Unseen Poetry Context Flashcards
When was the Renaissance era?
16th-17th century
Features of Renaissance Poetry
many written in iambs, themes from classical mythology
16th/17th century context
With the consolidation of Elizabeth’s power, a genuine court sympathetic to poetry and the arts emerged. Encouraged emergence of poetry aimed at and often set in an idealised courtly world
When was metaphysical poetry common?
17th Century
Features of metaphysical poetry
characterised by impatience, conventional forms of expression, adoption of startling innovations, unexpected/unusual metaphors, tendencies to write about deep philosophical issues
Carpe Diem Poetry
17th century - preoccupied with the passage of time and unpredictability of death
When were the Cavalier Poets?
17th century
Who were the Cavalier poets?
distrust the over-earnest and too-intense, accept ideal of the Renaissance Gentleman who is at once a lover, soldier, wit, man of affairs, musician, and poet, but abandon the notion of him being a pattern of Christian Chivalry
Features of Cavalier Poetry
written chiefly for entertainment at court, focused around idea of Carpe Diem/ pleasures of the moment
When was the Restoration Era?
1660-1688
Restoration Era context
Restoration of the monarchy occurred in 1660, and the accession of Charles the 2nd signalled an explosion in debauchery and high living, especially at court
Restoration era poet
John Milton - wrote at this time of religious flux and political upheaval, seen as last major poet of English Renaissance but major poems in Restoration e.g. Paradise Lost
Features of Restoration era poetry
Satirical verse became popular
18th Century/ The Augustan Age
contemporary admiration for the classical world extended to the poetry of the time
18th century poets
female poets began flourishing in the 1790s
Restoration era poets
female poets began to emerge but kept out of print publication due to disapproval of “feminine forwardness”
Sentimentalism
late 18th century movement, new emphasis on sentiment and feelings of the poet, became fashionable to feel deeply
When was the Romantic movement?
late 18th century - early 19th century
Features of Romantic poetry
emphasis on emotional and imaginative spontaneity, importance of self-expression and individual feeling, religious response to nature, capacity for wonder, reverence for childhood innocence, interest and concern for the outcasts of society e.g. tramps/beggars/obsessive characters /the poor
Romantic poets
the poet was seen as a visionary figure with an important role to play as prophet in both religious and political terms, poets began attempting to use “language of the common man”
When was the Victorian Era?
1830-1901/ 19th century
Features of Victorian /19th century poetry
lyric poetry, mixture of abstract escapist style and more realistic love and style, identified emotions of isolation, despair and pessimism, idealised view of nature, religious scepticism and devotional of mystical faith, using sensory elements to describe abstract ideas
Victorian Poets
Struggled with a loss of faith but still a high sense of morality. Enthralled with classical and medieval literature, loved heroic stories and courtly attitudes .Writing tried to encourage more noble actions/attitudes
Female Poets in Victorian Era
significant accomplishments of female writers e.g. Christina Rossetti and Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Late 19th century
Fin de siecle - period of degeneration but also hope for a new beginning, feelings of ennui cynicism and pessimism and a widespread belief that civilisation leads to decadence
Ennui
a feeling of listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occupation or excitement
Techniques of 20th century poetry
open poetic form/free-verse, discontinuous narrative, intertextuality, borrowing from other cultures and languages, enjambment, unconventional metaphors, fragmentation, colloquial idiom, irony
Features of 20th century poetry
experimentation, innovation, freedom of themes, realism including topics of prostitution, war, slum-dwellers, complexity and psychological profundity
20th century context
2 wars and danger of 3rd - cast gloomy shadow on poetry. Known as the “Age of Anxiety”. In spite of material prosperity, tension and anxiety were inseparable from modern living. Combined with decline in religiosity = disillusionment in poetry
When was Modernism?
1901-1945
Features of Modernist Poetry
questioning past, experimenting with new forms, fragmentation of human experience, new perspectives on the world
The Imagists (a strand of modernism)
wanted to refine the language of poetry in order to make it a vehicle for the exact description and evocation of mood - experimented with free/irregular verse and made the image their principal instrument
