The Cambridge Companion to English Poetry, Donne to Marvell DONNE TO MARVELL

Poetry of the early seventeenth century set in its cultural and ideological context.

English poetry in the first half of the seventeenth century is an outstandingly rich and varied body of verse, which can be understood and appreciated more fully when set in its cultural and ideological context. This student Companion, consisting of fourteen new introductory essays by scholars of international standing, informs and illuminates the poetry by providing close reading of texts and an exploration of their background. There are individual studies of Donne, Jonson, Herrick, Herbert, Carew, Suckling, Lovelace, Milton, Crashaw, Vaughan and Marvell. More general essays describe the political and religious context of the poetry, explore its gender politics, explain the material circumstances of its production and circulation, trace its larger role in the development of genre and tradition, and relate it to contemporary rhetorical expectation. Overall the Companion provides an indispensable guide to the texts and contexts of early-seventeenth-century English poetry.

Chronology; Part I. The Context: 1. Politics and religion David Loewenstein; 2. The politics of gender Elaine Hobby; 3. Manuscript, print, and the social history of the lyric Arthur F. Marroti; 4. Genre and tradition Alastair Fowler; 5. Rhetoric Brian Vickers; Part II. Some Poets: 6. John Donne Achsah Guibbory; 7. Ben Jonson Richard Helgerson; 8. Robert Herrick Leah S. Marcus; 9. George Herbert Helen Wilcox; 10. Thomas Carew, Sir John Suckling and Richard Lovelace Thomas N. Corns; 11. John Milton: the early works Michael Wilding; 12. Richard Crashaw Anthony Low; 13. Henry Vaughan Jonathan Post; 14. Andrew Marvell Donald M. Friedman.

Introductory essays by major scholars provide individual studies of the major poets of the early seventeenth century, together with an exploration of political, social, religious and literary issues of the time, enhancing an outstandingly rich and varied body of verse by setting it in its cultural and ideological context.