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STAREJŠA AMERIŠKA KNJIŽEVNOST

Prof. Jerneja Petrič

THE BEGINNINGS OF AMERICAN LITERATURE (Bradley antology)

PERIODIZATION:
- the colonial period (1607-1765)
- the revolutioanry period (1765-1810)
- romanticism (1810-1865 )
- the gilded age (1865-1890) : Local color (1865 > ); Realism (1870 > )
- naturalism (1890-1930)

When european settlers came to america, it was not an empty country. Several opposing scholarly views concerning the aboriginal
peoples of America:
- America was 1stly settled by wanderers from Northeast asia some 20,000 years ago
- Predecessors of native Americans – from Polynesia, south asia, Europe
- 1000 .. a small group of Vikings in America
- America was officially discovered by Columbus in 1492
- 1st man leading the expedition was captain john smith

AMERICAS DISTANT PAST::Several opposing scholarly views concerning the aboriginal peoples of America:
- America was originally settled by wanderers from northeast asia some 20,000 years ago
- Predecessors of native Americans came from Polynesia, South asia or even Europe
- Around the year 1000 a small group of Vikings arrived in America
America was officially discovered by Columbus in 1492 when he set foot on the shores of san Salvador. The great European
settlement begins in the 17th century.

AMERICAS 1ST PERMANENT COLONY

- Many Europeans and Asians explored the countrys rich resources for their kings and queens. They didn’t stay.
- In april 1607 john smith sailed with his expedition to the shores of Virginia where they landed in mid-may
- He had obtained a royal charter for the pursuit planning to colonize the territory for the profit of the Virginia Company from
London.
- Smith became the governor of the first English colony in America.
- The settlement was named Jamestown after the king.
*boston = new England
*Jamestown – 1st tribes had a triangular shape

Virginians  1st wave of newcomers

THE 1ST WINTER IN VIRGINIA

The newcomers began to explore the territory right away searching for valuables.They arrived in a period of draught; a lack of
fresh water; nobody thought of planting the crops. The Indians wanting to drive them away attacked them repeatedly stealing their
weapons and other supplies; colonists were unprepared for the harsh winter. Having eaten up all their domestic animals they
starved and only 60ppl survived(a little over 10%). The Virginia company sent new colonists, the colony was well established by
1720. Its means of survival: growing tobacco.

THE GENERAL HISTORY OF VIRGINIA (AN EXCERPT)

CAPTAIN SMITHS WRITINGS
1. A true relation of ...Virginia (letter headed among members of Virginia company; published in London in 1608). He wrote
about + and – aspects: the beauty, the potential of the territory; the adventurous side of the enterprise. But he didn’t forget
about the starvation, the diseases, the Indians attacking.
It is the 1st American printed book. Its notable for its simple style and vivid descriptions.
2. In the 1612 he published A map of Virginia with a description of the country. The country had to be mapped and described for
others. With a Description of the Country based on smiths own explorations and mapping of the territory.
3. 1616: A description of new England; he drew a map and explored the territory.
4. 1624: The general history of Virginia; new England and the Summer islands.
- Narrative drawn from smiths earlier works and various other sources
- He uses self irony instead of self pity.

THE POCAHONTAS STORY – the Indian ambush in December 1607

Smith is taken as a prisoner, the chief Powhatan is to decide about his fate. He managed to impress the chief and became a part of
a ritual he didn’t understand(he was really suppose to die in the end :P). Daughter of the chief participated in the rite, she saved his
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life by placing her head on his. Pocahontas is said to have visited England in 1616 where she was received as the daughter of an
Indian king.

COLONIAL WRITINGS:: PROMOTIONAL LITERATURE

j. smith wanted ppl to come to the colony, to make it there. His writings are predecessors of the rich and varied colonial writing:
- Descriptions of the country;
- descriptions of explorations and discoveries
- the Indians.
GENRES: journals, historical writings, diaries, letters.

This enterprise was a commercial one. They remained businesslike. They sold their products to England so they could remain
there, live there. They didn’t care about the culture, they sent their kids to school to London. New England was much more
sophisticated. They developed everything on their own.

THE PURITANS :: 2nd wave of newcomers

WILLIAM BRADFORD (Yorkshire; England; 1590-1657)

- He was one of the puritans, he became one in his teens.

