The Renaissanc

e14th – 17th Century

•The Renaissance was a period of literature originating in Italy

in the 14th century.

•Renaissance is a French word that means “rebirth.”

•Historians consider the Renaissance to be the beginning of

modern history.

•The Renaissance was much more than simply studying the

work of ancient scholars. It influenced the painting, sculpture,

and architecture for decades to come.

Accession of Henry VII

Accession of Henry VIII

Accession of Elizabeth I

Defeat of Spanish Armada

Death of Elizabeth I

1485

1509

15581588

1603

Wh

at

was h

ap

pen

ing

in

En

gla

nd

.

How They Spoke• Fie - A curse, as in "Fie on thee, poxy harlot!"

• Huzzah! - a cheer

• S'wounds! - An exclamation, like wow. A shortened from "gods wounds".

• Tosspot - Drunkard

Major WritersWilliam ShakespeareChristopher MarloweEdmund Spenser

John Milton

Sir Philip Sidney

 Sir Thomas More

Hamlet

Doctor Faustus

The faerie queene

Paradise Lost

utopia

Astrophel and Stella

John Donne – 1572-1631

• John Donne was born in London the son of a wealthy ironmonger and the maternal grandson of the playwright John Heywood.

• Brought up a Catholic, he was educated at Oxford, he later converted to the Church of England.

• He trained as a lawyer at Lincoln's Inn where he became notorious for his wit and high living

• His poetry, which was published primarily: on love and religious themes and is characterised by its intensity, passion, intellectual argument, word-play, and cryptic complexity.

Henry Vaughan- 1622-1695

• Henry Vaughan was born at Newton-upon-Usk in Brecknockshire, Wales.

• Both he and his brother attended Jesus College, Oxford but Henry left without taking a degree to study Law in London.

• His studies were disrupted by the Civil War, however, and he returned to Wales to practise as a doctor.

• He also produced a number of prose works on religious and medieval themes.

George Herbert- 1593-1633

• In 1630, in his late thirties he gave up his secular ambitions and took holy orders in the Church of England.

• All of Herbert's English surviving poems are religious, and some have been used as hymns.

• They are characterised by directness of expression and some conceits which can appear quaint.

• Many of his poems have intricate rhyme schemes, and variations of lines within stanzas.

Not only did these three poets write about religion, but they were all metaphysical poets as well.

Metaphysical poems are/were usually new sciences and consisted of unusual comparisons and far-fetched similes and metaphors.

Critical OpinionSamuel Johnson, who was also

the first to group these poets together as ‘metaphysical poets’ claimed that "they

were not successful in representing or moving the affections“ however their work was almost always

intellectually stimulating.

The Fleahttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tJ8IlPh_qA

In the eyes of John Donne, the flea having taken blood from both him and his lover meant that he and his

lover had effectively made love.

M F

BY PARAM AND BHAVINI