CAVALIER POETRY:

Cavalier poet, any of a group of English gentlemen poets, called Cavaliers

because of their loyalty to Charles I (1625–49) during the English Civil Wars, as
opposed to Roundheads, who supported Parliament. The cavalier or Caroline
(adjective from Charles) poets, called Royalists, was a school of aristocratic
English poets of the 17th century, who supported King Charles I. But not all of
these men were Royalists . The word “cavalier” is the best name given to the
group ; for certainly their songs show the gallantry, the frivolity, the daintiness ,
the artistic temperament, the light—heartedness , the sentiment and
sentimentality, and at times the loyalty and the dashing bravery, of those
high-spirited nobles who fought for their king. They are 'cavalier' in the sense,
not only of being Royalists , but in the sense that they distrust the over-earnest,
the too intense. They accept the ideal of the Renaissance Gentleman who is at
once lover, soldier, wit, man of affairs, musician, and poet, but abandon the
notion of his being also a pattern of Christian chivalry. They avoid the subject
of religion, apart from making one or two graceful speeches. They attempt no
plumbing of the depths of the soul. They treat life cavalierly, indeed, and
sometimes they treat poetic convention cavalierly too. For them life is far too
enjoyable for much of it to be spent sweating over verses in a study. Cavalier
poetry is straightforward, yet refined. Many of the poems centered around
sensual, romantic love and also the idea of carpe diem, which means to 'seize the
day.' To the Cavalier poet, enjoying life was far more important than following
moral codes. As a result the poetry was more fancy than imagination , more art
than emotion , more cleverness than inspiration .
In the opening years of the seventeenth century the younger verse-writers came
under the influence of two poets of undeniable talent —Ben Jonson and John
Donne. And back of both was another influence, remote but very real —that of
Spenser. But Spenser lacked self-restraint ; so long as the song was lovely he was
entirely willing to let it wander on forever. Someone was needed to teach
limitation , conciseness , intense condensation , and that one came in the
person of rare Ben Jonson . Precision of diction, daintiness , freedom from
rambling, dislike for scattered thoughts and hazy figures of speech —these were
the prime characteristics of the huge play -writer, the very traits that have
gained him lasting praise. Thus to the Spenserian beauty was added artistic
economy. The best known of the cavalier poets are Edmund Waller, Robert
Herrick, Richard Lovelace, Thomas Carew, and Sir John Suckling. They
emulated Ben Jonson, a contemporary of Shakespeare, and may properly be
called the 'Sons of Ben' or Tribe of Ben‘. These poets avoided metaphysical
aspects in their work such as spirituality, religious themes etc. Some of Caroline
poets wrote elegant verse , more light than serious so as to achieve the carpe
diem effect. However, Robert Herrick wrote both religious and secular poetry.

The Caroline lyric is the result of conscious effort. It is artificial. It is a work of

art characterized by finish, polish and elegance of language, but lacking the
spontaneity and absence of effort which characterized the Elizabethan lyric. It
has a formal finish and perfection, but is wanting in natural care and warmth of
emotion.
It mirrors the mood and temper of the age. It is often coarse, licentious and
indecent, thus reflecting the coarseness and indecency of the courtly circles to
which most of the poets of this school belonged. The poets of this school again
and again find the various beauties of nature united in their beauty of their
respective beloved.
The cavalier poets are great lovers of nature. They observe nature minutely and
describe it with feelings. Concrete, visual images drawn from the homelier and
simpler objects and forces of nature abound in their lyrics. The lyrics are
charming, but there is something trivial and unsubstantial about it. In this
respect again, it reflects the triviality and frivolity of the life of the times.
Cavalier poetry is different from traditional poetry in its subject matter. Instead
of tackling issues like religion, philosophy, and the arts, cavalier poetry aims to
express the joy and simple gratification of celebratory things much livelier than
the traditional works of their predecessors.
The intent of their works was often to promote the crown (particularly
Charles I), and cavalier poets spoke outwardly against the Roundheads who
supported the rebellion of Parliament against the crown.
Most cavalier works had allegorical and/or classical references. They drew upon
the knowledge of Horace, Cicero, and Ovid.[3] By using these resources they
were able to produce poetry that impressed King Charles I.
The Cavalier Poets strove to create poetry where both pleasure and virtue
thrived. They were rich in reference to the ancients as well as pleasing.
Commonly held traits certainly exist in cavalier poetry in that most poems
celebrate beauty, love, nature, sensuality, drinking, good fellowship, honor, and
social life.
In many ways, this poetry embodies an attitude that mirrors carpe diem.
Cavalier poets certainly wrote to promote Loyalist principles in favor of the
crown, but their themes ran deeper than that. Cavalier poets wrote in a way
that promoted seizing the day and the opportunities presented to them and
their kinsmen. They wanted to revel in society and come to be the best that
they possibly could within the bounds of that society. This endorsement of
living life to the fullest, for Cavalier writers, often included gaining material
wealth and having sex with women. These themes contributed to the
triumphant and boisterous tone and attitude of the poetry.
Platonic Love was also another characteristic of cavalier poetry, where the man
would show his divine love to a woman, where she would be worshiped as a
creature of perfection. As such it was common to hear praise of womanly
virtues as though they were divine.
Cavalier poetry is closely linked to the Royalist cause in that the main intent of
their poetry was to glorify the crown. In this way, cavalier poetry is often
grouped in a political category of poetry
Cavalier poetry began to be recognized as its own genre with the beginning of
the English Civil War in 1642 when men began to write in defense of the
crown. However, authors like Thomas Carew and Sir John Suckling died years
before the war began, yet are still classified as cavalier poets for the political
nature of their poetry.
They avoided the subject of religion and discovered the depth of soul.

