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Pre-1900s Love Through the Ages Poetry - Coggle Diagram
Pre-1900s Love Through the Ages Poetry
The Renaissance
'Who So' - Thomas Wyatt
Inspired by the writings of Petrarch.
Poems dedicated to Laura - beloved - idealised in his poetry.
His work set forth / develops many conventions of the literature of love - love at first sight, the ideal beloved, roles of the beloved, medieval / courtly ideas about the treatment of the lady.
The speaker of Wyatt's sonnet appears as the suffering courtly lover figure.
Introduced the Petrarchan sonnet to England - 14 lines - octave (abba abba - problem), sestet (cde cde - solution) - volta in middle - limited rhyme reflects the intensity of passion felt for the beloved.
Known for use of conceits, hyperbolic images + very passionate emotions.
Possible reworking of Petrarch's 'Sonnet 190'
Original title - 'The Lover despairing to attain unto his lady's grace relinquisheth the pursuit'
Hunting scenes common subjects of medieval / Renaissance art - depicted from male point of view, became an accepted metaphor for the elaborate rituals of courtship + courtly lover - the woman was represented by the deer, deer - in Greek mythology the deer was the accomplice of Artemis (Diane - the goddess of hunting + virginity - symbol of innocence + purity) Acteon stumbled upon Artemis when she was in naked form - she turned him into a deer and his own hounds tracked him down - symbol of dangerous sexuality.
Wyatt included / adapted the Petrarchan sonnet form - ends with a rhyming couplet - not typical of Petrarchan form - typical feature of later English sonnets.
Member of Henry VIII's court - rumoured to have been romantically involved with Anne Boleyn.
Originator of convention in love poetry - mistress is cruel + evil.
'Sonnet 116' - William Shakespeare
Sonnets 1 - 126 are addressed to a 'fair youth' - language is romantic + loving.
Humanism - People can achieve happiness / live without religion - focused on the achievements of man ('the unique and extraordinary ability of the human mind').
Shakespeare suggests that his poetic ability allows him to conquer death + create a love that is eternal - power of the human mind - poets wanted not only to depict a perfect idea of love, but to create it.
1593 - advancements in society sought through aristocratic connections - 'Sonnet 116' is likely dedicated to Henry Wriothesley, a patron of Shakespeare.
The artistic, literary, scientific revival which took place in Europe from 1400 - 1660.
Characterised by the renewed influence of classical culture + values, new humanism (focused less on religion + more on what it meant to be human - placed human beings at the centre of the universe), the beginning of objective scientific discovery.
The Courtly Love Tradition / trope
Setting was usually the court of a king / aristocrat.
The lovers are members of the court / knights.
Aristocratic pastime - lovers become members of the 'court of love' - followed special rituals / pastimes.
Similar to modern notions of romantic love.
Lover suffers the pangs of love - may have to overcome obstacles to gain love - features love as a sickness, causing mental + physical suffering.
Love affair often has to be kept secret.
Distinctive because of focus it places on the inner life of the characters - pains, joys, hopes, fears.
Love becomes a kind of religion - an obsession of the characters.
Love as an overwhelmingly perfect, complete, and divine concept - elevated to an idealised status.
Platonic love (love between souls + minds rather than bodies) is often nailed as the most superior form of love.
Love is the highest form of human experience - is able to overcome the limitations people are subject to.
Women are idealised to angelic muses.
The Metaphysicals
Attempted to highlight their wit + intelligence - used conceits (to bring together two vastly different ideas into a single one, themes emphasised by fantastic metaphors + hyperbole, sensuality blended w/ philosophy, passion w/ intellect. The form is often an argument).
Profound themes such as love + religion.
Often portrayed love + relationships in a comical, less idealised / constricted light.
Love + the union between a man and a woman is something spiritual, almost holy - a representative of Christ's union w/ the church.
Love does not necessarily have to lead to long term commitments
'The Flea' - John Donne
Broke the conventional values of Elizabethan love poetry.
Donne's poetry was written in three phases - 'The Flea was written in the first - the young 'Jack Donne' - portrays a cynical + lustful persona.
Famous for combining religious + sexual ideas - using a conceit to bring metaphors together.
Fleas were a common part of everyday life - would jump from person to person, often taking blood from more than one source - it was believed that during sexual intercourse, blood mingled.
The poem exists within a long European tradition of insects swarming the underskirts of ladies, exciting the male observer - the male poet would often imagine himself as the flea, with the freedom to access untouched female flesh.
Donne inspired by medieval Latin poem De Pulice - begins with white-knight figure comically striving to defend a young woman from a flea.
'To His Coy Mistress' - Andrew Marvell
Lived in a time of upheaval + uncertainty.
Much of his poetry deals with ideas of existence + truth - his poetry is also humorous - used satire to attack / mock others.
Key example of Carpe Diem poetry - the urge to make the most of the day because who knows what tomorrow will bring.
Carpe Diem seems to clash with Puritanical ideas of the time - emphasises the importance of denying personal pleasures in order to prepare oneself for meeting God in death.
Lived during the interregnum - period of time the commonwealth ruled - very strict form of Christianity imposed on the country, forms of expression were limited - many of Marvell's satirical works were viewed as too controversial + dangerous to be published under his name until after his death.
Ambiguous afflictions despite living through the English Civil War - some poems portray a Royalist attitude, other portray Charles I as incompetent + celebrate Cromwell.
From 1642 - 1651, the English Civil war accrued between the Royalists + the Parliamentarians - war over who should lead the country - Parliamentarians won.
The Cavaliers
Characterised by a 'devil-may-care' attitude.
Man is the conqueror in pursuit of beauty + virtue.
Love becomes a contest between courtiers - the female role is to evade capture for as long as possible to keep the chase exciting.
Societal reaction against Cromwell's Puritan era - the court was renowned for debauchery + drunkeness.
Intended to promote the crown / amuse the court.
Known for social status as gentleman writers in staunch support of Charles I.
Portrayed love + relationships in a more comical, less idealised light.
Love as a human emotion, open to flaws + criticism.
Traditional concepts of love were satirised.
Not intended to reflect times but to celebrate joy + gratification.
Sexual aspects of love presented more freely.
Written in light + polished verse, most had allegorical / classical reference - work characterised by lyricism + exploration of human happiness, friendship, love, social standing + the restorative power of time.
'The Scrutiny' - Richard Lovelace
The epitome of a Cavalier poet.
Born into a wealthy, military family - would continue the tradition of loyalty to the crown.
Intended audience for poetry was other male members of the court - the poem would have been set to music and performed / received as a song.
'Absent From Thee' - John Wilmot
The embodiment of the new era.
Infamous for his wild behaviour as well as his poetry.
Deemed the 'wickedest man in england'
The Romantics
Usually deemed the years between 1780 - 1830 - an era of war, upheaval + revolution.
Political revolutions - the American + French revolution - enabled people who had not been allowed power to seize it for themselves - regular people taking hold of their country and choosing their future.
Wrote about the power of nature, imagination, revolution, the world of children + those marginalised in society - emphasised intuition over reason + the pastoral over the urban.
The 'Big Six' - Blake, Coleridge, Wordsworth, Byron, Keats, Shelley.
'The Garden of Love' - William Blake
A printer, poet, and printmaker.
Work embraced the imagination as the 'body of God' - Blake was reverential towards the Bible but hostile to the Church of England + other forms of organised religion.
'Songs of Innocence and Experience'
Innocence - positive in tone + celebrates love, nature + childhood.
'The Echoing Green' acts as the counterpart - explores the joys + innocence of childhood which is then destroyed later on in 'The Garden of Love'.
Comparison allows Blake to explore how age and institutions limit humans.
Experience - illustrates the negative side effects of modern life upon nature + people - explores corruption, poverty, child labour + prostitution.
'Ae Fond Kiss' - Robert Burns
Passions were poetry, nature, drink and women.
Known as the 'ploughman poet' because his poetry complimented the growing literary taste for romanticism + pastoral pleasures.
Sentimentalism - Tending towards actions + reactions upon emotions + feelings instead of reason.
Believed to be dedicated to Agnes 'Nancy' Maclehose.
'She Walks in Beauty' - Lord Byron
Differs from other poems in that it is about a woman rather than to her.
Personal life plagued by rumour - had numerous love affair with women + men - married + separated, left the country to live in a more liberated location.
'La Belle Dame Sans Merci' - John Keats
The 'Beautiful lady without pity' is a popular character in folk tales, classical literature, Renaissance poetry + medieval ballads.
Femme fatale, siren, Circe-like figures - attracts lovers only to destroy them with her supernatural powers.
Life surrounded by death - his mother + his brother died of tuberculosis - he also showed signs of the disease + knew he was going to die -> poem wrote with the shadow of death under it.
Influenced by the 'sublime' - a moment or something deeply transcendent / awe-inspiring.