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Spring 2001 | |
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ENGLISH 209 |
Office: Rice 30, (440) 775-8576 |
The turbulent century that saw England's regicide, civil war, Protectorship and Restoration was also the time of its richest accomplishment in lyric poetry, at least until the Romantic period. Two "schools" are sometimes mentioned, the Metaphysical poets and the Cavalier poets, the one founded by John Donne, the other by Ben Jonson, but the lines are never hard and fast between these two camps, and the range of styles and subjects is too great to be encompassed by either of these influential models. The term "baroque" is sometimes used to characterize the period as well, and while that is a very useful means of identifying certain characteristics of the art and sensibility of the period, it too has substantial limits.
Religion and politics mattered hugely in this time, and the two became interlocked with more and more devastating results. Issues of class and privilege were coming to a head, and the emergence of science and of empirical method were wreaking havoc on older cultural structures and institutions that were necessarily being re-examined. The optimistic humanism of the Renaissance had given way to a backlash of pessimism and doubt. The Reformation had produced the Counter-Reformation, and Europe was torn by civil conflicts and savage retributions. The fragmentation both of authority (in the political as well as the religious realm) and of older structures of understanding and belief made for a sense of crisis that extended from the psychological and spiritual arenas to the political and cultural sphere. Lyric poetry was a frequent outlet for the expression of such problems, as well as a means for proposing ways of dealing with them. It should not surprise us, then, to find that the poetry mirrors the historical moment, nor should it surprise us that the poetry and the culture it mirrors often provide surprising insights into our own world. This is not called "the early modern period" for nothing.
As we explore the poetry, we'll want to inform ourselves as fully as possible, about the world it expresses, addresses and mirrors. To that end I am proposing a good deal of open-ended research. For each class meeting I want you to be responsible for the assigned reading, and I want you also to be following up a topic of historical research that you can draw on for our class discussions. To make this manageable, I'll ask you to pick one research topic for each week of the course, and one poem for each class period. I would like your notes on the research reading at the end of the week, along with your notes on the poems. For the poems, I will expect you to explore the language by using the OED and by checking editions that are more fully annotated than the one we are using. As these notes accumulate, you will find natural essay topics lurking among them, and I'll ask you to write two essays of 6-8 pages in each half of the semester.
A few ground rules that are very important: 1. Class attendance is required; absences must be excused, preferably beforehand; if not, I need to know why you missed. 2. Coming to class late is not permissible. 3. Coming to class unprepared is not permissible.
You are members of a learning community in this class, and your responsibilities to that community are not variable because you're tired, sleepy, grouchy, hung over, etc.
This is a four hour course with three hours of class meeting; the fourth hour is to be devoted to the extra time you will need to do your research and note-taking. Twelve hours a week of outside preparation are appropriate.
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SCHEDULE OF ASSIGNMENTS:
Mon. Feb. 5: Introductory
Wed. Feb. 7: Contexts and conventions. Reading: Greville, "Of Nobility," 8-9. Consider the political philosophy behind this poem. Chapman, "Death Described" .23-4. Consider the tradition that this poem is updating. Drayton, "Since there's no help," 40. How might this poem be said to benefit from the age of drama that has preceded it?
Fri. Feb. 9: Contexts and conventions. Reading: the seven poems by Sir Henry Wotton, pp. 71-75. What poetic conventions are to be found in these poems? What values and worldview emerge from them as a group?
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Mon. Feb. 12: John Donne. Reading: 104 "The Autumnal," 106 "The Bait," 107 "The Canonization." Research and discussion topics: Catholic versus Protestant in Donne's world. His own family. The divisions between the two faiths. The possible meanings of Donne's deliberate blasphemy in 107.
Wed. Feb. 14: Donne. Reading: 108 "The Damp," 109 "The Good Morrow,"110 "The Indifferent,"111 "Lovers' Infiniteness," 112"Love's Growth." "The Extasie" (handout). Research and discussion topics: Monday's continued, plus the oscillation between idealism and cynicism about love, along with the alternation of worship of women and misogyny. How much is period and convention, how much is author? Is the extravagance intended to provoke criticism and reflection?
Fri. Feb. 16: Donne. Reading: 125 "from The First Anniversary: An Anatomy of the World,"113 "A Nocturnal," 114"The Paradox," 115"The Prohibition," 116"The Relic." "Twickenham Garden" (handout) Topics: continued from Monday and Wednesday. First set of reading notes due.
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Mon. Feb. 19: Donne. Reading: 117 "Song," 118"The Sun Rising," 119"The Triple Fool," 120 "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning," 122 "Woman's Constancy," 123 "To the Countess of Bedford." Research and discussion: Changes in scientific knowledge and understanding. Systems of artistic patronage. Who was Lucy, Countess of Bedford?
Wed. Feb. 21: Donne. Reading: The eight sonnets from Divine Meditations. Research and discussion: Donne as a preacher. The sonnet tradition.
Fri. Feb. 23: Donne. Reading: 136 "Good Friday, 1613," 137 "Hymn to Christ," 138 "Hymn to God, My God, in My Sickness," 139 "A Hymn to God the Father." Research and discussion: the Monday and Wednesday topics, plus the issue of wit in religious texts. Second set of reading notes due.
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Mon. Feb. 26: Ben Jonson. Reading: 151 "Inviting a Friend to Supper," 158 "On the Famous Voyage," 159 "To Penshurst." Research and discussion topics: Jonson's use of Horace. The poet and the social order. City vs. country.