- In 1608 he escaped with others to Netherlands
- Bradford married and raised a family
- a weaver in Amsterdam and Leyden
- the puritans arranged for two ships; the speedwell and the mayflower to take them to america

THE PURITAN IDEALS OF BRADFORD AND HIS FELLOW PASSENGERS – THE SEPARATISTS
- They strived toward the ideals of early Christianity (1ST three centuries)
- They preferred small congregations consisting on sinless ppl
- Having experienced signs of redemption they considered themselves spiritually and morally superior
- They no longer acknowledged the English church nor the leadership of the king

THE MAYFLOWER :: ITS VOYAGE

- the pilgrims sailed from Netherlands to Southampton, England – 2 ships: the Speedwell and the Mayflower set sail in august
1620
- the speedwells leak forced passengers to return to Plymouth twice– all the passengers went to Mayflower. It carried 102
passengers; 3 pregnant women and a crew of 20-30 men
- 2 passengers died during the voyage, a baby was born Oceanus and another upon arrival

PLANTING A COLONY
- They planned to anchor somewhere near the Hudson river, but then bad weather forced them to the north – the anchor of the tip
of cape cod (present day Provincetown Harbour)
- it was already winter –the pilgrims stayed on the mayflower and explored the area of Cape Cod
- they looted Indian corn and desecrated their graves.
- A mysterious epidemic disease came and killed a half of those on board the ship
- In march they left the ship and built 1st huts in what was to become the Plimouth plantation < an early settlement
- The mayflower sailed back to England in April arriving safely after only a month at sea

The puritans had to be self-sufficient (growing crops, livestock, spinning, wearing, etc.). if it would not have been for the help of
the Indians they would not survive during the 1st winter at all [Indians became hostile after a while, not right away].
William Bradford, aged 31 was elected the 1st governor of that territory, remained in office 33 years.

THE LIVING CONDITIONS

The living conditions were very harsh. There was influence of the ocean (snow in the winter, wind, hot &dry summers): crops
wouldn’t grow-the soil wasn’t fertile. There were earthquakes, the Indians were hostile, there were loan sharks, Arson. – it took
them 10 years to get settled, pay off debt, secure the charter(contract, license).

EARLIEST NEWS FROM THE NEW WORLD

- as a governor Bradford was supposed to write reports for English sponsors
- he described the + and – aspects of emigration
- Bradford wrote as he really thought it was like, like it was in reality, not like smith who promoted
- He would account for his political decisions and defend them if neccesary
- In 1622 A Relation of Journal of the Beginning and Proceedings of the English Plantation Setled at Plimouth in New England.,
signed G. Mourt (abbreviated for George Morton who printed it)
- it has become known as Georges Relation. Probably placed together from journal entries of William Bradford and Edward
Winslow
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- it covers the events of colony’s first year including a matter-of-fact description of the country, its vegetation, the houses of the
native people
OF PLIMOUTH PLANTATION
- published in 1856, it had been widely known and circulated in manuscript form
- bradford used his journal entries (morts relation) and transformed them to history
- he dropped practically all material information and presented America as a dangerous and savage place
- he speaks of wilderness and civilization as mirror images rather than opposites (Bercovitch)
- he records the prosecution in England, his exile in the Netherlands, the preparations for the voyage to America
- an account of seemingly endless suffering, troubles and calamities
- describes the growth of the political and economic system of Plymouth Plantation such as the exchange of the communal
property with private
Discusses the emergence of a new English culture
- bradfords point :: under normal conditions such a venture would fail, but the Puritans were guided by gods providence
-t hey left behind uncivilised and dangerous Europe to enter an equally uncivilized and dangerous wilderness; the two are
strangely alike.
- He doesn’t speak about: The natural aspects of the new land, native ppl, their customs, language, culture- he saw them as fierce
enemies. He wants to erase the treacherous Indians whose attempts to prevent the English from taking over are entirely unjustified
↓
Complete extinction of the Pequots(the 1st tribe to be completely annihilated) – described as a just and an honourable act
- the puritans believed in God – that he would punish the sinners in a deathful way
- natives are described as friendly on one hand and vicious on the other
- the winters are cold and unpleasant

SOME CHARACTERICTICS OF BRADFORDS WRITING

- Bradford refers to himself in 3rd person singularity
- His style of writing is very emotional; adjectives such as poor people, fierce storms, weatherbeaten bodies, hideous and
desolate wilderness)
- Figurative language –striking metaphors, repetition, alliteration, balance, the antithesis to attack the reader
- Included shocking details (Indians tormenting the newcomers; the English slaughtering the Pequots, an Indian dying from
small-pox,..)
- His spelling and punctuation are pretty erratic. Written in plain style.
- Frequent biblical and historical allusions; the idea of puritans as the chosen ppl
- Bradford began writing his book in 1630 and continued until 1646

TOPICS TO DEAL WITH::

- Description of a civil marriage ceremony
- The punishment and execution of criminals
- The banishment of dissidents (rhode Island)
- The failure of the idea of common sharing of products &goods; the return to a capitalist system
- The troubles with Indians (suppression of the Pequod 1637 etc.)

