All entries for Sunday 18 October 2009

More About Puritanism

Another good source of information about puritanism is: John Coffey and Paul C. H. Lim ed., The Cambridge Companion to Puritanism (Cambridge: CUP, 2008). It’s available online via the Warwick University library catalogue.

Alice Eardley : 18 Oct 2009 10:50 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Week Three: John Donne

Preparation for the Seminar:

Points in bold type are a compulsory part of the course. Everything else is intended to be an optional guide to help with preparation.

- Read the selection of ‘Holy Sonnets’ in the Norton Anthology together with ‘Good Friday, 1613. Riding Westward’, ‘A Hymn to Christ, at the Authors Last Going into Germany’, ‘Hymn to God, My God, in My Sickness’ and ‘A Hymn to God the Father’ (pp. 1268-76).

Points to think about:
- In what different ways does Donne represent the relationship between the soul and the body.
- What other common themes emerge from these poems? Are there any contradictions?
- A couple of the poems refer to ‘grace’. What does Donne mean by this?
- Think about the tone of the poems. How is Donne addressing God? What impression of God does this give you?
- Is Donne talking about himself in these poems? Or not? What is the evidence?

Useful Secondary Reading:

- James Doelman, ‘The Accession of King James I and English Religious Poetry’.
http://www.geocities.com/queenswoman/jamesdoelman.html

The article is very dense and provides a lot of information. Here is a list of some things you might want to pay attention to:
- The relationship between poetry and politics (ie. the court).
- The significance of dedications/prefaces/commendatory verse.
- Note how the texts are tied into very specific dates.

Alice Eardley : 18 Oct 2009 10:36 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem