Writing 154 of them, which were all published in 1609, his characteristic structure and rhyme scheme became known as the ‘Shakespearean Sonnet’ and helped to establish the early seventeenth century as the golden era for the English love sonnet. Leaving his enterprise with pain and cry,īut in the field with him to live and die?Īfter Sir Thomas Wyatt (see poem 1 in this series) reinvented the Italian sonnet for the English language in the early sixteenth century, it was William Shakespeare who really established it as a recognisable art form. Wherewithall unto the hert's forest he fleeth, The long love that in my thought doth harbourĪnd in mine hert doth keep his residence,Īnd therein campeth, spreading his banner.Īnd will that my trust and lust’s negligenceīe reined by reason, shame, and reverence, The Long Love that in my Thought doth Harbour And crucially, English poetry has been central to how we think of ourselves as ‘individuals’, as people with an inner life and subjectivity. There are some dominant themes – love, religion and spirituality, satire, nature. On this tour we’ll see a variety of forms, and how certainly forms have changed – we will see, for example, how the sonnet has evolved and been moulded through the centuries of this journey.
The tradition of English poetry is such an institution that these poets are not only students of the previous poet, they are also speaking directly to them.
Starting with the sixteenth-century origins of the English poem (Sir Thomas Wyatt) and finishing in the early 20th century just before the Second World War (Stevie Smith), just before modernism makes everything more complicated.Īnd as the theme for this series is ‘Travels Through the History of English Poetry’, think of this selection also as a journey where we stop off at significant points through 500 years, but each stop is connected to the previous and the next. Let’s consider this the official story, the canon, the authorised version. It’s also the perfect place to start because we can tell a story of the whole tradition of English poetry through it.
The English lyric poem is also one of the richest artistic traditions in the world, so we can look at some of the greatest imaginative objects in the language. To narrow things down, I’ve chosen ‘lyric poems’ – that is, short and expressive ones. Thoughts from Dr Benįor this Introduction to Poetry series, the task of choosing ten works by ten poets was both daunting and exciting. He steers us through interpreting each of his selected poems, and the different poetic genres they represent. This series explores some of the greatest poems in the English language, selected from across more than 600 years of works.ĭr Ben Hickman, senior lecturer at the University of Kent, is our guide for the journey. Open to everyone – whether or not you know your Wyatt from your Keats, or your Shakespearean sonnet from your satire.