Renaissance poetry

Renaissance developed in the 14^th century in Italy but it took almost two centuries to spread also to Britain where is bloomed as a cultural movement 1516-1650s. This period began by publication of THOMAS MORE’s Utopia in 1516, still very influential work featuring an image of life in ideal society and that is why word “utopia” is used for unreal things. Renaissance ended abruptly with Oliver Cromwell’s new republican regime.

Renaissance meant a shift of attention to the human being rather than God, earthly life rather than afterlife and celebration of human sensuality with sexuality being no longer taboo. Humanism was a philosophical movement emphasizing the value of human beings. Artists wrote under noble patrons but the court was a dangerous place so courtiers had to be clever with the language, using double meanings. Until Renaissance, Great Britain was regarded as wilderness, lacking culture and refinement.

Cultural revolution was closely connected with religious Reformation of Martin Luther and John Calvin with the Protestant Church established. Protestants shared the belief that there is value in individualism and everybody should have a personal relationship with God with no hierarchy. The Bible was being analyzed in a new light, translated and made available to the common people.

Early Renaissance (first half of the 16^th century)

JOHN SKELTON rejected rhetorical devices of his period and wrote in his own Skeltonic metre = short lines with two of three accents and simple rhymes, strikingly resembling a kind of proto-rap but often seen as primitive and unrefined. He was appointed a tutor to the young prince Henry VIII.

THOMAS WYATT was a courtier. He was a  friend with Thomas More who was executed by Henry VIII. Wyatt was imprisoned by the King for his illegal relationship with Anne Boleyn and forced to watch her execution. It was devastating for him and he died shortly after that. He introduced the sonnet into English. The sonnet’s form was originally from Petrarch but Wyatt changed the structure to 14 lines of 4-4-4-2  (three quatrains and the last heroic couplet).

They Flee from Me is a poem where Wyatt talks about his mistresses. In the first verse "they flee from me that sometime did me seek" he shows opposition between present and past since ladies do not seek him anymore. At first, he describes them as totally obeying just as women of that time should be (I have seen them gentle, tame and meek) but then ladies became somehow independent and he does not like it (that now are wild...now they range). When it comes to intercourse, it is the lady who is suddenly dominant and takes an active role (she me caught in her arms...did me kiss). But he considers women only as servants (I so unkindly am served), becomes angry and starts to be aggressive but that makes him just look even more stupid. The poem shows that men´s attitude to women is really foolish and Wyatt´s self-ironic.

In The Courtier's Life he describes pompous life of courtiers but with many intrigues and basically a life "in chains of gold."

HENRY HOWARD was a courtier and a cousin of Catherine Howard, the fifth wife of Henry VIII. He was unlucky because Henry VIII had him executed when he was getting rid of all his friends. Howard continued with transformation of sonnet, made some changes to rhyme structures and introduced blank verse into English literature (unrhymed iambic pentameter) which many later writers adopted (Milton, Shakespeare) and it became a classical poetic form. He also modified the sonnet and the last two lines newly sum up or bring a solution.

High Renaissance

EDMUND SPENSER synthesized all existing poetic genres and is notable for his sense of harmony and pleasant sound of his poetry. Spenser is a key figure of renaissance for sonic beauty of his poetry. His longest and most ambitious work is The Faerie Queene, a fantastical Protestant allegory celebrating Elizabeth I. The hero is King Arthur and central value married chastity, villains are infidels and papists.

PHILIP SIDNEY was an innovator of new forms and styles. He embodied Renaissance universal man - a courtier, diplomat, soldier and a poet. Arcadia is a complicated knightly tale written mostly in prose, full of allegory, surprises, adventures and love scenes and Sidney´s style in this work influenced later prose as Arcadian prose. It was a pastoral romance about courtiers who disguise as shepherds and make love. Astrophel and Stella is the first of the famous English sonnet cycles. The Defence of Poetry is an influential critical essay, the first example of literary criticism in which he argues that poetry is the highest intellectual achievement of humanity that can contribute to spiritual evolution of the reader.

