Augustan Period

The Augustan Period was a gradual reinvention of all the Classical forms of poetry. Every genre of poetry was recast, reconsidered, and used to serve new functions. For some examples, the ode, ballad, elegy, satire, parody, song, and lyric poetry were all be adapted from their older uses. In philosophy, it was an age increasingly dominated by experimentation. In writings of political-economy it marked mercantilism becoming a formal philosophy, the full development of capitalism, and the triumph of trade over other forms of selling.

Forms used in this period:

-Mock epics

-Elegies

-Historic

-Epics

-Heroic couplets

Elements used in this period:

-Satire and irony

-Iambic pentameter

-Paradoxes

-Plain/ordinary plotlines

-Many allusions to ancient Roman/Greek epic poetry

Themes:

-Human frailty

-Order in the universe

-Mocking of human behavior

Authors:

-John Dryden “The Wild Galant”

-Alexander Pope “The Rape of the Lock”

-Jonathan Swift “Tale of a Tub”

The Transcendentalism Period

The Transcendentalism Period took off in the early to mid-nineteenth century. It was mainly a philosophical era and The Transcendentalism Movement that followed was of the same nature. After that, it evolved into the most dominant form of literary expression. Followers of Transcendentalism thought that the knowledge that could be gained through intuition and contemplation of the internal spirit was more valuable than the knowledge that could be gained from explanation of the senses.

Definition

The belief that truths about life and death can be reached by going outside the world of the sense.

Major Beliefs

·  Freedom from organized religion.

·  Feelings were a priority over reason.

·  Rise of new cities

·  Stronger relationship between man and nature.

·  The end of “social classes”

Transcendental Characteristics:

Nature

 Nature was innocence and an escape from the evils of society

Individualism

 Rejection of standard societal beliefs

 Fulfillment comes from knowing one’s self, not wealth, gender or education

Moral Enthusiasm

 Anti-Slavery

 Pro-Women’s Rights

 Literary Focus

Authors

 Emily Dickinson

 Ralph Waldo Emerson

 Henry David Thoreau

 Edgar Allen Poe

Metaphysical Poetry

Metaphysical poems are very intellectual. One of the main characteristics of metaphysical poetry is that it tends to analyze emotions rather than expressing them. Another of the primary concepts found in metaphysical poetry is the idea that the perfection in life should be used as a remembrance of beauty in the eternal realm. Overall, their work relies on images and references to contemporary (or of the time) scientific or geographical discoveries.

Metaphysical Poets: 

John Donne “The Flea”

George Herbert “Artillery”

Henry Vaughn “I am the woman”

Thomas Carew “An Elegy upon the Death of the Dean of Paul's, Dr. John Donne”

Andrew Marvell “A Dialogue between Thyrsis and Dorinda”

Richard Lovelace “The Grasshopper”

Sir John Suckling “Upon My Lady Carlisle’s Walking in Hampton Court Garden”

Metaphysical Poetry Terms:

Imagery: unpoetic imagery that is sometimes shocking, and drawn from the commonplace or the remote, including extended metaphors that sometimes seem like they shouldn’t make sense.

Simple Diction: supports the pauses and breaks of everyday speech.

Form: frequently expressed as an argument with the poet's lover, God, or oneself.

Meter: often uneven so it goes naturally with the metaphysical poets' attitude and purpose: their belief in the perplexity of life, a spirit of revolt and the putting of an argument in speech rather than song.

Metaphysical Conceit: used in far-fetched and extended comparison used by metaphysical poets to explore all areas of knowledge. Uses unusual analogies for the poet's ideas with startlingly obscure or  shockingly commonplace metaphors.