Pastoral “is a double longing after innocence and happiness,” its “universal idea is the Golden Age…it is based on the antithesis of Art and Nature; and its fundamental motive is hostility to urban life. ” As educational awakening started to filter into the consciousness of writers and artists throughout the seventeenth century, their work began to take on more social awareness and a religious tone. Pastoral representation is clear through much of seventeenth century poetry and literature of all forms. While this genre ultimately complicates the subject undertaken by the poet, removing simplicity as every line can be read with a deeper meaning, it has been proved as a very necessary tool of the poetic art.
[...] (1663.) Lanyer, Aemilia. The Description of Cookham. (1611.) Pici, Nick. “Milton's Place and Notions of the in ‘Paradise Lost.'” College Literature, vol No (Fall, 2001), 33-50. Milton, John. Paradise Lost. (1667.) Ng, Su Fang. “Aemilia Lanyer and the Politics of Praise.” ELH, Vol No (Summer, 2000), pp. 433-451. Roberts, D.H. “'Just Such Disparities”: The Real and the Representation in Donne's Poetry.” South Atlantic Bulletin, Vol No (Nov., 1976), pp. 99- 108. Paul Alpers. “What Is Pastoral?” In Critical Inquiry, Vol [...]
[...] In a final look at the pastoral genre, Amelia Lanyer's The Description of Cookham uses this mode to commentate on the political and the social, in a more overt tone than the previous two works. Written in 1611, Lanyer incorporates common ideals of society and community and expresses her understanding of both by using the poem as a description of her surroundings and as a form with which she can insert her viewpoint. She opens with a description of the place about which she will dedicate the stanzas of her poem. [...]
[...] By giving inanimate objects human qualities, the author allows his work to be romanticized in a manner which would otherwise be read as out of place or unrelated to the story (this was also oft found throughout sketches and paintings, the same norms were often applied.) The poet can comment on the political or social by providing an anecdote in the story that has direct reference or is symbolic of an event, without overt description.[2] The speaker in most works of pastoral poetry is permitted by the poet to idealize concepts which would otherwise be considered of fantasy, unacceptably unrealistic (this behavior is subsequently accepted by the reader.) As was also common during the late sixteenth century, becoming more common practice into the seventeenth century, daily actions were romanticized through poetry as they were dramatized. [...]
[...] “What Is Pastoral?” Critical Inquiry, Vol No (Spring, 1982), pp. 437- 460. Collett, Jonathan, H. “Milton's Use of Classical Mythology in ‘Paradise Lost.'” PMLA, Vol No (Jan., 1970), pp. 88-96. Connell, Philip. “British Identities and the Politics of Ancient Poetry in Later Eighteenth- Century England.” The Historical Journal, Vol No (Mar., 2006), pp. 161-192. Congleton, J.E. Theories of pastoral poetry in England, 1684-1798. University of Florida Press Diekhoff, John, S. Milton's Paradise Lost: A Commentary on the Argument. Prometheus Books Donne, John. [...]
[...] All of these descriptions reference images of the natural world and are, thus, relatable to the reader while of a wholly fantastic nature as well.[11] Representation of the Devil in Paradise Lost is not romanticized. The Devil represents an evil side of society, of politics. Here, Milton inserts his own thoughts of evil, or the parts of his personality that were not pure. The Devil becomes the definition of anti-authority. Milton uses Paradise Lost to comment on religious scripture of the bible, effectively, using this form as a picture in which religion can be viewed. [...]
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