ROBERT HERRICK
Robert Herrick, baptized on August 24, 1591, was the seventh child and
fourth son of a London goldsmith, Nicholas Herrick, and Julian (or Juliana
or Julia) Stone Herrick. He was little more than 14 months old when his
father apparently committed suicide by “falling” from an upper story
window of his house in Cheapside on November 9, 1592. His mother never
remarried, and it seems more than a coincidence that father figures would
loom large in the poet’s Hesperides. By age 16 Herrick was apprenticed to
his uncle, but apparently found either Sir William Herrick or the goldsmith
trade incompatible, for the ten-year apprenticeship was terminated after six
years. At the comparatively advanced age of 22, Herrick matriculated at
Saint John’s College, Cambridge. Between his graduation from Cambridge
in 1617 and his appointment, 12 years later, as vicar of Dean Prior in
Devonshire, tantalizingly little is known about Herrick’s life. It is almost
certain, however, that some of this time was spent in London, where
the budding poet at last found a surrogate father who lived up to his
expectations, Ben Jonson.
How strangely the big -hearted fellow influenced the dreamers of his
day ! Herrick met him —at the first performance of the Alchemist, in
1610, it is said and was ever afterwards an admiring, grateful son of
Ben . ” The joyous view of life taken by Jonson , the fays and elves of
his dainty masques , the simple beauty of his lyrics , above all , the
sympathetic, brimming soul of the burly dramatist—all these appealed
to ~ Herrick ’ s genial nature, and his heart never forgot. It has been
said of Herrick's style 'his directness of speech with clear and simple
presentation of thought, a fine artist working with conscious
knowledge of his art, of an England of his youth in which he lives and
moves and loves, clearly assigns him to the first place as a lyrical poet
in the strict and pure sense of the phrase'. The overriding message of
Herrick's work is that life is short, the world is beautiful, love is
splendid, and we must use the short time we have to make the most of
it. This message can be seen clearly in To the Virgins, to make much
of Time; To Daffodils; To Blossoms; and Corinna's Going A Maying,
where the warmth and exuberance of what seems to have been a
kindly and jovial personality comes over strongly. His poems were not
widely popular at the time they were published. His style was strongly
influenced by Ben Jonson, by the classical Roman writers, and by the
poems of the late Elizabethan era. This must have seemed quite
old-fashioned to an audience whose tastes were tuned to the
complexities of the metaphysical poets such as John Donne and
Andrew Marvell. His works were rediscovered in the early nineteenth
century, and have been regularly printed ever since. The Victorian poet
Swinburne described Herrick as "the greatest songwriter ever born of
the English race". Despite his use of classical allusions and names,
Herrick's poems are easier for modern readers to understand than
those of many of his contemporaries.
SIR JOHN SUCKLING
Born in Twickenham, Middlesex, Suckling was baptized on 10
February 1609. He seems to have been privately tutored and
matriculated as a fellow-commoner from Trinity College, Cambridge,
in Easter term, 1623. Sir John Suckling, the father, held positions
under various notable governmental officials, was a member of
Parliament at different times from 1601 through 1626, was knighted
by James I in January 1616, and served as a member of the Privy
Council in 1622. He died on March 27, 1627. The poet’s mother was
Martha Cranfield, daughter of a prosperous merchant in London; she
died on 28 October 1613. He was linked romantically with various
women, primarily his cousin Mary Cranfield. By the end of 1632 and
for many years after, Suckling led a rather dissolute life with much
gambling at bowling and cards, so much so that his inheritances were
being sold off to cover debts. He engaged in a courtship of Anne
Willoughby for possible monetary gain, and, in John Aubrey’s words,
“he was the greatest gallant of his time, and the greatest gamester.”
As with most 17th-century poets, the text and canon of Suckling’s
poems are not definitive. There are numerous poems included in the
early editions that are clearly spurious, there are numerous versions of
poems in non authorial manuscripts, and there are some incidental
printings of works assigned to him that do not appear in any of the
three basic collections, Fragmenta Aurea (1646), The Last Remains of
Sr John Suckling (1659), and The Works of Sir John Suckling (1676).
His notable minor pieces include the "Ballade upon a Wedding".It is
most probable that Suckling did not collect his poems or have them
collected, thus accounting for questions of text and canon which beset
even the works of Jonson, who did collect and publish his verse. The
arrangement of Suckling’s poems in the editions is random, and dating
of those that are not occasional is most uncertain. The Jonsonian
elements that appear in Suckling’s poems are plain style, a frequent
use of iambic pentameter or tetrameter, classical influences (though
not Jonson’s exacting classical rhythms), and occasion as impetus. An
encomium such as “To his much honored, the Lord Lepington, upon
his Translation of Malvezzi His Romulus and Tarquin” (that is, Henry
Carey) exemplifies those elements. On the one hand labeling poets
such as Suckling non-Metaphysical is made suspect, and on the other
the reading that is often advanced through such delimiting
terminology is invalidated. While this poem does not depend on a
conceit, it does work through a few standard metaphors explored in
paradoxical expression. The “logic” of “Why should two hearts in one
breast lie, / And yet not lodge together?” is not different from Donne’s
in his popular “The Flea.” Many of Suckling’s poems present
Petrarchan themes and language, as in “Profer’d Love rejected,” or
17th-century developments from classical subjects, such as “The
deformed Mistress,” or the contrasting female poetic voice (found also
in Donne and Jonson) turning the situation topsy-turvy, as in the two
“Against Fruition” poems.
His poetry is considered to present the height of libertine cynicism,
enjoyable excursions into a world of carefree abandonment, reveling
in wine, women, and gambling, a male world of conquest and
gratifications; but, as a line in “An Answer to some Verses Made in
his praise” suggests, perhaps beneath all the humor and
one-upmanship is a person evidencing unhappiness with himself and
the frustrations of his life, who believed that “He shows himself most
Poet, that most feigns.”
RICHARD LOVELACE
Richard Lovelace, (born 1618—died 1657, London), English poet, soldier,

