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.
Authors
- Bibliography, etc. Note
- Includes bibliographical references (p. [199]-207) and index
- Control Number Identifier
- CaOOCEL
- Dewey Decimal Classification Number
- 821/.30938234163
- Dewey Decimal Edition Number
- 21
- General Note
- Issued as part of the desLibris books collection
- ISBN
- 9781442682054 0802036597
- LCCN
- PR2248
- LCCN Item number
- W47 2002eb
- Modifying agency
- CaBNVSL
- Original cataloging agency
- CaOONL
- Physical Description | Extent
- 1 electronic text (xxi, 216 p.)
- Published in
- Canada
- Publisher or Distributor Number
- CaOOCEL
- Rights
- Access restricted to authorized users and institutions
- System Control Number
- (CaBNVSL)thg00600330 (OCoLC)752411701 (CaOOCEL)418327
- System Details Note
- Mode of access: World Wide Web
- Transcribing agency
- CaOONL
Table of Contents
- Contents 8
- Acknowledgments 10
- Prologue 12
- Introduction: The Eucharist and the English Reformation 26
- 1 Secular Verse of the Religious Man: Donne and Sacrament at Play 45
- 2 Sacrament and Grace 84
- 3 Eating the Word: Donne's 1626 Christmas Sermon 106
- 4 Heart's Altar: Herbert and Presence 133
- 5 Sacramental Puritanism: Herbert's English via media 150
- 6 Poetry and Self: The Eucharistic Art of Devotion 172
- Conclusion: Sacramental Poetics 191
- Notes 202
- Works Cited 222
- Index 232
- A 232
- B 232
- C 233
- D 234
- E 234
- F 235
- G 235
- H 235
- I 236
- J 236
- K 236
- L 236
- M 236
- N 236
- O 236
- P 237
- Q 237
- R 237
- S 237
- T 238
- U 239
- V 239
- W 239
- Y 239
- Z 239
