Augustan Poetry Essay - 830 Words

Augustan Poetry Often through hardship and nearly insurmountable difficulty great works of art are born. Although years of bloodshed and civil war had plagued Rome since the death of Julius Caesar, some of the most powerful and influential literature in the western world was developed in that timeframe. During the Age of Augustus (approximately 43 BC – 17 AD) such great writers as Virgil, Horace, Livy, Propertius, and Ovid created epic masterpieces of literature and philosophy. It was through the collective efforts of these great poets and writers as well as Augustus himself, that the rise of a new facet of Roman literature was possible. Seeing the opportunity to foster a great rebirth of Roman culture (specifically literature),†¦show more content†¦The Aeneid in particular â€Å"Romanized† epic poetry. Epic Poetry had been the greatest form of storytelling and furthermore the Greeks form of storytelling. It also rivaled the great legends of the Greeks, gained much respect for Rome in the ancient world (where the Greeks were traditionally the great writers and thinkers), and, most importantly, allowed the Roman’s to make their myth’s and history known. (The Aeneid can be seen as a direct response to the great literature of the Greeks, in particular, Homer’s Illiad and Odyssey). Simultaneously, Horace became a prominent author of skill, prominence, and witty satire and the master of Roman lyrical poetry. Horace’s Epodes, like Virgil’s Bucolics, reflected much of the crisis of Roman culture and society prevalent at his time (from 43-8 BC). A series of choral poems, the Epodes became Horace’s response to the growing problems of his day, as well as a proponent for Augustus’s political party. Both Virgil and Horace based much of their writing style and structure on existing Greek models. Through Horace, like Virgil, Roman literature became more influential (through becoming somewhat unique, yet at the same time generally accepted, being based on Greek structure). Livy, the next great author, wrote a colossal, detailed history of Rome called the Ab Urbe Condita. The book was his greatest achievement, and today stands out as one of the great booksShow MoreRelated Augustan Poetic Tradition Essay4394 Words   |  18 PagesAugustan Poetic Tradition I do not in fact see how poetry can survive as a category of human consciousness if it does not put poetic considerations first—expressive considerations, that is, based upon its own genetic laws which spring into operation at the moment of lyric conception. —Seamus Heaney, The Indefatigable Hoof-taps (1988) Seamus Heaney, the 1995 Nobel laureate, is one of the most widely read and celebrated poets now writing in English. He is also one of the mostRead MorePope, Swift, and Aristocratic Women Essay1652 Words   |  7 Pagescriticise the vices and follies of their contemporary society. However, the purpose of satire is to be universal. In this case, we are going to focus our attention on the works of two major poets of the 18th century which can be subscribed within Augustan literature: Alexander Pope’s The Rape of the Lock and Jonathan Swift’s â€Å"The Lady’s Dressing Room†. In Pope’s mock-heroic verse The Rape of the Lock (1717) what is criticised is a moral fault: mainly, immoderate female moral pride. There are severalRead MoreGender and Performance in the Earl of Rochester’s Imperfect Enjoyment1330 Words   |  6 Pagesauthors may demonstrate their fluency with Classical models, while acknowledging that—within the courtly context of both Rochester’s and Behn’s poetry—the identity of the poet is related to the performativity of the poetic persona and the first-person voice. 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He never married, though he formed a number of lifelong friendships in Londons literary circles, most notably with Jonathan Swift. Pope wrote during what is often called the Augustan Age of English literature (indeed, it is Popes career that defines the age). During this time, the nation had recovered from the English Civil Wars and the Glorious Revolution, and the regained sense of political stability led to a resurgence ofRead MoreRomanticism versus Neoclassicism2775 Words   |  12 PagesThis literary revolution could be characterized as a religion of the heart. Neoclassical writers imitated great poems of the past because of the belief that men had agreed on certain, fixed ways of writing across the centuries. Rules for pastoral poetry, the satire and the epic were respectfully followed. A Neoclassical poets philosophy argued that the best way for humans to communicate effectively and thus move forward in better understanding the world was to agree upon certain conventions. RomanticRead More How do William Blake and William Wordsworth respond to nature in their811 Words   |  4 PagesHow do William Blake and William Wordsworth respond to nature in their poetry? The Romantic Era was an age, which opened during the Industrial (1800-1900) and French Revolution (1789). These ages affected the romantic poets greatly by disrupting and polluting nature. Before the Industrial Revolution, William Blake wrote about Songs of Innocence. He also wrote Songs of Experience but after the Industrial Revolution. William Wordsworth, on the other hand, continued on an optimistic route