Renaissance Literature: Poetry, Drama, and Prose
During the Renaissance, the creative energy of the English people burst forth into the greatest harvest of literature the Western world had yet known. Poets and playwrights, readers and listeners, all delighted in the vigor and beauty of the English language. The glittering Elizabethan court was a focus of poetic creativity. Members of the court vied with one another to see who could create the most highly polished, technically perfect poems. The appreciative audience for these lyrics was the elite
Read MoreNeoclassicism vs. Romanticism: Key Differences Explored
Neoclassicism and Romanticism: A Period of Transition
Between Neoclassicism and Romanticism, we find a period of transition. Romanticism breaks with traditional ideals, but this was not an overnight change. Pre-romanticism prepares us for the Romantic movement.
Romanticism vs. Neoclassicism
We can find a great deal of differences between these two literary movements in various aspects:
The View of the Universe
In Neoclassical Arts, the universe is compared to a machine, to a watch, where everything works
18th-Century Poetry and Neoclassical Theater: Key Features
Eighteenth-Century Poetry and Theater
In the 18th century, three main currents emerged in theater:
- The Baroque tradition, which gradually gave way to neoclassical ideals.
- A return to the classics, emphasizing Enlightenment ideas and didacticism.
- The Pre-Romantic movement, focusing on social concerns and freedom.
Poetry of this era also displayed diverse trends: Rococo, Pre-Romantic, and Enlightenment styles. The Enlightenment style embraced Enlightenment ideals, aiming to educate and uplift, resulting
Read MoreRamón C.: 20th Century Portuguese Literature
Ramón C. and 20th Century Portuguese Literature
Ramón C., in the early years of 20th-century Portuguese literature, is identified with the genre’s lyrical themes: Agrarianism, Celticists, withdrawal, and civic stagnation. These themes continued in the work of followers of the three great masters of Rexurdimento. Ramón C. played a role in updating poetry, since his work incorporates new elements of European aesthetic poetry.
His influences include Greco-Latin tradition from the late European Romanticism,
Read MoreSalvador Espriu’s Poetic Exile: Themes and Analysis
Salvador Espriu: A Poem of Exile and Loyalty
Author: Salvador Espriu
Date: 1954, more than twelve years after the end of the Civil War and more than six years after the Second World War.
Theme: This poem begins by discussing the desire to leave one’s homeland, to emigrate northward, because the speaker believes the land is cowardly, savage, and old, while the place to go is cultured, noble, and clean. The poem also explains that if this dream were to come true, citizens, whom they call brothers, would
Read MoreLiterary Terms: Epic Poems, Sonnets, and More
Epic: Poems of adventures, narrative, containing a lot of passion and many events. Originally a spoken poem, it was later written down. Early Literacy adopted the Epic Poem’s form. Epic poems were normally sung by scops, who were professional poem singers, often accompanying the poem with music, typically a harp.
Sonnet: A lyric or poetic form. Lyric opposes epic as it has a brief form and emotional content. This contrast can be seen in “Beowulf.” Lyric is more intimate, domestic, focused on
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