1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910455661003321

Autore

Whalen Robert <1963->

Titolo

The poetry of immanence : sacrament in Donne and Herbert / / Robert Whalen

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Toronto, [Ontario] ; ; Buffalo, [New York] ; ; London, [England] : , : University of Toronto Press, , 2002

©2002

ISBN

1-282-02281-4

9786612022814

1-4426-8205-1

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (239 p.)

Disciplina

821/.3093823

Soggetti

Christian poetry, English - Early modern, 1500-1700 - History and criticism

Christianity and literature - England - History - 17th century

Immanence of God in literature

Lord's Supper in literature

Sacraments in literature

Electronic books.

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Prologue -- Introduction: The Eucharist and the English Reformation -- 1. Secular Verse of the Religious Man: Donne and Sacrament at Play -- 2. Sacrament and Grace -- 3. Eating the Word: Donne's 1626 Christmas Sermon -- 4. Heart's Altar: Herbert arid Presence -- 5. Sacramental Puritanism: Herbert's English via media -- 6. Poetry and Self: The Eucharistic Art of Devotion -- Conclusion: Sacramental Poetics -- Notes -- Works Cited -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

In this extensive study of two of the most celebrated seventeenth-century religious poets, Robert Whalen examines the role of sacrament in the formation of early modern religious subjectivity. For John Donne and George Herbert, sacramental topoi became powerful conceptual tools with which to explore both the intersection of spiritual and



material aspects of human experience and their competing claims to Christianity. Whalen's argument builds upon his central idea of 'sacramental Puritanism,' or the effort to cultivate a Calvinist sense of interiority through a fully ceremonial apparatus, and thereby to reconcile the potentially disparate imperatives of sacrament and devotion. Unique in its combination of current historiography and informed analysis, its attention to the sacramental features of Donne's 'secular' lyrics, and its advancement of sacramental thought as an important element of Renaissance English culture, The Poetry of Immanence illuminates a crucial dimension of the work of two major Stuart writers. In his comprehensive critical readings, Whalen offers a substantial contribution to the increasing study of religious themes and devotion in the literature of the early modern period.