured life. The age is considered as “The Golden Age” in the history of
English literature. It was the age of Queen Elizabethan 1 st (1558-1603) comprising the half of
16th century. It was an age in which the mind of the people was set free from the trammels of
Medievalism from free of religious persecuation from fear of poverty and starvation and from the
fear of foreign invasion. It was an age/era of social, political and religious peace. Men were now
free to devote themselves to art and literatures. It was also an era of great adventures, travel
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and discovery which fired the imagination of the people and impelled them to creative activity. It
is therefore called a “Golden Age of English Literature.”
The Elizabethan Age extends from 1558-1603. It can be divided into two periods. The first
period may be called “Age of Spenser” (1558-1579) and the second may be called “Age of
Shakespeare” (1579-1603). In the first part we have the time of preparation of the spring tide of
Elizabethan literature, the second is the time of full blossom and completion. In this great age
there were many factors which contributed to the richness in literature. There was a
‘Renaissance’ (revival or rebirth) of ancient Greek and Roman literature, mythology and culture
and this served as a source of inspiration to the countless writers of the period. There was also
an awakening of the human mind to the vastness, beauty and wonder of the world as a result of
adventure undertaken by the sailors of England of other countries of Europe. The whole age
was marked by rich poetic sensiblity, nature appetite for learning, and literature and love for
aesthetic faculty. England was poetically barren in the 15 th century, but with the revival of the art
and learning a gleam of hope was produced. There was such a growth of poets and singers that
this age was called “Nest of Singing Birds”. By virtue of its wonderful fertility and variety and
splendour of its production, this period as whole ranks one of the greatest age in the history of
world’s literature. Men like SPENSER, BECON and SHAKESPEARE grew from boyhood in the
youth i9n the early years of Elizabethan Age and they produced wonderful works of literature by
the 16th century.
The Elizabethan poetry is neither classical nor romantic. It lacks the restrict and economy, the
mental repose of the finest classical art but following the main tradition of antiquity and the
middle ages. It is addressed to reason as a universal moral guide. The Elizabethan poet is
continually, reasoning, persuading, demonstrating analogies and logical connections. Even his
imagery and rhythm are marshalled into argument.
The poets who contributed much to the growth of Elizabethan Poetry were SIR THOMAS
WYATT and EARL OF SURREY who revives interest in poetry by writing sonnets and lyrics. It
is they who for the first time introduced “Sonnet” in England. It is they who paved the way for the
full flowering of poetry in the hands of SYDNEY, SPENSER and SHAKESPEARE.

Elizabethan Prose
The Elizabethans had a genius for poetry and drama but their prose is often intolerable. They
enriched the language by adding to its vocabulary many new words and phrases. But some of
their prose is heavy, pompous and undisciplined. This pomp and their indiscipline are one
product of a quest of persuasiveness. They occur chiefly in the works of those who sought to
achieve their object by writing periodic prose in the manner of Cicero. Other peculiarities mark
the work of those who tried to achieve it by writing what is called euphemistic prose. This was a
style John Lily made fashionable. Hooker modeled his style on the structure of
the Ciceronian periods. (Ciceronian period, first great age of Latin literature, from
approximately 70 to 43 bc). His style is a typical example of the way in which the educated
Englishman of the day under the influence of the Renaissance were trying to give
to English prose the clarity, the massive dignity and rhythm of the choice of classical Latin. Latin
construction sometimes plays havoc with the sentences. The style now and then has “a
monstrous beauty, like the hind quarters of an elephant.” It is unfit for tine discussion of the
ordinary affairs of life. Hooker has sought to please his plenipotentiaries by trying to make
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English prose as pliant, rich and dignified as Latin prose. But he has often sacrificed the two
important essentials of good style i.e. perspicuity and appropriateness.