Wed. Feb. 28: Jonson. Reading: 161 "To Celia," 165 "Her Triumph," 172 "Echo's Song," 173 "Hymn to Cynthia," 175 "Clerimont's Song." Research and discussion topics: Song and lyric poem, their relationship. Jonson and the courtly love tradition. What were court masques?
Fri. March 2: Jonson. 141, "On My First Daughter," 142 "On My First Son," 156 "Epitaph on S P," 157, "Epitaph on Elizabeth, L.H." 171, "To the Memory of My Beloved, the Author Mr William Shakespeare." Research and discussion topics: the epitaph and elegy tradition. Third set of reading notes due.
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Mon. March 5: Lady Mary Wroth. Reading: the six selections, 269-280. Research and discussion: The lives of women in the period. Class differences. Educational options. How was authorship understood and practiced?
Wed. March 7: Robert Herrick. Reading: 308, "Delight in Disorder," 329 "Art above Nature," 334, "Upon Julia's Clothes," 332 "The Nightpiece, To Julia," 325 "Upon the Nipples of Julia's Breast," 321 "To Daffadils." Research and discussion: Baroque aesthetics. The carpe diem tradition. The pastoral tradition.
Fri. March 9: Herrick. Reading: 317 "The Hock-Cart," 320 "Oberon's Feast," 331 "His Prayer to Ben Jonson," 336 "An Ode for Him [Ben Jonson]" 348 "Good Friday." Research and discussion: The " tribe of Ben."Herrick's life. Fourth reading notes due.
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Mon. March 12: George Herbert. 378 "Prayer," 388 "Vanity," 389 "Virtue," 410 "A Wreath," 373 "The Altar," "376 "Easter Wings." Research and discussion topics for the week: Icon, Emblem, Hieroglyphic. Herbert's church restorations. Anglo-Catholicism and its attempts to reconcile Catholic and Protestant ideas of worship, doctrine, etc. Herbert as cleric contrasted with Donne.
Wed. March 14: Herbert. 374 "Redemption," 387 "The World," 390 "The Pearl," 404 "The Pilgrimage" 400 "Peace" handout: "The Flower."
Fri. March 16: Herbert. 377 "Affliction," 375 "Easter," 386 "Christmas," 393 "Life," 405 "The Collar," 406 "The Pulley," 411 "Love(III)" Fifth Reading Notes Due.
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Mon. March 19: Richard Crashaw. 585 "A LetterÉ" 586-589. Research and discussion: The Counter-Reformation. English Catholic Exiles.
Wed. March 21: Thomas Carew. 420 "A Song," Edmund Waller. 490 "Song," Sir John Sucklong. 546, "Song," 549 [The Constant Lover] Richard Lovelace. 634 "Song: to Lucasta," 635 "Song: To Amarantha," 640 "To Althea." Research: the song and lyric tradition.
Fri. March 23: Martin Parker. 465 "Upon Defacing of Whitehall" Gerrard Winstanley. 560 "The Diggers'Song," William Cartwright. 571 "On the Great Frost." These are occasional poems that might inspire research if you weren't busy finishing your papers. I will help you contextualize them. First paper due.
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S P R I N G B R E A K
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Mon. April 2: John Milton. 505 "L'Allegro," 506 "Il Penseroso." Research and discussion: Baroque art. The pastoral tradition. Galen's theory of the humors.
Wed. April 4: Milton. 512 "Lycidas." Milton's anger in this poem and its political ramifications.
Fri. April 6: Milton. 514 "On the New Forcers of Conscience," 515 "On the Lord General Fairfax," 516 "To my Lord General Cromwell." Milton's politics and his involvement with Cromwell's government. Reading notes due.
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Mon. April 9: Milton. 522-526 selections from Paradise Lost. Research and discussion topics for the week include the Civil War and the Protectorate, along with considerations of Milton's epic, its reception and interpretation.
Wed. April 11: Milton. 527-531 selections from Paradise Lost.
Fri. April 13: Milton. 533-538 selections from Paradise Lost. Reading notes due.
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Mon. April 16: Andrew Marvell. 660 "The Definition of Love," 666 "On a Drop of Dew," 670 "Bermudas," 661 "To His Coy Mistress." Research and discussion for the week: Marvell and Politics. Friendship with Milton. Use of Pastoral. The Restoration.
Wed. April 18: Marvell. 663 "An Horatian Ode" 664 "To My Lord Fairfax."
Fri. April 20: 665 Marvell. "The Garden," 671 "On Mr. Milton's 'Paradise Lost'" Reading notes due.
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Mon. April 23: Henry Vaughan. 674-678. Research and discussion for the week: Herbert influence. Welsh traditions. Medicine. Tthe Royal Society. Mystical studies.
Wed. April 25: Vaughan. 679-682.
Fri. April 27: Vaughan. 683-688, plus "Night" (handout). Reading notes due.
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Mon. April 30: Margaret Cavendish. 689-696. Research and discussion: Women in the arts during the Protectorship and after the Restoration.
Wed. May 2: Katherine Philips. 760-768.
Fri. May 4: Aphra Behn. 787-792. Reading notes due.
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Mon. May 7: John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester. 821-827. We'll be talking this week about the Restoration and the shifts in aesthetics that anticipate the 18th century.
Wed. May 9: John Dryden. 751-754.
Fri. May 11: John Dryden. 755-756.