In the seventeenth
century, a group of poets came to be associated with the Court of Charles I
known as Cavalier poets. The cavaliers were Royalists and were pitted against
the Round heads who were supporters of Cromwell. The faith of the cavaliers was
Anglican and they aligned with the squires. The Roundheads were Puritans and
were confined to the industrial and commercial centers.
The Cavalier poets were
also called as ‘the tribe of Ben’ or ‘the sons of Ben’
as they fashion their poetry after Ben Jonson. But sometimes they also present
a sustained argument in the vein of Donne and like him they present the
feelings in terms of images not from classical mythology as was want from early
Elizabethans but from different branches of knowledge, such as theology,
philosophy and natural science. Thus, the two branches- one of Ben Jonson and
the other of John Donne mingle in this poetry in various proportions. As such
Geoffrey Walton in his book The Pelican Guide to English Literature calls
this poetry as,
aristocratic
synthesis of Ben Jonson and Donne
The cavalier poetry
exemplifies the upper-class culture of pre-Commonwealth England. It is an eminently
English poetry, but it, especially in the poems of Suckling and Lovelace, also
embraces the Continental literary traits exemplified by poets like Marino. In
the poetry of ‘the sons of Ben’ the elements of elegance and sophistication are
tinged with naivety. They followed Ben in their classical restraint and concise
lucidity. Their work is simple and graceful in structure and finely polished in
style. The theme basically centred on love and war. Though, sometimes it also
encompassed honour and their duty to the king. They used direct language in the
poetry which expressed a highly individualistic personality. To the cavalier
poets, enjoying life was far more important than following moral codes. They
lived for the moment. The tone being light focuses on eroticism and matters of
culture. Cavalier poetry is often written from the perspective of a military or
aristocratic person, giving it a graceful touch.
However, when emotional
discipline flags, it becomes boisterous and it verges on obscenity. As a result
of slackening of the classical grip, some of these poems become uneven and
awkward.
Cavalier Poets:-
Robert Herrick
(1591-1674)
Thomas Carew
(1594-1639)
Sir John Suckling (1609-1642)
Richard Lovelace
(1618-58)
Vividly written notes about 17th Century cavalier Poetry.
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