Key Figures in English Poetry

Flashcards covering key figures and concepts in English poetry based on the provided lecture notes.

Ben Jonson (1572 – 1637)

• “On my First Son” is written as a lament for the death of his son Benjamin

• CONTEMPORARY OF SHAKE

• Major figure in Elizabethan English theater – more “famous” than Shakespeare in his day

• Grew up in poverty, he became a bricklayer, but “could not endure”

• Joined army and fought in Holland

John Donne (1572 – 1631)

• “The Flea” is about a speaker trying to persuade a lover to sex

• “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” is about a husband consoling his pregnant wife as he leaves for a journey

• Born into a wealthy family

• Educated BY THE JESUITS!

• Attended both Oxford and Cambridge

• Became an ordained minister in Church of England, and a renowned preacher – has many famous sermons

• He was a part of the “Metaphysical Poets”

John Milton (1608 - 1674)

• “When I consider how my light is spent…” is a sonnet about his emotional state from his blindness

• Best known for his epic poem Paradise Lost about the fall of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden

• BLIND**

• Studied independently but received an MA from Cambridge

• During the English Civil War, he sided with the Puritans and Oliver Cromwell and wrote political pamphlets

• During restoration of Charles II, Milton was in exile and was supported by his friend Andrew Marvell

• Milton went blind late in life, and wrote much of his poetry by dictating it to his friends and daughters

Alexander Pope (1688-1744)

• Considered the greatest English poet of the 18th century

• He taught himself how to read and write in French, Italian, Greek, and Latin****

• CATHOLIC

• Translated The Iliad and The Odyssey, which made him very successful

• “Sound and Sense” is about the power of poetry

• “The Quiet Life” is about the benefits of a rural, peaceful lifestyle

Robert Herrick (1591 – 1674)

Born into a wealthy family

• “Delight in Disorder” is about seeing beauty in less strict forms

• “To the Virgins to Make Much of Time” is a Carpe Diem poem

•FRIEND OF METAPHYSICAL POET

• Not part of the Metaphysical poets, and had what is called a “pastoral style”****

• Attended Cambridge

• He was ordained a minister in 1623

• Broad range of subject matter – wrote over 1200 poems of various forms – most derived from Greek and Roman poetic styles

• He is known for his joyful interpretation of God’s gifts

Andrew Marvell (1621 – 1678)

• His father was a clergyman in the Church of England

• He had a complicated view of the English Civil War – he supported the rebels and Cromwell, but was deeply affected by the killing of King Charles I

• He was good friends with John Milton and supported him as he struggled with his blindness

• He was a leading member of the Metaphysical Poets

• “To His Coy Mistress” is a Carpe Diem poem encouraging the auditor to engage in love

William Blake (1757 – 1827)

• Obscure in his lifetime, come to be known as one of th emost famous English poets and artists

• He was raised by nonconformist parents, and he held these views throughout his life

• He had radical views of spirituality (he invented his own mythology), women’s rights, and personal liberty

• He was once arrested for “uttering seditious statements towards the crown”

• He famously created engravings for Dante’s Divine Comedy, and Milton’s Paradise Lost

• He believed that he saw visions of angels

• “London”, and “Chimney Sweeper” are about the suffering of commoners in the city of London due to industrialization

• “Garden of Love”, “I saw a Chapel…” are about Blake’s criticism of the institution of the Church

• “The Lamb”, “The Tyger” are a pair of poems reflection the corruption of mankind from innocence to sin via industry

Percy Shelley - (1792 - 1822)

• Raised wealthy – son of a landowner and member of Parliament (MP)

• Did poorly when enrolled at Oxford (allegedly only attended one lecture)

• Engaged in political action

• First wife died by suicide and married the daughter of his teacher (William Godwin), Mary Godwin – who became Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein

• He had a “friendly” rivalry with Lord Byron

• Died at sea off the coast of Italy

• “Song: to the Men of England” is about the suffering of commoners in London, and his desire for political action

• “Ozymandias” is his most famous poem; it is about the mutability of the world, but the power of art and artists to add longevity to one’s reputation and legacy

John Keats

• (1795-1821)

• “Bright Star” is about his lamentation over his illness and impending death

• “Ode on a Grecian Urn” is about the complexity and beauty of art itself

• Keats was raised in a modest household, and though he had the intellect to attend Eton or Harrow (elite private schools), he was sent to a school closer to home

• His father died when he was quite young, and his mother died soon after of tuberculosis • He left school at 14 to become a surgeon’s apprentice, but he loathed the work

• He had a lifelong romance with his neighbor, Fanny Brown, but her father forbade their marriage due to Keat’s poverty and sickness (he also contracted tuberculosis)

• He is thought of as the best of the second generation of Romantic poets

• He died at the age of 26 of tuberculosis