THE MASSACHUSETTES BAY SETTLEMENT::

- In 1630 John Winthorp brought a large number of puritans to Massachusetts some 50 miles away
- Several waves of puritans followed (not separatists)
- Eventually the new colony engulfed the Plymouth plantation (now called New Plymouth)

THE END OF AUTONOMY::

- In 1643 a confederation of New England colonies put an end to the autonomy of Plymouth. Plantation: the United Colonies of
New England joined to protect themselves against Native Americans

THE FATE OF BRADFORDS SCRIPT AFTER HIS DEATH

- circled among historians until the revolutionary war and then disappeared
- rediscovered 1855 in London
- in was printed in full in 1856- on the eve of the American Civil War

COTTON MATHER (1663-1728)

- A descendant from puritan ministers John Cotton and Richard Mather. Cotton Mather was the last great offspring of the
“Mather dynasty”
INCREASE MATHER: cotton mather was the son of increase mather (a minister and president of Harvard who travelled to
England in order to obtain a new charter for the Massachusetts Bay Colony after it had been withdrawn by the king of England).

COTTON MATHER
- Graduated from Harvard at the age of 15(B.A.), M.A. three years later
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- Became teacher of the north church in Boston where his father increase had been preacher
- After the death of increase in 1723 assumed full responsibilities as the Minister of North Church
- He was very dedicated, strove to maintain the highest puritan ideals
- An extremely prolific writer, published close to 500 books and pamphlets. When he dies he also left numerous unpublished
manuscripts
- Mather was keenly interested in science, became a member of the royal Society of London

COTTON MATHER AND THE BOSTON SMALLPOX EPIDEMIC OF 1721

- From a slave mather had heard of inoculation (a predecessor of present-day vaccination) as practised in Africa
- Mather attempted to convince doctors to introduce the practice to the colonies
- He convinced one who tested the procedure successfully on his own son and two slaves
- In advocating inoculation Mather got involved in a bitter controversy, the public opinion was that it was poisonous and
helped spread the disease rather than prevent it. Among the opponents was the young Benjamin Franklin.
- Mather stood his ground thus paving the way to general inoculation of the public

MAGNALIA CHRISTI AMERICANA; OR THE ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND FROM ITS FIRST
PLANTING IN THE YEAR 1620, UNTO THE YEAR OF OUR LORD, 1698.
- Mathers most ambitious work written between 1694 and 1698. Published 1702 in London
- Over 800 pages divided into 7 books
- Contains poems written by other poets
- It glorifies the colonial Puritan founders
- Mather deplores the gradual loss of Puritanical zeal
his own words na listih
- C.M. underlined the fact that their original settlers of New England were no separatists but ppl who loved England
- They referred to the Church of England as their Dear Mother
- The main topics:
-the settlement of New England
-the lives of the leading ministers and governors
-the establishment of the Harvard College; a catalogue of graduates
-troubles with dissidents, Indians, the devil, etc.
-remarkable divine providences etc
-a critical account of the Salem witch trials, mather distances himself from the events

MAGNALIA CHRISTI AMERICANA::TRIVIA

- The text is interspread with quotations from Hebrew, Latin and Greek; there are many biblical allusions
- Besides mather at least two other people cooperated in the project; one person erote the introduction and the occasional notes;
the other translated quotations from Hebrw, Latin and Greek

COTTON MATHER AND TEH WITCH TRIALS OF SALEM

- In the 17th century the idea spread across New England that the country was possessed by devil
- It received nourishment from abnormal events (strange illnesses, odd behaviour,..)
- Cotton mather ascribed the above hysteria to New England’s lack of piety
- He became very active in the attempts to restore faith to New England
- His major contribution recording “illustrious providences” (essay illustrious Providences 1684)
- passage listi
1692:
- Although he was not a member of the jury, he actively participated in the trials
- It is believed by many that he spurred the fear of devil with the publication of Remarkable Providences(1688) thus causing
the trials
- He publicly defended the execution of certain people and never repented for his role in the trials
- With The Wonders of the Invisible world (1693) he supposedly contributed to the hatred and fear that sustained the trials

THE WONDERS OF THE INVISIBLE WORLD. OBSERVATIONS AS WELL AS HISTORICAL AS THEOLOGICAL.

