ENGLISH

The Poetry of Praise

By J. A. Burrow

Book information

Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Year
2008
ISBN
0521886937, 9780521886932
Language
english
Format
PDF
Filesize
6 MB (5786181 bytes)
Series
Cambridge studies in medieval literature 69
Edition
1
Pages
210\210
Topic
History
Library
avaxhome.ws
Time added
2010-05-31 15:24:42

Description

One of the chief functions of poetry in Antiquity, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance was to praise gods, people and things. Heroes and kings were glorified in many varieties of praise, and the arts of encomium and panegyric were codified by classical rhetoricians and later by writers on poetry. J. A. Burrow's study spans over two thousand years, from Pindar to Christopher Logue, but its main concern is with the English poetry of the Middle Ages, a period when praise poetry flourished. He argues that the 'decline of praise' in English literature since the seventeenth century, which has meant that modern readers and critics find it hard to appreciate this kind of poetry. This erudite but accessible account by a leading scholar of Medieval literature shows why the poetry of praise was once so popular, and why it is still worth reading today.

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