The Court and Sir Thomas Wyatt
During the 16th Century, English poetry was dominated and institutionalised by the Court. Because it 'excited an intensity that indicates a rare concentration of power and cultural dominance,' the Court was primarily responsible for the popularity of the poets who emerged from it. Sir Thomas Wyatt, one of a multitude of the so-called 'Court poets' of this time period, not only changed the way his society saw poetry through his adaptations of the Petrarchan Sonnet, but also obscurely attempted to recreate the culture norm through his influence. Though much of his poems are merely translations of Petrarch's, these, in addition to his other poetry, are satirical by at least a cultural approach.
Thomas Wyatt was born at Allington Castle in Kent, in 1503 and had made his first Court appearance by the age of thirteen as a Sewer Extraordinary to King Henry VIII. By 1525 he served the King in several various duties. Wyatt was rumoured to have been a lover of Anne Boleyn, wife to King Henry VIII, and possibly imprisoned for the affair. He witnessed her execution on May 19, 1536.
Another important thing to realise while studying Wyatt, in so far as poetry analysis is concerned, is the time period in which he wrote. Although the exact date for the beginning of the Renaissance is unknown, Wyatt was surely part of that movement. The term Renaissance denotes a transition between the medieval and modern world which individualised the sixteenth century and helped to enlarge the mind of man 'with a sense of old freedoms regained and of new regions to be explored.' Wyatt and one of his contemporaries, Henry Howard Earl of Surrey, pioneered a literary movement in which 'their task was, not to carry o...
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All of the satire found in Wyatt's poetry addresses the one seemingly overwhelming problem of the Court's influence and restraint on an individual's morals and emotions. According to Stephen Greenblatt in an essay on culture, the more severe punishments which are used against those who do not behave in a socially acceptable way, such as imprisonment (in Wyatt's case), are not nearly as effective as 'seemingly innocuous responses: a condescending smile, laughter poised between the genial and the sarcastic, a small dose of indulgent pity laced with contempt, cool silence.' In literary works, Greenblatt connects these responses with the effect that blame has in enforcing cultural boundaries through the use of satire; as I have shown, Wyatt uses poetry, although obscurely because of the jeopardy it imposed on his freedom, as his own method of social control.
The court system in Puritan New England was an unfair and unjust system, stemming from the general court of Massachusetts. Many of the trials and procedures were ludicrous. General life in the Puritan communities was centered around religion and the judicial system reflected this. Religion crept into laws and the courts until they were practically combined. Puritan's valued their religion zealously and it became part of everyday life in the colony.
Critics of the period were hesitant to praise ‘Choise’. However, contemporary critic, J.B Steane, claimed the poem ‘seems worth reprinting both as a curiosity, and for what one can see as a certain charm and freshness. In its (not unimportant) way, it even does Nashe’s century some credit.’ The idea of ‘freshness’ in regards to the text is evident in the use emotive language to depict Tomalin’s amazement towards Francis, in the description ‘sweeping she coms, as she would brush the ground, / Hir ratling silke 's my sences doe confound.’ (Nashe, 65) The language here is more akin with love poetry than other sections of the text, and it is in part the fluctuation in language which situates ‘Choise’ as something oppositional to the expected. As Brown explains, Nashes ‘was the epitome of verbal facility and quick wit, who came to be identified with a particular kind of literary value.’ (Brown, 59) The originality of Nashe’s poetry, coupled with his lustful subject matter is reflected throughout the poem, such as: ‘first bare hir leggs, then creepe up to hir kneese. / From thence ascend unto hir mannely thigh.’ (Nashe, 65) ‘Choise’ therefore belongs to a segment of literature which presents lust ‘in a salacious,
Everett, Nicholas From The Oxford Companion to Twentieth-century Poetry in English. Ed. Ian Hamiltong. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994. Copyright 1994 by Oxford University Press.
