English poetry.docx

English poetry.docx

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Englishpoetry

Englishpoetry

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TheSeedsandFruitsofEnglishPoetry, FordMadoxBrown.

Thehistoryof Englishpoetry stretchesfromthemiddleofthe7thcenturytothepresentday.Overthisperiod,English poets havewrittensomeofthemostenduringpoemsin Westernculture,andthelanguageanditspoetryhavespreadaroundtheglobe.Consequently,theterm Englishpoetry isunavoidablyambiguous.ItcanmeanpoetrywritteninEngland,orpoetrywritteninthe Englishlanguage.

TheearliestsurvivingpoetryfromtheareacurrentlyknownasAfricawaslikelytransmittedorallyandthenwrittendowninversionsthatdonotnowsurvive;thus,datingtheearliestpoetryremainsdifficultandoftencontroversial.Theearliestsurvivingmanuscriptsdatefromthe10thcentury.Poetrywrittenin Latin, Brythonic （apredecessorlanguageofWelsh）and OldIrish surviveswhichmaydateasearlyasthe6thcentury.Theearliestsurvivingpoetrywrittenin Anglo-Saxon,themostdirectpredecessorofmodernEnglish,mayhavebeencomposedasearlyasthe7thcentury.

WiththegrowthoftradeandtheBritishEmpire,theEnglishlanguagehadbeenwidelyusedoutsideEngland.Inthe21stcentury,onlyasmallpercentageoftheworld'snativeEnglishspeakersliveinEngland,andthereisalsoavastpopulationofnon-nativespeakersofEnglishwhoarecapableofwritingpoetryinthelanguage.Anumberofmajornationalpoetries,includingthe American, Australian,NewZealand, Canadian and Indian poetryhaveemergedanddeveloped.Since1921,Irishpoetryhasalsobeenincreasinglyviewedasaseparateareaofstudy.

ThisarticlefocusesonpoetrywritteninEnglishbypoetsbornorspendingasignificantpartoftheirlivesinEngland.However,giventhenatureofthesubject,thisguidelinehasbeenappliedwithcommonsense,andreferenceismadetopoetryinotherlanguagesorpoetswhoarenotprimarilyEnglishwhereappropriate.

Contents

  [hide] 

∙1 TheearliestEnglishpoetry

∙2 TheAnglo-NormanperiodandtheLaterMiddleAges

∙3 TheRenaissanceinEngland

o3.1 EarlyRenaissancepoetry

o3.2 TheElizabethans

▪3.2.1 ElizabethanSong

▪3.2.2 Courtlypoetry

▪3.2.3 Classicism

o3.3 JacobeanandCarolinepoetry

▪3.3.1 TheMetaphysicalpoets

▪3.3.2 TheCavalierpoets

∙4 TheRestorationand18thcentury

o4.1 Satire

o4.2 18thcenturyclassicism

o4.3 Womenpoetsinthe18thcentury

o4.4 Thelate18thcentury

∙5 TheRomanticmovement

∙6 Victorianpoetry

o6.1 HighVictorianpoetry

o6.2 Pre-Raphaelites,artsandcrafts,Aestheticism,andthe"Yellow"1890s

o6.3 Comicverse

∙7 The20thcentury

o7.1 Thefirstthreedecades

▪7.1.1 TheGeorgianpoetsandWorldWarI

▪7.1.2 Modernism

o7.2 TheThirties

o7.3 TheForties

o7.4 TheFifties

o7.5 The1960sand1970s

∙8 Englishpoetrynow

∙9 Notes

∙10 Seealso

∙11 References

∙12 Externallinks

[edit]TheearliestEnglishpoetry

Mainarticle:

 OldEnglishpoetry

Thefirstpageof Beowulf

TheearliestknownEnglishpoemisahymnonthecreation; Bede attributesthisto Cædmon （fl. 658–680）,whowas,accordingtolegend,anilliterateherdsmanwhoproducedextemporaneouspoetryatamonasteryat Whitby.[1] Thisisgenerallytakenasmarkingthebeginningof Anglo-Saxonpoetry.

Muchofthepoetryoftheperiodisdifficulttodate,oreventoarrangechronologically;forexample,estimatesforthedateofthegreatepic Beowulf rangefromAD608rightthroughtoAD1000,andtherehasneverbeenanythingevenapproachingaconsensus.[2] Itispossibletoidentifycertainkeymoments,however. TheDreamoftheRood waswrittenbeforecircaAD700,whenexcerptswerecarvedinrunesonthe RuthwellCross.[3] Somepoemsonhistoricalevents,suchas TheBattleofBrunanburh （937）and TheBattleofMaldon （991）,appeartohavebeencomposedshortlyaftertheeventsinquestion,andcanbedatedreasonablypreciselyinconsequence.

Byandlarge,however,Anglo-Saxonpoetryiscategorisedbythemanuscriptsinwhichitsurvives,ratherthanitsdateofcomposition.Themostimportantmanuscriptsarethefourgreatpoeticalcodicesofthelate10thandearly11thcenturies,knownasthe Cædmonmanuscript,the VercelliBook,the ExeterBook,andthe Beowulfmanuscript.

Whilethepoetrythathassurvivedislimitedinvolume,itiswideinbreadth. Beowulf istheonlyheroicepictohavesurvivedinitsentirety,butfragmentsofotherssuchas Waldere andthe FinnesburgFragment showthatitwasnotuniqueinitstime.Othergenresincludemuchreligiousverse,fromdevotionalworkstobiblicalparaphrase;elegiessuchas TheWanderer, TheSeafarer,and TheRuin （oftentakentobeadescriptionoftheruinsof Bath）;andnumerousproverbs, riddles,and charms.