and Royalist whose graceful lyrics and dashing career made him the

prototype of the perfect Cavalier.Lovelace was probably born in the

Netherlands, where his father was in military service.

Edmund Gosse declares that Lovelace is the most overestimated of the

Royalist lyrics , 8 while Lowell says it is “ worthwhile, perhaps , to reprint

Lovelace if only to show what dull verses may be written by a man who has

made one lucky hit. ” Doubtless there is just no ground for such opinions .

His days were too full of blood-rousing events to allow him time to perfect

his lines . He wrote hurriedly and never allowed rhyme and rhythm to delay

him by any of their significant demands . Both went by the board when they

interrupted the undaunted progress of his marvelous conceits

Lovelace's poetry was often influenced by his experiences with politics and

association with important figures of his time. He wrote "Sonnet. To

Generall Goring", the poem "To Lucasta, Going to the Warres" and the

tragedy The Soldier. His first experience of imprisonment brought him to

write one of his best known lyrics, "To Althea, from Prison", in which he

illustrates his noble and paradoxical nature. Lovelace did everything he could
to remain in the king's favor despite his inability to participate in the war.

During the political chaos of 1648 he was again imprisoned, this time for

nearly a year. When he was released in April 1649, the king had been

executed and Lovelace's cause seemed lost. As in his previous incarceration,

this experience led to creative production—this time in the cause of spiritual

freedom, as reflected in the release of his first volume of poetry, Lucasta.