Poetry

Poetry is considered to be a literary art form in which language is used for both its evocative and its aesthetic qualities. “Poetry often uses particular forms and conventions to expand the literal meaning of the words, or to evoke emotional or sensual responses. Devices such as assonance, alliteration, onomatopoeia and rhythm are sometimes used to achieve musical or incantatory effects. Poetry's use of ambiguity, symbolism, irony and other stylistic elements of poetic diction often leaves a poem open to multiple interpretations. Similarly, metaphor and simile create a resonance between otherwise disparate images—a layering of meanings, forming connections previously not perceived. Kindred forms of resonance may exist, between individual verses, in their patterns of rhyme or rhythm.” *

Metaphysical Poetry

These poems shared a common subject-matter, the philosophical contemplation of the world and what lies beyond, often in terms that could be considered hyperbolic. Johnson complained of its “roughness and violation of decorum, the deliberate mixture of different styles”. It has also been described as a fusion of reason and passion.

Popular examples of Metaphysical poets:

• Thomas Carew
• Richard Crashaw
• John Donne
• Edward Herbert
• George Herbert
• Richard Lovelace
• Andrew Marvell
• Sir John Suckling
• Henry Vaughan

Cavalier Poets

The common element that these poems share is their use of forthright and common, even colloquial, language. Largely Royalists, they are not solely political, but embrace the Renaissance ideal of a man who is lover, fighter, artist, and statesman, while carefully avoiding theological issues. Theirs’ are largely celebratory poems on subjects that had previously been considered too trivial to inspire poetry.

Popular examples of Cavalier poets:

• Thomas Carew
• Abraham Cowley
• Mildmay Fane
• Sir Richard Fanshawe
• Edward Herbert
• Robert Herrick
• Ben Jonson
• Richard Lovelace
• Thomas Randolph
• James Shirley
• Sir John Suckling
• Aurelian Townshend
• Edmund Waller
• Henry Vaughan

Restoration Poetry

Poetry was the most popular form of literature following the Restoration of Charles II. This was not only celebratory poetry, but also political criticism that affected events as well as reflected the sentiments of the age. Moreover, this period saw the development of various styles, including the ariel, epic, historical, and lyric poem.

The Restoration, of course, was ideal material to inspire national epic poetry. Sir William Davenant is credited as the first to attempt such an undertaking, but sadly he did not complete the work. Milton’s Paradise Lost was more a theological epic than a national one.

Popular examples of Restoration poets:

• Aphra Bahn
• Samuel Butler
• Sir William Davenant
• John Dryden
• Robert Gould
• John Milton
• Matthew Prior
• Charles Sackville, Earl of Dorset and of Middlesex
• George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham
• Edmund Waller
• John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester

The Female Poet

A few women poets earned a degree of respect for their works, although even fewer were able to write as a profession. While they also wrote in styles and on themes similar to those of their male counterparts, they had their own voices as well.

Examples of published poetesses:

• Aphra Behn
• Anne Bradstreet
• Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle
• Anne Killigrew
• Aemilia Lanyer
• Katherine Philips
• Lady Mary Wroth

See Also

• Servants Observation

* Excerpted from Poetry - Wikipedia.