17th Century (Part 2)

Prepared by:
Daisy G. Antimor
GEORGE HERBERT

• He was born on April 3, 1593, in Montgomery

Castle, Wales.
• In 1620, he was elected orator of the University
of Cambridge. By the following decade,
however, he had left that post and become
ordained priest.
• He also wrote a number of religious poems over
the years.
• In 1633, Ferrar had The Temple: Sacred Poems
and Private Ejaculations published.
• Herbert died in Bemerton, Wiltshire, England, on
March 1, 1633.
Style : “ Metaphysical”
• It is concerned with the whole experience of man, but the
intelligence, learning and seriousness of the poets means
that the poetry is about the profound areas of experience
especially - about love, romantic and sensual; about man's
relationship with God - the eternal perspective, and, to a
less extent, about pleasure, learning and art.

• It usually sets up an analogy between one entity's spiritual

qualities and an object in the physical world and sometimes
controls the whole structure of the poem.
The Collar

• It is the most extensive and detailed poem of rebellion,

written in 1633.

• It dramatizes the interior conflict in a man who senses

that his service to his calling has been fruitless.

The Collar.docx
Analysis

• Thirty-two of its thirty six lines describe what the poem

itself calls the ravings of a person growing “more fierce
and wild” as he strains himself from the restrictive
pressures that surround him.
• It gives full expression to the speaker's resentment of the
sufferings, physical and mental, and rigor of a leading a
life that is moral and and holy.
• In the final stanza, he expresses his feelings of
submission towards God.
ROBERT HERRICK

• He was born in 1591 and died

• Apprenticed to his uncle, a London
goldsmith
• Did not enter a university until age 22 (very
late in that time) and did not leave until 29
• No regular occupation for the next
few years
• Friends with playwright Ben Johnson
• At some point, ordained as a priest
• Serious part of his life began at age 39
To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time Summary

• From the title, we can tell that the speaker is addressing

this poem to a group of virgins.
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• He thinks that one's youth is the best time in life, and the
years after that aren't so great.
• The speaker finishes off the poem by encouraging these
young virgins to make good use of their time by getting
married, before they're past their prime and lose the
chance.
Analysis

• The poem is an example of ‘carpe diem literature'.

• Herrick is advising the virgins to ‘make much of time’ by
enjoying themselves before their youth and beauty fade.
• It is evident in the first stanza of the poem below.
Gather ye rose-buds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today
Tomorrow will be dying.
• Gathering flowers can be seen as a metaphor for sex or
wooing here, for plucking the flower and enjoying it while
it’s still in the bloom of youth.

• This lends the lines a purposeful and decisive feel: make

no mistake, the poet says, even your youth will fade, the
flower will wither, and – eventually – die.
JOHN MILTON
• He was born on December 9, 1608 in
Bread Street, Cheapside, London,
England.
• One of the greatest poets in English
Literature.
• He learned several languages such as
English, Latin, French, German, Greek,
Hebrew, Italian, Spanish, Aramaic, Syriac
• In 1625, at the age of sixteen, Milton
started his studies at Christ's College,
Cambridge from 1625 -1632.
On His Blindness
• It is an autobiographical sonnet in which Milton meditates
on his own loss of sight.
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• For most of his life, Milton had been able to see perfectly,
but his late-night reading and writing on behalf of the
government of the short-lived English Republic, in which
he held a very prominent position, helped ruin his eyesight.
• Milton fears that his blindness will prevent him from doing
God's work. Patience tells him that even his idleness is
useful to God if he continues to have faith.
Paradise Lost

• Paradise Lost is about Adam and Eve--how they came to

be created and how they came to lose their place in the
Garden of Eden, also called Paradise. It also includes the
story of the origin of Satan. Originally, he was called
Lucifer, an angel in heaven who led his followers in a war
against God, and was ultimately sent with them to hell.
Thirst for revenge led him to cause man's downfall by
turning into a serpent and tempting Eve to eat the
forbidden fruit.
Main Characters:

• Satan - Head of the rebellious angels who have just fallen

from Heaven. As the poem’s antagonist, Satan is the
originator of sin—the first to be ungrateful for God the
Father’s blessings.
• Adam - The first human, the father of our race, and, along
with his wife Eve, the caretaker of the Garden of Eden.
• Eve - The first woman and the mother of mankind. Eve was
made from a rib taken from Adam’s side.
• God The Father - One part of the Christian Trinity. God the
Father creates the world by means of God the Son, creating
Adam and Eve last.
• God The Son - Jesus Christ, the second part of the Trinity.
He delivers the fatal blow to Satan’s forces, sending them
down into Hell.
• Devils inhabiting Hell
(Beelzebub, Belial, Mammon, Mulciber, Moloch and Death)
Angels inhabiting Heaven
(Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Abdiel and Michael)
paradise
SAMUEL PEPYS (1633-1703)

• Pepys (pronounced “peeps”) was the

son of a London tailor.
• He studied at St. Paul’s school and
Cambridge, and then took a position as
an officer of the navy administration.
• He was was falsely accused of treason
in 1679 and then arrested again in
1690, but all charges were eventually
dropped.
 The Diary of Samuel Pepys

• Pepys begins his diary at a crucial point in Britain’s

history.
• In September 1658, Oliver Cromwell died, passing the
title of Protector (king in all but name) to his son
Richard. Pepys’ employer, Edward Mountagu was
closely associated with the Cromwells’ reign and the
1656-7 attempt to make Oliver king (Oliver refused
because he feared the army’s republicanism).
The Diary of Samuel Pepys

• Begun in January 1660 and finishing in May 1669, it offers

a richly detailed account of some of the most turbulent
events of the nation’s history, including the Great Plague
and the Great Fire of London.
• Pepys was an extremely observant commentator and his
diary is an important historical document.
• It was written in shorthand, and is now housed at
Magdalene College, Cambridge
The Great Plague

• The plague appears to have started in summer in the

parish of St-Giles-in-the-Fields outside of London's walls
in 1664.
• Bubonic plague which was spread by fleas on rats.
• Pneumonic plague was airborne, and spread by sneezing.
• While 68,596 deaths were recorded in the city, the true
number was probably over 100,000.
• It died out during the cold winter.
Great Fire of London

• The Great Fire of London is one of the most well-known

disasters in London’s history.
• It began on 2 September 1666 in Thomas Farriner’s
bakery on Pudding Lane.and lasted just under five days.
• It may have been caused by a spark from his oven falling
onto a pile of fuel nearby.
• One-third of London was destroyed and about 100,000
people were made homeless.
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