Raffel, Burton. and Alexandra H. Olsen Poems and Prose from the Old English, (Yale University Press)Robert Bjork and John Niles,
When readers reflect on the poetry of the seventeenth century, poets such as John Donne and the
A metrical composition; a composition in verse written in certain measures, whether in blank verse or in rhyme, and characterized by imagination and poetic diction; contradistinguished from prose; as, the poems of Homer or of Milton. This is but one of Webster 's definitions of a poem. Using this definition of “poem,” this paper will compare and contrast three different poems written by three different poets; William Shakespeare 's Sonnets 116, George Herbert’s Easter Wings and Sir Thomas Wyatt’s Whoso List to Hunt.
The book “No Matter How Loud I Shout” written by Edward Humes, looks at numerous major conflicts within the juvenile court system. There is a need for the juvenile system to rehabilitate the children away from their lives of crime, but it also needs to protect the public from the most violent and dangerous of its juveniles, causing one primary conflict. Further conflict arises with how the court is able to administer proper treatment or punishment and the rights of the child too due process. The final key issue is between those that call for a complete overhaul of the system, and the others who think it should just be taken apart. On both sides there is strong reasoning that supports each of their views, causing a lot of debate about the juvenile court system. Edward Humes follows the cases of seven teenagers in juvenile court, and those surrounding them.
Poetry’s role is evaluated according to what extent it mirrors, shapes and is reshaped by historical events. In the mid-19th century, some critics viewed poetry as “an expression of the poet’s personality, a manifestation of the poet’s intuition and of the social and historical context which shaped him” ( Preminger, Warnke, Hardison 511). Analysis of the historical, social, political and cultural events at a certain time helps the reader fully grasp a given work. The historical approach is necessary in order for given allusions to be situated in their social, political and cultural background. In order to escape intentional fallacy, a poet should relate his work to universal
The 59 year old John Glover Roberts Jr, was born on January 27, 1955 in Buffalo, New York. He was the only son of John G. “Jack” Glover Sr. and Rosemary Podrasky Roberts. His ancestry being Irish, Welsh, and Czech (O'Dowd).
Shields, David S. Oracles of Empire: Poetry, Politics, and Commerce in British America, 1690-1750. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990
Holbrook, David. Llareggub Revisted: Dylan Thomas and the State of Modern Poetry. Cambridge: Bowes and Bowes, 1965. 100-101.
Pattison, Bruce. Music and Poetry of the English Renaissance. (2nd ed). London: Methuen and Company, 1970.
In the early eighteenth century England witnessed the peak of the tumultuous changes that is presently known as the Age of Enlightenment. Trapped deep within the chaotic changes of politics, religion, art and social mores, Alexander Pope proved a master at exploiting these changes circumstances in order to become an admired poet. (page 558, Wilson)
John Donne lived in an era when the lyric was at its pinnacle. Poets were writing well-rounded, almost musical poetry on subjects that ranged from all kinds of love to enchantment with nature. Donne could not help but revolt against this excess of fluency and melody. John Donne's style stands in such sharp contrast to the accepted Elizabethan lyrical style that it becomes difficult to accept the fact that his works date from the same era. To highlight this statement, one has to compare a typical Elizabethan lyric to one of Donne's works.
King Henry VIII didn’t even claim Queen Elizabeth I until she made it obvious that she was respectable at everything she did and was very intelligent to be so young. On top of all her knowledge, she was a girl and in that time period girls weren’t respected like they are today. Because Elizabeth’s mother, Anne, could not provide the King with a son she was executed on false charges of incest and adultery in 1536 on May nineteenth (“Queen Elizabeth I Biography”). Elizabeth was only three years old when her mother was accused of such actions. Following her mother’s death, Elizabeth went through countless step mothers. One of which giving the King his longed for son, King Edward VI (“Queen Elizabeth I Biography”). King Henry VIII married Jane Seymour twelve days after Elizabeth’s mothers’ execution. However, Jane passed away due to childbed fever ("Queen Elizabeth I: Biography, Portraits, Primary Sources."). It was Henry 's sixth and final wife, Katharine Parr, who had the greatest impact upon Elizabeth 's life. A kind woman who believed passionately in education and religious reform, it seemed as if Katharine was a devoted stepmother and took pride in helping Elizabeth further her