CHAPTER V

FROM THE CLOSING OF THE THEATRES TO THE RESTORATION OF CHARLES II (1642–1660)

Rise of the Puritans. The period upon which we are about to enter is usually called the "Puritan Age," because the literature and the social, civil, and political life of the time were dominated by the ideals of the Puritans. The name Puritan was applied in derision first about the middle of the sixteenth century to a party within the Church of England who sought to "purify" it of its unscriptural forms and ceremonies. As they grew in numbers and influence, they became more and more intolerant of the so-called popish abuses, and finally seceded from the Church of England and formed an independent sect.

Independence in religious belief was soon accompanied by independence in political belief. Opposition to the Stuart doctrine of "divine right of kings," and to the autocratic carrying out of the doctrine by Charles I, turned their activity toward purification of the government. In addition to reform of State and Church they attempted the reformation of mankind, by setting before each individual a picture of that other world to come for which (in their belief) this world was merely a preparation.

This otherworldliness

The Puritans and Literature. could have no good effect on literature. One of the prin

cipal objects of literature always has been to give pleasure; and if the chief business of men is to prepare for a life after death, there is little reason for seeking to give or gain pleasure in this life before death. The Bible, the hymn-book, and the two-hour sermon were all the Puritan needed for intellectual food. These

have value, though that of the seventeenth-century sermon is not quite clear to the twentiethcentury reader, and there are comparatively few hymns that combine the poetical and the pious. Cardinal Newman's Lead, Kindly Light, for example, belongs to quite another school of thought: it is a great poem as well as a popular hymn.

The greatest literature of the Elizabethan Age- the drama, since

CROMWELL.

After the portrait by Sir Peter Lely.

its only aim was pleasure, very naturally met with Puritan disfavor, which brought about the closing of the theatres. Milton, indeed, who is undoubtedly the greatest writer produced by the Puritans, was by no means typical of the party. The poem of his old age, written to "justify the ways of God to man," doubtless satisfied Puritan desires; but the same cannot be said of that poem of his young manhood in which he summoned Mirth and her crew to keep him company:

"Haste thee, Nymph, and bring with thee
Jest and youthful Jollity,

Quips and Cranks and wanton Wiles,

Nods and Becks and wreathed Smiles."

Nor is it likely that they would have agreed with Milton's estimate of Shakspere

"That kings for such a tomb would wish to die."

The Royalists and Literature.

- It should be noted also

that, while the period was dominated by Puritan ideals, by no means all the literature from Elizabeth's time to the Restoration was of a Puritan cast. The cause of the Stuarts never lacked followers and sympathizers; and among these were not a few who regarded literature as a fine art, and devoted themselves to writing with aims quite opposed to those of the ruling party.

CHARLES I.

In Masterman's Age of Milton, a small handbook, are treated seven royalist theolo

After one of Van Dyck's numer- gians who used their pens to ous portraits.

better purpose than edification of the elect by long-winded sermons. Besides these there were the philosophers, whose investigations almost invariably put them into an attitude never characterized by the Puritans as less than sceptical. More important than either of these classes are the lyrists, nearly all of whom threw in their lot with the royalist or "cavalier" cause, and the greatest of whom - Carew, Lovelace, Suck

ling, and Herrick poets.

are commonly referred to as the Cavalier

Instead of the designation "Puritan Age," or the "Age of Milton," then, it is more accurate to call this the "Age of Cavalier and Puritan," to indicate that the literature of the time is the product of two opposed theories of government and attitudes toward life. The lover of literature would not wish to dispense with either portion.

Overlapping of Periods. Not all the writers and works treated in this chapter come within the dates given on the first page. Milton's minor poems (except some of his sonnets) were written before 1642, as were many of the songs of Herrick and Lovelace; Suckling died in 1642, Carew in 1638. Milton was born eight years before the death of Shakspere, Herrick about the time when Shakspere was beginning to write; and both Herrick and Milton lived fourteen years after the Restoration. Sir Thomas Browne, the antiquarian doctor who requires a place here, was born three years before Milton, and outlived the poet eight

years.

It is, nevertheless, proper to separate the writers of the present chapter from the Elizabethan period on one side and the Restoration on the other. Few of them possessed the dramatic gift, none were so intent on the new and untried, none so much the captive of an unfettered imagination, as were the Elizabethans. Yet imagination in no small degree is evident in these poets, delicacy of feeling and expression is found not universally but in a large number of poems, and the prose is marked by dignity and formality - qualities at variance with much the larger part of Restoration lit

erature.

THE CAVALIER POETS

We have remarked above that many of the lyric poets of the early seventeenth century adhered to the Cavalier cause, and were therefore called "Cavalier " poets. They are also referred to as Caroline" poets, from their close association with the court of Charles I. ("Caroline" is from Carolus,

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Latin for Charles.) The four named as greatest we are now to study somewhat at length: Thomas Carew (1598?1638?), Sir John Suckling (1609-1642), Richard Lovelace (1618-1658), and Robert Herrick (1591-1674).

Common Characteristics. While their writings show many individual traits, and while they are of by no means equal rank, they show characteristics enough in common to