Description
Book SynopsisEdmund Waller (1606–1687): New Perspectives reappraises the life and works of an important but neglected seventeenth-century English poet. Admired at court in the 1630s and at the Restoration, Waller made a deep impression on contemporary poetry: his collection of Poems (1645) was widely acclaimed and had an ‘extraordinary impact’ on future poets. The book investigates, among other things, Waller’s political views on affairs of state, his social and literary interactions with younger poets, his friendship with John Evelyn while in exile, his technical poetic innovations, his rivalry with Andrew Marvell, his elegies, and his contemporary and posthumous reputation. Contributors: Warren Chernaik, Daniel Cook, Stephen Deng, Martin Dzelzainis, Richard Hillyer, Philip Major, Michael P. Parker, Tessie Prakas, Geoffrey Smith, Thomas Ward, and Gillian Wright.
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements List of Figures Abbreviations Notes on Contributors Introduction Philip Major 1 ‘Power Unbounded and a Will Confined’: Waller’s Politics Warren Chernaik 2 Banished from the ‘frantic isle’: Edmund Waller in Exile Geoffrey Smith 3 Waller, Marvell, and ‘La Belle Stuart’ Reconsidered Martin Dzelzainis 4 ‘… and Musick too’: Edmund Waller on the Pages of Ayres and Dialogues (1653) Thomas Ward 5 ‘We Plough the Deep, and Reap What Others Sow’: Waller’s Panegyrick and the Empire of Trade Stephen Deng 6 ‘… like Orpheus, with My Numerous Moan’: Wit by Association in Waller’s 1645 Poems Tessie Prakas 7 ‘Such Huge Extremes’: Waller, Denham and the Emergence of Neoclassical Distichs Richard Hillyer 8 Waller’s Elegies Daniel Cook 9 In Praise of Mr. Waller Gillian Wright 10 Waller and the Wits: Poetry, Reputation, and Generational Conflict at the Court of Charles II Michael P. Parker Index
