Age of Shakespeare( non-dramatic verse) Flashcards
What is the Shakespearean Age?
Accession of Elizabeth in 1558 to death of James I in 1625
How can we divide the Shakespearean Age?
First 21 years of Queens reign( springtime or time of preparation);
24 years between publication of Shepheardes Calendar and her death( summer or full fruit borne);
22 years of reign of James I - Jacobean era ( decline or autumn)
Which period is one of the greatest in the history of world literature?
Age of Shakespeare
When were Spenser, Bacon and Shakespeare boys and when did they reach maturity?
During early years of Elizabeths reign; reached maturity during closing decades of 16th century when tides of life were at highest
England now felt the full effect of?
The revival of learning
Why was the revival of learning no longer restricted to scholars at court?
Many translations carried the treasures of classics far and wide to the public
” every breeze was dusty with the pollen of…”
Greece, Rome, Italy
Renaissance aroused what senses?
Intellect and aesthetic sense
The Reformation awakened what sense?
Spiritual nature
The same printing press which printed the classics also …? What happened next?
Put the English Bible into the hands of the people ,
Spread of interest in religion also deepened moral earnestness
Who were some men who discovered new worlds on the seas?
Drake,Raleigh
What did the discovery of new worlds do?
Made popular curiousity, zest for adventure and gave fresh ideas
The general prosperity of England
increased and for the first time in many years it enjoyed internal peace. WHY?
England had thrown off the yoke of foreign power in rupture with Rome
Feud of Catholics and protestants were over
In the collision with Spain Englishmen stood together against a common foe
An intense patriotism was one of the features of Shakespeare’s age. How did it show itself thus?
An interest in England past
Pride in England greatness
Hatred of Englands enemies
Loyalty to Englands queen
Whatever might be the individual quality of his work, the manysidedness of life about him was certain to be reflected in his work. In Shakespeare’s age…men…?
Lived intensely, thought intensely and wrote intensely.
Elizabethan poetry before Spenser.
What marked the golden age of Elizabethan literature?
Publication of Spensers Shepheardes calendar 1579
In the first half of the Queens reign, while there was lot of poetic activity, little verse of any distinct value was produced. Who wrote the best poetry then? What was the work?
Thomas Sackville, lord Buckhurst in ( Myrroure for Magistrates ) as a continuation of Lydgates ( Falles of Princes) - series of long tragical histories of famous Englishmen
Sackville’s 2 poems ( Induction)/intro and ( Complaint of Buckingham) are superior to rest of the collection. The noble but sombre ( Induction) is the finest single poem between Chaucer and Spenser.
First regular verse satire in english?
( Steele Glas) George Gascoigne
Spenser and his poetry.
Edmund Spenser, the greatest NON DRAMATIC poet of an age which was chiefly producing great drama was born when and educated where?
London 1552
Educated at Merchant - Taylor’s school and at Cambridge– where he read the classics and Italian literature, came under influence of strong Protestant spirit of Cambridge
Where did Spenser meet his intimate friend and who was it?
Spenser found a place in household of Earl of Leicester with whose nephew Sir Philip Sidney he had intimate friendship.
Where did Spenser travel and how did he feel about it?
Spenser went to Ireland as secretary to the new Lord Deputy Lord Grey de Wilton. He passed most of his life in Ireland miserably and hated the Irish.
He couldn’t secure a position at court and return to England so his only relief was writing the Faery Queene .
How did Spenser die and what happened before that to crush his spirits?
1598 Rebellion broke out in Tyrone where Spenser lived and his castle was plundered by a mob. His family barely escaped and he reached London at end of the year 1598. On 1599 next year he died at an inn in Westminster.
Spensers voluminous minor poetry itself wouldve assured him fame. Talk about the Shepheardes Calendar(1579)
Pastoral and artificial poem
Many classical allusions, Spenser follows model set by Greek poet Theocritus , by Virgil in Bucolica and by Renaissance French and Italian imitators of these
It’s divided into 12 parts for each month of the year
Story of the Shepheardes Calendar (1579)?
Under the guise of conventional pastoral imagery, the poet writes of his unfortunate love for mysterious Rosalind , deals with many moral questions and discusses religious issues of the day from standpoint of Protestantism.
