in this presentation, you know all about 17th-century poetry that consists of major writers of the Renaissance age, the Neo-classical age with how this age divided into three main periods, also major writers of this age.

1. 17th Century Poetry
Prepared by: Banwan Ali Karim
University College Of Goizha/ Second Stage Of English Department

2. Major writers of Renaissance age
III. Ben Jonson (1573-1637):
Benjamin Jonson was an English playwright
and poet. His father had died before he was born, his
mother married a tradesmen who cared of his step
son. After he finished his study, he joined in army.
His main work are: Every man in his humor, The
Alchemist, The silent woman..etc...
His plot construction is weak and his comedies of
humors lack true humor. He did over correction in
his dramas.

3. IV. Edmund Spenser(1552-1599):
Edmund Spenser was an English poet best known for
The Faerie Queen, an epic poem and fantastical
allegory celebrating the Tudor dynasty and
Elizabeth I. Spencer’s literary career started with the
publication of The Shepherd’s Calendar. He is the
son of Renaissance and reformation. He is best
known for his poem, the Faerie Queen. He died in
extreme poverty on 16th June 1599.

4. V. Francis Bacon (1561-1626):
Francis Bacon, also known as Lord Verulam, was
an English philosopher and statesman who served
as Attorney General and as Lord Chancellor of
England. He is the father of English essays.
He studied law at Cambridge. His essays have aphorism,
brevity, suggestiveness and rich use of different figures of
speech. He wrote a History Of The Life And Reign Of
King Henry II, New Analysis. Etc…

5. The age has the following Characteristics
i. Great interest in travel exploration and commerce.
ii. New form of sonnet was introduced.
iii. Nationalistic and pathetic feeling.
iv. Great poetic output and golden age of drama.
v. Poetry of freshness, youthful and romantic feeling.
vi. New classical influence.
vii. Essay writing was remarkable and it was
established as a genre by Francis Bacon.
viii.Period of Shakespeare, Spenser, Bacon, Sidney
etc…

6. Plays written by William Shakespeare
Comedies histories Tragedies
All’s Well That Ends
Well
King John Romeo And Juliet
The Comedy Of Errors Richard II Macbeth
Love’s Labour's Lost Richard III Hamlet
The Tempest Henry IV, Part I Othello
The Merchant Of
Venice
Henry IV, Part II King Lear
The Winter’s Tale Henry VI, Part I Julius Caesar

7. Neo-classical age (1660-1785)
The writers of this age broke the trends of the
Elizabethan age and started new styles of writing and
spontaneous but the Neo-Classical or the writers of
neo-classical age become highly intellectual and
reason based. The writer of that age practiced
logical, argumentative, and reason based writing.
Neo-classical writing is full of intellect rather than
emotion. The neo-classical age is the age of prose
and plain writing. Neo-Classical age was also called
the “The Age Of Enlightenment”, which emphasized
on reason and logic. And this age started with the
age of Milton in English literature.

8. Neo-classical age is divided into three main periods
which are given below:
1660-1785
The Neo-classical Age
1660-1700 The Restoration
1700-1745 The Augustan Age
1745-1785
The Age Of
Sensibility
The original Augustan age was the brilliant literary period of
Virgil, Horace and old under the Roman Emperor Augustus.
The leading writer of the time such as (Alexander pope,
Joseph Addison), themselves drew the parallel To the Roman
Augustans and deliberately imitated their literary forms and
subjects.

9. Major Writers Of The Neo-Classical Age:
I. John Dryden (1631-1700):
John Dryden was an English poet, literary
critic, translator, and playwright who was
appointed England's first Poet Laureate in
1668. he is the representative figure of the
Neo-Classical age. Dryden was the greatest poet
supreme satirist of the Neo-Classical age. He is
successful in his heroic tragedies. He cultivated the
blank verse tragedies. His major works are all for
Love, The Essay On Dramatic Poesy, Alexander’s
Feast, etc…

10. II. William Congreve (1670-1729)
William Congreve is the supreme master of the
comedy of manners. He wrote all his dramas
before he was thirty. The Old Bachelor, The
Double Dealer, Love For Love are his main
works. Congreve was the greatest prose comedy
writer at the later restoration period.

11. III. John Bunyan (1628-1688)
Bunyan wrote about sixty books. He was a
religious man with great respect to the Bible. His
book include: The Pilgrim’s Progress, Grace
Abounding, Holy War, Etc…
He wrote realistic novels in simple and vivid
language depicting the pure of lower class people.

12. IV. Alexander Pope (1688-1744)
Alexander Pope is seen as one of the greatest English poets
and the foremost poet of the early 18th century.
In spite of his bad health, Pope composed outstanding poems.
His satire was against corruption and the female sex. He was a
critic too. His masterpiece ‘The Rape of the lock’ is a long
poem which parade the clear artificial of life. His other works
are Epistles, The Dunciad, Etc…
V. Thomas Gray, William Blake,
Robert Burns, Dr. Samuel Johnson,
William Cowper, etc… are the major writers
of the Neo-Classical age.

13. This age has the following characteristics:
i. Emphasis was laid on correctness
ii. The restoration of drama
iii. Imitation of classical way of writing
iv. Objectivity, detachment on the part of the writer
v. Appeal to the intellect rather than in satire
vi. Directness: avoids the mysterious or obscure
vii. Age of prose
viii.Description of the urban civilization and the
higher or aristocratic or rich class.
ix. Emphasis on precise form, unified structure,
clarity in writing, etc…