UPON THE NATURE, THE NUMBER AND THE OPERATIONS OF THE DEVILS(1693)
- This is the second book on witchcraft the first being the Memorable Providences, Relating to witchcraft and Possesions(1689)
- He firmly believed in the existence of witches, was a well-known witch hunter
- Although he defended the methods used by the magistrates participating in the trials, he became later on suspicious of the
evidence (spectral evidence) they built their cases on. The result being that the victims were no longer executed
- Thanks to the publication of the book, Mather became the public scapegoat.
- SPECTRAL EVIDENCE: testimony based on dreams or visions, the spirit of the accused witch or wizard appeared in a
dream or vision of the accuser (e.g. in a form of a black cat, a wolf, etc)

COTTON MATHER THE SCIENTIST:

- Mather wanted to be elected member of the royal society. To that purpose he wrote remarkably detailed descriptions of
Americas plants and birds, sending them to London
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- Mather also wrote The first general book of science in America. The Christian Philospher published it in 1721
- Mather interpreted scientific matters in such a way that they supported the Christian doctrine. He wanted to demonstrate the
harmony between religion and science.

MATHER THE UNCOMPROMISING PURITAN

- According to Bercovitch the myth of one of the harshest and ideologically rigid of Puritan theologists in many ways unfair
- According to him, mather was more liberal on many points than his doctrinian father
- He offered many comforting sermons where he departed from the rigid puritan doctrine
- Mather was indeed ambivalent on a number of topics; the value of poetry, womens contribution to the church, the education
of children, the Indians, the guilt of witches and wizards, etc.
- He was progressive in many regards, he recognized the black as the fellow human beings and proposed their conversion to
Christianity as well as their education
- He learned the Iroquois language and worked to integrate Native Americans into mainstream society while he still agreed
with certain negative stereotypes (the Indians are lazy and savage, they steal etc.)

JOHN WINTHORP (1587 Edwardstone Suffolk +1649 Boston)

FIRST GOVERNOR OF THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY
- Briefly attended Trinity College at Cambridge where he became a Puritan
- Studied law in London, became a lawyer and Lord of manor at Groton, Suffolk
- He joined a group of Puritans who obtained a royal charter for the Massachusetts Bay Colony
- Charles I believed he was sending a commercial expedition to America
- Winthorp
- Winthorp was elected governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony

FOUNDING A NEW COLONY

- He sailed at the Arbella in 1630
- Upon arrival the newcomers dispossessed the Indians of their land. They founded a colony that became boston
- In religious terms the Massachusetts Bay puritans differed from those at Plymouth; they were not separatist
- They encouraged like-minded people from England to join them; during the great migration of the 1630s, between 15 and
20,000 newcomers arrived. Many later returned to England
- The majority of them were wealthy people. they prospered through agriculture, fishing, fur trade
- 1635 the boston latin school
- 1636 the Harvard college
- Winthorp was in and out of office as governor, reelected 12 times
- His idea was to set up a puritan community with uniform doctrine
- Although not a very radical puritan, winthorp nevertheless allowed a number of people to be executed for dissent. He
banished Anne Hutchinson to rhode island

WINTHORPS WORK:
- Aboard the ship he became writing his journal which he published in 1825-6 as The history of New England from 1630-1649.
It records, among other things, the trial of Anne Hutchinson who departed from the puritan doctrine and was banished to
Rhode Island. After five years she moved to New York where she was killed in an Indian raid
- Aboard the Arbella he composed A model of Christian charity, a sermon
- passage
- Winthorps witle is misleading; his account does not reach beyond the borders of Massachusetts.
- He reports of the difficulties with the dutch and the Indians, instances of gods providence, the boundary settled between
Massachusetts and Plymouth, the Book of Common Prayer eaten up by mice, the new meeting house in Boston, the arrivals
of ships, the various ministers, etc.