Lyly was a conscious and skillful artist and introduced euphemistic prose. The distinctive feature
of Euphemism are the courtly affectation of smart sayings, epigram and antithesis. In each
sentence he tried to achieve balance, rhythm and perspicuity by neatly pointed antitheses and
parallel construction But the resulting effect is generally unspeakably artificial and tedious to the
modern ear. He tried to give to English prose a definite and obvious brilliance by his peculiar
method of writing. It must be said that Lyly hit upon a fundamental aesthetic principle when he
devised a prose style that was distinct from colloquial speech. He sought to satisfy the
Englishman’s desire “to hear a finer speech than the language will allow.” But in this quest of
persuasiveness, he often scarified the virtue of appropriateness.
Bacon’s Essays, much of the prose in Shakespeare and the Authorized Version of the Bible
show the evolution of a prose style that combines dignity and rhythm with simplicity of
expression. Bacon’s writing is the distillation of many manners of prose writing up to 1602. The
two main defects of English prose were unwieldiness and a tendency to “find writing”. Bacon is
the first scientific philosopher to write English in a clean, and terse style. The Essays have a
note of authority about them. There is in his writing pithiness and relevance that hitherto had
rarely been found in prose. But despite the brevity of his utterance, Bacon was Elizabethan in
his power of imaginative suggestiveness. In their final form the essays are illumined with
beautiful and moving imagery. Bacon’s prose seems at times to lack appropriateness. He uses
the same idiom and the same rhythm in his essays on ‘Death’ or ‘Truth’ and in his essays on
trivial themes such as ‘Travel’, and ‘Masques and Triumphs’. The Authorized version of the
Bible of 1611 is a production that towers above anything hitherto done in English prose. It is
simple and concrete in language, rich and graphic in imagery and possesses supreme lyrical
power. It yields its meaning with the utmost ease and directness. Bacon’s Essays and the
Authorized version of the Bible helped to show to the writers of that age that the vernacular was
capable of achieving literary excellence and dignified rhythm.

Characteristics of Jacobean Drama

Introduction
Jacobean drama (i.e. the drama of the age of James-I <1603-1625>) was a dark form of
the drama of Shakespeare and his contemporaries.
The Elizabethan age was the golden age of English drama. But with the turn of the century,
the drama in English also took a turn. It does not mean that there were no dramatists left. There
were certainly a large number of them, but none of them could come near Shakespeare.
“It was inevitable that the drama should decline after Shakespeare for the simple reason
that there was no other great enough to fill his space.”(Long)
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Decline of Jacobean Drama: After the turn of 16th century and the passing away of Elizabeth,
the theatre continued to command popularity, although the Puritan opposition was stiffening. But
the taste was changing: the audiences for a stronger fare.
The playwrights attempted to fulfil the desire of the audience, but it lacked organic unity which a
supreme art must possess. In the Jacobean period, there was a steep decline
in drama. Following are the main reasons behind the decline of drama in this age:
Change of Patrons: In the Elizabethan period, the drama was patronized by the feudal lords,
but from the time of the accession of James-I, dramatists depended on the king, the queen and
the royal domination. The dramatists wholly depended on the royal favour. In this way, the
theatre was cut off from common life and no longer remained a national institution as it was in
the time of Shakespeare.
The dramatists cared less for men in the street and women in the kitchen. They delighted the
