Poetry, Prose and Our Rise Towards R&J

Historical background: The Renaissance (1485-1660)brought back interest in Greek - Latin values-Italian art

• "Renaissance," or "rebirth," perfectly describes the intellectual and economic changes that occurred in Europe from the fourteenth through the sixteenth centuries.

• During the era, Europe emerged from economic stagnation of the Middle Ages and experienced a time of financial growth.

• Renaissance was an age in which artistic, social, scientific, and political thought turned in new directions

• The middle-class population had leisure time to spend on education and entertainment.

• Education essential for many middle-class professions.

Bankers and accountants needed to understand arithmetic.

Those trading with other countries needed a knowledge of foreign currencies and languages.

Reading was essential for anyone who needed to understand a contract.

In their leisure time, middle-class men and women enjoyed such pastimes as reading for pleasure, learning to play musical instruments, and studying a variety of topics unrelated to their businesses.

The rise of the arts was encouraged by Elizabeth’s own pursuits.

Queen Elizabeth I ( The Virgin Queen )

• The Elizabethan Period: the reign of Elizabeth I, 1558-1603 – Previous facts

• Printing press (invented in 1450)allows more people to read a variety of literature

• Christopher Columbus (1492) starts a trend of trips all over the world

• England breaks with the church in Rome(1534). Anglicanism created under Henry VIII, Elizabeth’s predecessor.

• England and Spain expand and Economy changes from farm-based to one of international trade

• Elizabethan times facts• 1558 November 17,  Accession of Queen

Elizabeth I,  Elizabeth (daughter of Henry VIII) succeeded her Catholic sister Mary I who dies childless and re-established the Protestant Anglican Church. (Reigned 1558 - 1603)

• When the Black Death ( Bubonic Plague ) broke out in London in 1563, Queen Elizabeth I moved her court to Windsor Castle where she erected gallows and ordered that anyone coming from London was to be hanged

• 1577 - Alliance between England and Netherlands

• Francis Drake sails around the world ( and returns in 1580) renaming his ship the Pelican to  the Golden Hind

• The black death The Globe Theatre

• Elizabethan times were violent and England had diverse enemies,Scottish and Irish plotted against her, Spain attacked England on the seas.

• The Queen expanded her territory and managed to control her country and neighbours

• She never married but had several gentlemen in the court that were loyal to her

• There was fear of a French invasion.• Queen Elizabeth dies on 24 March 1603 of of

blood poisoning • James I of England, James VI of Scotland,

(great-great-grandson of Henry VII) is proclaimed King

• Renaissance Literature (1485-1660)

• “Renaissance” means “Rebirth”--Rebirth of interest in the Greek and Latin classics

• Emphasis on humanistic education for statesmanship

• Focus on the individual and a concern with the fullest possible cultivation of human potential through proper education; focus on individual consciousness and the Interior mind

• Concern with the refinement of the language and the development of a national, vernacular literature

• Style/Genres: • poetry

• the sonnet Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey Wrote sonnets in imitation of Petrarch and developed the English sonnet form that Shakespeare later used, with 14 lines, divided into 3 quatrains and a couplet.

• metaphysical poetry • elaborate and unexpected metaphors called

conceits

• drama • written in verse • supported by royalty • tragedies, comedies, histories

• Shakespeare and Marlowe wrote plays in blank verse.• Blank Verse = unrhymed iambic pentameter poetry

Main writers :• William Shakespeare • Thomas Wyatt • Ben Jonson • Christopher Marlowe • Andrew Marvell • Robert Herrick • Katherine Phillips

Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593) Poet & Playwright.

English dramatist, the father of English tragedy, and instaurator of dramatic blank verse, the eldest son of a shoemaker at Canterbury.

Dr. Faustus (1604) Play about a man of learning who Strikes abargain with Lucifer so that he can have forbidden knowledge and the power that brings. Marlowe writes his plays in Blank Verse. Critics admired

Sir Walter Raleigh• British explorer, poet and historian, was born probably in 1552, though the date is not quite certain.• His father was a country gentleman of old family, but of reduced estate.• He was smart, handsome and his good manners pleased the Queen who made him one of her favorites.• He made a fortune with jobs assigned by her.• His life ended violently,sentenced to death by KingJames I.• As a writer he vastly produced in poetry and in prose.

A Vision Upon the Fairy QueenMethought I saw the grave where Laura lay,

Within that temple where the vestal flame

Was wont to burn; and, passing by that way,

To see that buried dust of living fame,

Whose tomb fair Love, and fairer Virtue kept:

All suddenly I saw the Fairy Queen;

At whose approach the soul of Petrarch wept,

And, from thenceforth, those Graces were not seen:

For they this queen attended; in whose stead

Oblivion laid him down on Laura’s hearse:

Hereat the hardest stones were seen to bleed,

And groans of buried ghosts the heavens did pierce:

Where Homer’s spright did tremble all for grief,

And cursed the access of that celestial thief! (Poetry Foundation)

Edmund Spenser (1552-1599) English poet, author of The Faery Queen, was born in London about the year 1552.

Sonnet 42The spring returns, the spring wind softly blowing

Sprinkles the grass with gleam and glitter of showers, Powdering pearl and diamond, dripping with flowers, Dropping wet flowers, dancing the winters going; The swallow twitters, the groves of midnight are glowing With nightingale music and madness; the sweet fierce

powers Of love flame up through the earth; the seed-soul towers And trembles; nature is filled to overflowing… The spring returns, but there is no returning Of spring for me. O heart with anguish burning! She that unlocked all April in a breath Returns not…And these meadows, blossoms, birds These lovely gentle girls—words, empty words As bitter as the black estates of death! (Poetry Foundation)

William Shakespeare (1564-1616)• Baptized 26 April 1564- died on 23 April 1616 • English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's preeminent dramatist.

• Often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "The Bard").

• His surviving works consist of 38 plays,154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. • His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.

Benjamin Johnson

• He was born in the first half of 1573, poet and actor. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satirical plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair, which are considered his best, and his lyric poems.

A man of vast reading and a seemingly insatiable appetite for controversy.

“Song: To Celia”Ben JonsonCome, my Celia, let us prove,While we can, the sports of love;Time will not be ours forever;He at length our good will sever.Spend not then his gifts in vain.Suns that set may rise again;But if once we lose this light,’Tis with us perpetual night.Why should we defer our joys?Fame and rumor are but toys.Cannot we delude the eyesOf a few poor household spies,Or his easier ears beguile,So removèd by our wile?’Tis no sin love’s fruit to steal;But the sweet thefts to reveal,To be taken, to be seen,These have crimes accounted been. (Poetry Foundation)

Questions1. Describe characteristics of the Elizabethan Era and of

Elizabeth herself. How might this have helped promote a literary form such as the sonnet and a literary figure such as Shakespeare?

2. Who is the originator of the English sonnet? Why would Shakespeare be given credence when people refer to the English poem? Is this fair? Explain.

3. How can we analyse Sir Walter Raleigh's poem "Methought I saw the grave where Laura lay"?

4. Make a chart of the poets listed, identifying key aspects of their life and their works. Of their individual works, which poet is your favourite? Explain.

5. Identify the main parts of the sonnet in “Song: To Celia”. Also, what is a possible theme? Explain using textual evidence to support your position.