A MODEL OF CHRISTIAN CHARITY(1630)

- A sermon delivered aboard the Arbella, popularly known as the “City upon the hill”
- The central idea: the colonists of New England (gods selected people) will become the model for other puritans
- Acc. To Winthorp the Puritans have “entered into Covenant” with God; he “gives a special commission” to the puritans.
- If god allows Arbella to reach New England safely, that will be the sign that “he ratified this covenant and sealed our
commission”.
- The sermon is often understood as important forerunner of American exceptionalism as the basis of American identity
- Winthorp envisioned New England as a community of love
- The sermon was published in the 19th century, after it had circulated ad a manuscript

PURITAN PLAIN STYLE

- A mode of expression used in Puritan writing, particularly sermons
- Characteristics; clarity, simplicity, straightforwardness, lack of ornamentation
- Ornamentation is the evidence of sinful vanity and excess pride
- Used to make the meaning more easily understandable and avoid possible distractions leading the reader away from god
- Frequently deceptively simple: figures of speech derived from the bible, nature or domestic environment
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LATER DIARISTS AND JOURNAL WRITERS:: LATE 17TH AND EARLY 18TH CENTURY
(Sewall, Kemble-Knight, Byrd II, Woolman)
- The puritans believed that the religions vitality of the society depended upon the holiness of its individuals
- To maintain the latter, they kept diaries (written/mental) or journals
- End of the day-daily experience to see if an individual was on the right path to salvation
- Insight to the writers inward life
- Diaries and journals – predecessors of autobiography

SAMUEL SEWALL ( 1652-1730)

- Born in England to parents who had returned from the colonies
- Returned to Boston before he was 9 for good
- Graduated from Harvard, became a lawyer, judge, but mainly pursued a business carrer. Also essayist and poet
- Elected judicial magistrate. Served as a judge, one among 7 in the Salem Witchcraft trials; later he publicly regretted the
hasty condemnations and tried to recompense to some affected families.
- His otherwise liberal views found expressions in an antislavery tract The selling of Joseph (1700), where he continually
quoted from the Bible as testimony in support of his theses. One of Americas earliest abolitionist texts.
- Repeatedly demanded respectful treatment of the black
- Talitha Cumi, or Damsel, Arise published in 1725 adresses the womens rights.
- His most important and most popular work; The Diary written between 1674 and 1729 with a gap of 8 years

THE DIARY :: ITS TOPICS

- His legal duties and business transactions;
- His efforts to spread Christianity among the Indians;
- The treaty negotiations with Indians;
- His relations with governors;
- The loss of Massachusetts Bay charter and increase Mathers trip to England to obtain a new one;
- The Salem witchcrafts and executions;
- Troubles with the French and Indians;
- His trips, dreams, strange happenings
- A candid and detailed account of events and people; more than a glimpse in private puritan life
- The diary reveals a pious Puritan and mercenary man, a strict man capable of humour aswell
- Written over such a long period of time that it is a record of puritan culture in transition
- The diary reveals a shift from Sewalls early interest in spiritual issues to latter material ones – from spiritualism to capitalism
- It addresses the question of negroes and the issue of liberty
 Citati iz dnevnika na listu

SEWALL: THE LEGACY

- Samuel Sewalls diary is considered an important work for the present day understanding of the transformation of the Puritan
colony as it drifted toward the revolutionary era

SARAH KEMBLE-KNIGHT (1666-1727)

- She was born and lived in Boston
- Married an elderly shipmaster who frequently travelled to London; after his death she assumed business responsibilities and
raised the family alone
- Supposedly taught Benjamin Franklin to read and write
- In October 1704 she made a business trip on horseback to Connecticut and New York, during her travel she kept an account
of her experiences resulting in The Journal of Madam Knight. It was first published in New York in 1825
- It reveals her sense for observation, the diary entries are quite long and frequently speculative.

THE JOURNAL OF MADAM KNIGHT

- Bercovitch calls it one of the liveliest and most delightful pieces of prose narrative of the period
- She adopted the techniques of the mock epic and elements of the picaresque and wrote a humorous, dialect and concrete
account with just a slight of the moral didacticism otherwise so typical for puritan writers
- She makes fun of herself and uses irony, she is constantly aware of the unconventionality of her mission
- She recalls the frightening experiences of travelling at night, the vulgar servants at country inns, the rude and unfriendly
innkeepers, the beautiful nature and instances of appalling poverty she saw on her way

passage
- Knight makes a funny remark on religion, she felt morally superior over the ignorant country people she met on her way, she
was willing to put up with slavery and spoke about the Indians with contempt: they are immoral, shameless and reckless.