court. While Beaumont and Fletcher were writing, the theatre was gradually losing its hold on
the middle and lower classes. It marked the decline of drama.
Lack of Genius: After Shakespeare, there was no other dramatist who could fill his space
which naturally marked the decline of Drama
Poor Characterization: Lack of creative power in the art of characterization was also one of the
major causes. The dramatists repeated such characters as the cheats, bullies, gamblers etc. In
the place of Shakespeare’s immortal characters like heroes, heroines, villains & clowns (jokers).
Lack of Dramatic Technique: The decline could also be seen in dramatic technique. The
dramatists could not maintain the ‘mighty line’ of Marlowe & their blank verse became weak &
rapid.
Art of Plot Construction: In the art of plot-construction, with the exception of Ben
Jonson’s “Volpone” and “The Alchemist” and “The White Devil” of Webster, we find the signs of
decline. Too often, plot-construction shows careless in detail and want of coherence. There are
effective episodes but no structural growth.
Imbalance in Drama: The Shakespearian balance between romance and realism is poorly
replaced either by narrow social activities or by romantic excess.
Opposition by Puritans: The Puritan opposition to the drama is also responsible for the
decline of drama during this age. Ever since the drama became popular in England, the
Puritans waged a war against it. They regarded drama and all forms of entertainment as the
devil’s work, to be avoided by men and women.
Thus, after the death of Shakespeare, the drama became to show signs of decline in morals,
plot construction, characterization, and technique. The spirit had passed in 1616; the corpse
remained to be burnt and it was burnt 1642.
There were several great names, after Shakespeare, of English stage-Ben Jonson, Chapman
Webster, Beaumont and Fletcher, Dekker, Middleton and many others. This gave to the English
theatre, a glory of its own.
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Ben Jonson: He was the most prominent figure in the English drama after Shakespeare. He is
known as the “First Great English Neo-Classic “.
In the field of drama, he wrote both tragedies and comedies. But his genius was felt in realistic
social comedies, known as “Comedy of Manners “.
Best known comedies of Ben Jonson are “Every man in his humor”, “Everyman out of his
humor”, “The Silent Woman”, “The Alchemist and Bartholomew Fair”. His
tragedies: “Sejanus his Fall”, “Catiline: his Conspiracy”.
Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher: The two dramatists met under the leadership of Ben
Jonson and soon became inseparable friends. They produced 52 plays. Their most important
plays are “The Knight of the Burning Pestle”, “Philaster “, “The Maid’s Tragedy”, “A King
and No King”.
George Chapman: He was made famous by Keat’s Sonnet as the translator of Homer. He was
rather a poet than a dramatist, but his dramatist qualities are no less significant.
His best-known works are: - “The Blind Beggar of Alexandria”, “The Admiral of France”,
“All Fools”, “The Gentleman Usher” etc.
Thomas Heywood: He wrote maximum plays at his age. He worked in a variety of
dramatic genres-historical, romantic, comedy of manners etc. But in the case of domestic
drama, he is unique. He wrote about 228 plays.
Lamb called him, “the prose Shakespeare”. His best plays are: - “A Woman Killed with
Kindness “, “The English Traveler”, “Fair and of West” etc.
Thomas Dekker: He was a lovable personality and possessed real qualities of a dramatist. He
is called “The Dickens of the Elizabethan stage “. His best plays are “Old Fortunatus”, “The
Shoemaker’s Holiday”, “The Honest Whore” etc.
John Webster: He wrote highly sensational tragedies. His important plays are:- “The White
Devil“, “The Duchess of Malfi” (his Masterpiece) etc. Other playwrights of this age are