Loving in Truth is a sonnet in which the narrator literally mentions writing a poem to his beloved, "in verse my love to show." He hopes she will read this poem and "reading might make her know" of his feelings. He seems very distracted during writing but then the Muse appears and orders: "Fool, look in thy heart and write."

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE was not only a dramatist but also a sonnet writer. His collection Sonnets consists of 154 poems. Typical Shakespeare´s sonnet has 14 lines in blocks of 4 4 4 2 with the rhyme structure ababcdcdefefgg. The last two lines called the final couplet are the most important and slightly different since they stick out and carry the main idea, a simple summary, an element of surprise or the turning point. Shakespeare brought sonnet to perfection and even though the structure is the same, his sonnets are very dynamic and there is a lot of conflict in these 14 lines, every poem is like a little world.

His sonnets can be divided into two groups accorded to dedication. 1. Sonnets dedicated to the dark lady - about an unknown mysterious mistress, they are not really love sonnets since they contain pain. 2. Sonnets dedicated to a male friend, possibly a sponsor, they are happy and cheerful. That would implicate homosexuality or bisexuality of Shakespeare but Renaissance was also revival or friendship between men which was praised higher that relationship between men and women so it may not have been homosexuality.

Sonnet 1 in the very beginning implies that creatures multiply in order to preserve their beauty. Shakespeare is commenting that creatures age "as the riper should by time decease" therefore by procreating the next generation will preserve a creature's beauty "His tender heir might bear his memory". The young man in this sonnet is described as being too self-absorbed to procreate. Therefore although he is beautiful now, this beauty will eventually fade "the world's fresh ornament / And only herald to the gaudy spring".

Sonnet 2's theme on the necessity of procreation continues from the first sonnet. The man's beauty will be lost and become like a "tatter'd weed, of small worth held" unless he reproduces. People will ask where his beauty is "Then being ask'd where all thy beauty lies." The only way for this beauty to be preserved is to have a child. Therefore when the man described is old, his heir will be young — "This were to be new made when thou art old."

Sonnet 50 has a sad tone and there is pain of leaving somebody ("heavy do I journey"), possibly Shakespeare's male friend. "My grief lies onward and my joy behind."

Sonnet 120 is dedicated to the dark lady. Something happened and the lady "once unkind befriends me now." But still, their relationship is not nice, though the feelings might be mutual ("for if you were by my unkindness shaken and I by yours"). The narrator describes how he suffered during that time she was unkind to him and demands "mine ransoms yours and yours must ransom me."

Late renaissance

Late renaissance of the first half of the 17th century shows decline of renaissance ideas and poetry is often connected to political situation. It includes metaphysical poets and cavaliers.

Metaphysical poets

Metaphysical poems are built very logically like a rational argument and tell about things beyond the physical. Poets are interested in love, death and afterlife. This spirituality is shown from a personal perspective and describes love as religion and religion as love. The name was coined later by John Dryden. These poets were forgotten and re-discovered by modernist author T.S. Eliot who thought they represented beautiful balance of sensuality and rationality. Eliot claimed that such a balance disappeared from English poetry.

JOHN DONNE /dan/ remained influential until nowadays. He was a traveller, priest, drinker and womanizer, especially famous for his mastery of conceit. Conceit is an extended metaphor with a complex logic that governs a passage or entire poem and invites readers into more sophisticated understanding of an object of comparison

A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning John Donne wrote this poem for his wife because he was about to leave the continent (valediction = goodbye). The poem is about souls and contains a clear reference to death (men pass mildly away) and afterlife where the author thinks that whatever comes after death, soul will not die. Then the theme changes to love and says it is only love for a body so when one of lovers dies, love disappears. However, the author is for the love of soul that lasts forever. If the souls are in unity, separation makes two hearts stronger and such love would not disappear even after the long absence of bodies. It images love as a circle so lovers must eventually see each other again (the firmness makes my circle just and makes me end where I begun). Conceit in this poem are compasses that point the same direction wherever they are and lovers are the same, their bodies may be separated but not the souls.

GEORGE HERBERT was a student of Donne but HE was calmer and more religious than his mentor. He experimented with forms so some poems are shaped into pictures. In the conceit of his poem Virtue he compares a soul to season´d timber. Timber is wood used for building houses but if you don´t season timber it will rot which is a logical metaphor even normal people would understand. If you season your soul, it will last forever and became immortal.