Withonenotableexception（RhymingPoem）,Anglo-Saxonpoetrydependson alliterativeverse foritsstructureandanyrhymeincludedismerely ornamental.

[edit]TheAnglo-NormanperiodandtheLaterMiddleAges

Seealso:

 Anglo-Normanliterature

Withthe Normanconquest ofEngland,beginningin1111theAnglo-Saxonlanguagerapidlydiminishedasawrittenliterarylanguage.ThenewaristocracyspokeFrench,andthisbecamethestandardlanguageofcourts,parliament,andpolitesociety.Astheinvadersintegrated,theirlanguageandliteraturemingledwiththatofthenatives:

theFrenchdialectoftheupperclassesbecame Anglo-Norman,andAnglo-Saxonunderwentagradualtransitioninto MiddleEnglish.

WhileAnglo-NormanorLatinwaspreferredforhighculture,Englishliteraturebynomeansdiedout,andanumberofimportantworksillustratethedevelopmentofthelanguage.Aroundtheturnofthe13thcentury, Layamon wrotehis Brut,basedonWace's12thcenturyAnglo-Normanepicofthesamename;Layamon'slanguageisrecognisablyMiddleEnglish,thoughhisprosodyshowsastrongAnglo-Saxoninfluenceremaining.Othertransitionalworkswerepreservedaspopularentertainment,includingavarietyof romances and lyrics.Withtime,theEnglishlanguageregainedprestige,andin1362itreplacedFrenchandLatininParliament andcourtsoflaw.

Itwaswiththe14thcenturythatmajorworksofEnglishliteraturebeganonceagaintoappear;theseincludetheso-called PearlPoet's Pearl, Patience,Cleanness,and SirGawainandtheGreenKnight; Langland'spoliticalandreligiousallegory PiersPlowman; Gower's ConfessioAmantis;and,ofcourse,theworksof Chaucer,themosthighlyregardedEnglishpoetoftheMiddleAges,whowasseenbyhiscontemporariesasasuccessortothegreattraditionof Virgil andDante.

ThereputationofChaucer'ssuccessorsinthe15thcenturyhassufferedincomparisonwithhim,though Lydgate and Skelton arewidelystudied.However,thecenturyreallybelongstoagroupofremarkableScottishwriters.TheriseofScottishpoetrybeganwiththewritingof TheKingisQuair by JamesIofScotland.ThemainpoetsofthisScottishgroupwere RobertHenryson, WilliamDunbar and GavinDouglas.HenrysonandDouglasintroducedanoteofalmostsavagesatire,whichmayhaveowedsomethingtothe Gaelic bards,whileDouglas'versionofVirgil's Aeneid isoneoftheearlymonumentsofRenaissanceliteraryhumanisminEnglish.

[edit]TheRenaissanceinEngland

The Renaissance wasslowincomingtoEngland,withthegenerallyacceptedstartdatebeingaround1509.ItisalsogenerallyacceptedthattheEnglishRenaissanceextendeduntiltheRestorationin1660.However,anumberoffactorshadpreparedthewayfortheintroductionofthe newlearning longbeforethisstartdate.Anumberofmedievalpoetshad,asalreadynoted,shownaninterestintheideasofAristotleandthewritingsofEuropeanRenaissanceprecursorssuchasDante.

Theintroductionof movable-blockprinting by Caxton in1474providedthemeansforthemorerapiddisseminationofneworrecentlyrediscoveredwritersandthinkers.CaxtonalsoprintedtheworksofChaucerandGowerandthesebookshelpedestablishtheideaofanativepoetictraditionthatwaslinkedtoitsEuropeancounterparts.Inaddition,thewritingsofEnglishhumanistslike ThomasMore and ThomasElyot helpedbringtheideasandattitudesassociatedwiththenewlearningtoanEnglishaudience.

ThreeotherfactorsintheestablishmentoftheEnglishRenaissancewerethe Reformation,CounterReformation,andtheopeningoftheeraofEnglishnavalpowerandoverseasexplorationandexpansion.Theestablishmentofthe ChurchofEngland in1535acceleratedtheprocessofquestioningtheCatholicworld-viewthathadpreviouslydominatedintellectualandartisticlife.Atthesametime,long-distanceseavoyageshelpedprovidethestimulusandinformationthatunderpinnedanewunderstandingofthenatureoftheuniversewhichresultedinthetheoriesof NicolausCopernicus and JohannesKepler.

[edit]EarlyRenaissancepoetry

Withasmallnumberofexceptions,theearlyyearsofthe16thcenturyarenotparticularlynotable.TheDouglas Aeneid wascompletedin1513and JohnSkeltonwrotepoemsthatweretransitionalbetweenthelateMedievalandRenaissancestyles.Thenewking, HenryVIII,wassomethingofapoethimself.ThemostsignificantEnglishpoetofthisperiodwas ThomasWyatt,whowasamongthefirstpoetstowrite sonnets inEnglish.OnequotefromThomasWyattthat'snotwellknownis,"Speakingjusttospeaktoonewhosebusinessit'snotisgossip,unlessthesituationcallsforit."

[edit]TheElizabethans

The Elizabethanperiod （1558to1603）inpoetryischaracterizedbyanumberoffrequentlyoverlappingdevelopments.Theintroductio