Middleton, Tourneur etc. John Milton

1608–1674
John Milton was born in London on December 9, 1608, into a middle-class family. He was
educated at St. Paul's School, then at Christ's College, Cambridge, where he began to write
poetry in Latin, Italian, and English, and prepared to enter the clergy.
After university, however, he abandoned his plans to join the priesthood and spent the next six
years in his father's country home in Buckinghamshire following a rigorous course of
independent study to prepare for a career as a poet. His extensive reading included both
classical and modern works of religion, science, philosophy, history, politics, and literature. In
addition, Milton was proficient in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, French, Spanish, and Italian, and
obtained a familiarity with Old English and Dutch as well.
During his period of private study, Milton composed a number of poems, including "On the
Morning of Christ’s Nativity," "On Shakespeare," "L'Allegro," "Il Penseroso," and the pastoral
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elegy "Lycidas." In May of 1638, Milton began a 13-month tour of France and Italy, during which
he met many important intellectuals and influential people, including the astronomer Galileo,
who appears in Milton's tract against censorship, "Areopagitica."
In 1642, Milton returned from a trip into the countryside with a 16-year-old bride, Mary Powell.
Even though they were estranged for most of their marriage, she bore him three daughters and
a son before her death in 1652. Milton later married twice more: Katherine Woodcock in 1656,
who died giving birth in 1658, and Elizabeth Minshull in 1662.
During the English Civil War, Milton championed the cause of the Puritans and Oliver Cromwell,
and wrote a series of pamphlets advocating radical political topics including the morality of
divorce, the freedom of the press, populism, and sanctioned regicide. Milton served as secretary
for foreign languages in Cromwell's government, composing official statements defending the
Commonwealth. During this time, Milton steadily lost his eyesight, and was completely blind by
1651. He continued his duties, however, with the aid of Andrew Marvell and other assistants.
After the Restoration of Charles II to the throne in 1660, Milton was arrested as a defender of
the Commonwealth, fined, and soon released. He lived the rest of his life in seclusion in the
country, completing the blank-verse epic poem Paradise Lost in 1667, as well as its
sequel Paradise Regained and the tragedy Samson Agonistes both in 1671. Milton oversaw the
printing of a second edition of Paradise Lost in 1674, which included an explanation of "why the
poem rhymes not," clarifying his use of blank verse, along with introductory notes by Marvell. He
died shortly afterwards, on November 8, 1674, in Buckinghamshire, England.
Paradise Lost, which chronicles Satan's temptation of Adam and Eve and their expulsion from
Eden, is widely regarded as his masterpiece and one of the greatest epic poems in world
literature. Since its first publication, the work has continually elicited debate regarding its
theological themes, political commentary, and its depiction of the fallen angel Satan who is often
viewed as the protagonist of the work.
The epic has had wide-reaching effect, inspiring other long poems, such as Alexander
Pope’s The Rape of the Lock, William Wordsworth’s The Prelude and John Keats’ Endymion, as
well as Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein, and deeply influencing the work of Percy Bysshe
Shelley and William Blake who illustrated an edition of the epic.