Cavalier poets

In the 17^th century there was a civil war between the Royalists and the Parliamentalists led by Oliver Cromwell who declared himself Lord Protector and dissolved the House of Lords. It was the only time in history when the UK was a republic. Cavalier poets supported exiled King Charles II who upon his return finally bought back fun into the court, that’s why he is nicknamed the Merry Monarch. Cavalier poets celebrated life and courtly love but with erotic side as well so poems were dedicated to women. They made use of self irony distance and were direct ascendants of metaphysical poets so they used the same techniques and structured their poems as a logical argument, though, the subject was slightly different.

JOHN WILMOT got an academic degree at the age of fourteen and was famous for his love affairs with almost every woman at the court. His poetry was juicy and ladies loved him. He had good looks and wit and served at Charles II's court.

The Imperfect Enjoyment depicts intercourse with various low whores who sweep the streets. He describes that whores want more sex, not only once ("Is there then no more? she cries") but he is unable to come more times and confessed partial impotence and is angry about it ("thou treacherous base deserter of my flames").

A Satyr on Charles II is a satire revealing that Charles II loved only sex with his numerous mistresses and did not care about the state of the kingdom. A story says that Wilmot wrote two poems at the same time and by accident delivered this satirical poem to the King while he himself ordered a totally different piece. After that, Wilmot quickly left the palace.

ROBERT HERRICK was a chief representative of cavalier poets, a master of witty conceits and light-hearted tone. He was actually a great song-writer as his poems could be made into songs. In his poem Upon a Delaying Lady he complains that he is a slave to his mistress (I scorn to be a slave to state) who is slow in the aspect because she refuses intercourse so the man has to wait and becomes impatient. It is a kind of predicament because he does not want to marry her if she will not have sex with him, however, women of that time were supposed to say virgin until marriage. If she leaves him waiting, desire will be covered with show. Self irony lies in the fact that a man is ridiculed since he thinks only about sex.

ANDREW MARVELL was a Cavalier poet thematically because he features sensuality and eroticism but politically was an ally of Cromwell and worked for him.

In the poem To His Coy Mistress there is a man speaking to his lady. The whole first stanza is written in conditional about what would be but in reality it´s not. He´s speculating about eternity but with the reference “till the conversion of the Jews” so unfortunately it will never happen. The second stanza is in opposition since he points out that they don´t have eternity and virginity will be pointless without youth (but at my back I always hear time´s winged chariot hurrying near). The third stanza states you should enjoy life while you´re still young so that burning desire is fulfilled. In summary, if we had all time in the world we would wait but we don´t so enjoy the youth you still have. This logical argument connects metaphysical poets and cavaliers.

BEN JONSON was a contemporary of William Shakespeare but he did not like him since Shakespeare did not respect classic aspects of drama. Johnson admired Greek and Roman literature and as a satirist he followed classical models. He was very self-centred, confident and his followers were called Ben´s boys. A country house poem is a poem in which the author compliments a wealthy patron or a friend through a description of his country house. Such poems were popular in the early 17^th century England.

In his poem To Penshurst he compliments Robert Sidney´s country house who was a younger brother of Philip Sidney. The poem starts in negative terms ("thou art not, Penshurst, built to envious show") since the mansion is only for the rich but there is also beauty in nature and he mentions beauty and simplicity of people who live there. He writes that animals "let themselves willingly to be killed and there is never hunger." But that logically never happens in nature and in reality people have to struggle to be fed.

The author also points out social division, although saying that servants share the same table with the Lord, this was obviously impossible and servants were starving in reality. ("Where comes no guest but is allowed to eat, without his fear, and of thy lord's own meat. Where the same beer and bread, and self-same wine, that is his lordship's, shall be also mine.") The poem says that Lady does not cheat on her Lord and children are really his own. Nevertheless, just by pointing it out is the same as saying that elsewhere ladies do cheat. ("Thy lady's noble, fruitful, chaste withal. His children thy great lord may call his own, a fortune, in this age, but rarely known.") An illusory celebratory poem is in fact a pointy satire of society´s weakness.