The Metaphysical School of Poetry

The term “metaphysical” means beyond the physical. The major poets of 17th Century English
Literature belonged to this school of metaphysical poetry writing, which explored and upheld the
fusion of intellect and emotion. Literary critic and poet Samuel Johnson first coined the term
“metaphysical poetry” in his book Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets (1179 – 1781) (Life
of Cowlie section). It was also used by John Dryden to describe Donne’s poetry. Some common
metaphysical questions include Does God Exist? Is there a difference between perception and
reality? Is free-choice not existent i.e, is fate pre-determined? Is consciousness limited to the
brain? In this school certain methods were rigorously followed. They include a rare clarity and
freshness of vision, a harmonious blending of wit and emotion, use of stock metaphors, the
abundant use of conceits, use of environmental images, a lyrical flow of thought and verse and
the manifestation of divinity in nature.
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John Donne (1572 – 1631)

All discourse on metaphysical poetry must begin with John Donne who was especially noted for
being hailed as the father of the “metaphysical school of poetry”. He was not only a poet, but
also a lawyer, priest and satirist. Critics describe his style as inventive, strong, dramatic and
sensual – that of a womanizer despite being religious. He wrote Love Poetry, Religious Poetry
and Elegies and Satires. One of his most exemplary love poems is The Good Morrow, meaning
wishing one’s beloved good morning. He compares his beloved and himself to two hemispheres
of the globe to form one complete whole. Another of his love poems is A Valediction: Forbidden
Mourning. His religious poetry includes The Progress of the Soul and The Anatomy of the
World. His satires are a deliberate imitation of the Greek writer Persius. He also composed
poems like The Flea and The Canonization.
In John Donne’s poetry there is a sense of miraculous exemption from time and all its
entanglements. The freedom from temporal and spatial boundaries is one of the foremost
features of Donne’s poetry. He takes into his purview of discussion the universal cause and
explores in details the mysteries of human life and emotions. There is a lucid and candid
expression and a field of joyous liberty. He also composed 26 holy sonnets along with two other
sonnets which are derogatory in nature, after 1610. Their form is quintessentially Petrarchan
and their themes refers to different aspects of his personality. His deep faith in divinity led him to
compose sonnets which were extensively replete with his sense of devotion and conviction in
love. The sonnets vary greatly in their value. The themes involve his personal sense of
limitations, his fears, his inadequacies and especially his thoughts about judgement day. They
are philosophical speculations about the reality of human existence. His poetry was a reaction
to the fluency and exuberance of Elizabethan poetry.
Andrew Marvel (1621 – 78)
Andrew Marvel is best known for his elaborate poem on the theme of Carpe diem or “Seize the
Day”- To His Coy Mistress. Marvel’s poem is characterized with urbane energy which flows
through the lines of the poem. The sense of romantic vastness and love for his beloved charged
with remarkable intensity has been portrayed most artistically through the poem. The poem,
incorporates various poetic conventions from French and Italian love poetry. The sense of
immediacy is provided by a typical poetic situation. The poet exhorts his beloved to
consummate their love lest time prevents it. As Marvel belongs to the metaphysical school of
poetry, his poems uphold certain significant metaphysical features. In his poetry we come
across an elegance and precision of style, polish and diction, regular rhyme and meter,
persistent use of couplets and extensive irony of theme. He is a rather intelligent poet.
Nevertheless, it is noticeable that in Marvel, there are some variations from the common
features of the metaphysical school. We do identify a ruggedness of style and a very bold use of
colloquialisms of daily conversation – sometimes bordering on the gross. Perhaps he tried to
bring about a fusion between the metaphysical and Jonsonian styles. His poetry has a haunting,
memorable and intellectual quality. T.S. Elliot had once commented –
“In Marvel’s poetry one may find a tough reasonableness beneath slight lyrical grace.”
Marvel’s other poems include Horatian Ode upon Oliver Cromwell’s return from Ireland. There
are also other poems on Cromwell- The First Anniversary of the Government and Under His
Highness, the Lord Protector. Marvel was clearly appreciating Cromwell’s government and
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personality in heroic couplets in the latter. He was a Puritan and his poems were circulated in
manuscripts among his friends, published posthumously. Another of his famous poems is The
Garden.
George Herbert (1593 – 1633)
The rhythm and intensity of Herbert’s poetry resembled those of the Provencal poets. Herbert’s
poetry celebrates life, energy, rhythm and vitality. He is recognized as “one of the foremost
British devotional lyricists.” He has composed 169 poems in 140 stanza patterns. The most
popular of his works is The Temple which is a collection full of faith and fervour and also
subtlety of thought and ornament. His famous poems include Caller, The Quip and The Pulley.
Herbert made extensive use of the technique of conceit. In it, Herbert was experimenting with
‘Pattern Poetry’ wherein each stanza represents a picture or an image. His pictorial poems are
Easter Winds, The Altar and other religious poems like Trinity Sunday. In The Windows, he
compares a righteous preacher to a glass through which God’s light shines more effectively
than his words. All his works are visually satisfying as they draw a pattern through the lines.
Herbert was introducing a balance of thought and content in his poetry which conferred a
regularity of patterns on his verse. Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote of Herbert’s diction
that “Nothing can be more pure, manly, or unaffected”.
Legouis Kazamian says that Herbert – “is the saint of the metaphysical school…often gives an
impression of a sort of sublimity”
Henry Vaughan (1621 – 95)
Vaughan is a religious metaphysical poet. He is chiefly known for the religious poetry contained
in Silex Scintillans, published in 1650, with a second part published in 1655. He was greatly
inspired by George Herbert. He uses several tricks of Herbert’s style like abrupt openings,
ejaculations and whimsical titles. He found God not in the Bible but in nature. In his poem The
Retreat, he quite symbolically explores the retreat into one’s childhood, from childhood back to
infancy, from infancy to the prelapsarian stage (innocent and unspoiled) of the fall before the
birth of human life on Earth. Vaughan explores the belief that the divine almighty power is
invested in nature or the environment that surrounds us. He says in it –
“They are all gone into the world of light”
We are born for a purpose upon the completion of which we would have to return to the
Almighty. It is this one governing impulse, that characterizes Vaughan’s poetry. In Childhood, he
yearns for a place full of love and harmony, a utopian world that is. He is preoccupied with his
religious philosophies and his poems are like a prayer invoking divine presence. They paved the
way for the Caroline school of poetry (the poetry of Herrick, Waller and Lovelace). The question
of whether William Wordsworth knew Vaughan’s work before writing his ode Intimations of
Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood has puzzled and fascinated those seeking the
origins of English romanticism. Both poems clearly draw on a common tradition of romantic
images to heighten their speakers’ presentations of the value of an earlier time and the losses
experienced in reaching adulthood. His style is free from complications as seen in the poem The
World.