WILLIAM BYRD II (1674-1744)

- The son of a goldsmith, was educated in England and Holland. Became a lawyer and returned to Virginia at the age of 22. He
possessed an immense plantation and a private library of 3,600 books, second in size in America to that of Cotton Mather
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- A councilman and the agent for Virginia in London. A member of the Royal Society in London. An anglophile
- By his initiative the city of Richmond was established on his land.
- He kept two secret diaries written in code devised by William Mason in his 1707 book La plume volante. The diaries were
decoded in early 20th century.

THE SECRET DIARY OF WILLIAM BYRD II (1709-1712)

- Byrds diary speaks about daily events in the life of a wealthy Virginian planter and slave owner
- Byrd was a man of exquisite learning but weak flesh; he constantly struggled with his sexual appetite. He viewed his writing
as a demonstration of wit (a typical 18th century characteristic).
- He speaks of his numerous affairs with women, frequently asks god to forgive him.
- A cruel slave master, talks about ways of punishment; about quarrels with his wife regarding the punishment of slaves
- Was cruel to his own children
- The diary also covers his business transactions, his political work (as Virginis Councilman), his education, etc.

THE SECRET DIARY:: EVALUATION

- His style reveals an intellectual, is both sophisticated and witty, relaxed and far removed from the constricted Puritan outlook.
He frequently included long quotations in Latin and Greek and used euphemisms.
- His explicit sexuality stands in sharp contrast to priggish New England Puritan diarists
- As a southerner he was part of a rigid patriarchal system of double values for men and women(fornication of southern men
was sociably acceptable, even with female slaves).
- All entries are written according to formula; time of getting up, early morning reading, morning prayers, breakfast, daily
chores, evening meal, prayers and a refrain-like ending

JOHN WOOLMAN (1720-1772)

- A quaker from a prosperous New Jersey farm
- His education was scant; a few years of grade school, became a farmer, shopkeeper, teacher, tailor’s apprentice, prosperous
tailor
- As a successful tailor he turned to spiritual questions, abandoned his business and became an itinerant preacher
- He preached against slavery, the exploitation of Indians and labourers in general. He urged slave owners to free their slaves
- Died of small pox in York, England where he preached at the time

THE JOURNAL (1774)

- Considered one of the greatest humanitarian documents in American literature
- The first outspoken antislavery text in America

THE LEGACY OF JOHN WOOLMAN

- The experience weighed down on Woolmans conscience for the rest of his life
- It inspired him to love all living creatures –indians, the poor, laborers, animals,..
- Woolman took it upon himself to convince people of the inhumanity of slavery
- An itinerant preacher, his method was peaceful, based on personal persuasion
- He insisted on paying the slaves when they served food to him..
- He persuaded many Quakers but not all

WOOLMAN THE VISIONARY

- Woolman also protested the French and Indian war, refused to pay war taxes
- He was concerned about the environment, the man had a very unusual insight for the time he lived in
- His pioneer work was rewarded posthumously: in 1790 The society of friends petitioned to the U.S. congress for the abolition
of slavery
- Woolmans book has been included among the Harvard Classics
- After the bible the book has had the second longest publication history in North America.

THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR (1775) – American war of independence

- colonies united against Indians & England
- 1763; the end of French & Indian war (7years) – England deprived france of some Canadian territories
- Colonies revolted against taxes
- 1778; france enters war against Britain, then spain and Netherlands
- 1781; Chesapeake (French naval victory); Britain surrenders in Virginia, Yorktown
- 1783; The treaty of Paris; 13 colonies are declared independent
- 1787; Constitution

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE – 4.7.1776

- Written by Thomas Jefferson & his gang, also B. Franklin
- It proclaimed independence from Britain
- Published and distributed among people
- Thomas Jefferson :: US president; 1801-1809 –founder; University of Virginia & Congress Library
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POLITICAL WRITING
THOMAS PAINE (1737-1809) :: “Common Sense” pamphlet; series of “The American Crisis” papers-16; boosting the morale of
the fighters
- after the war – THE AGE OF REASON –his most controversial work; against organized religion
- gone to France; influenced the French revolution

PURITAN POETRY :: ANNE DUDLEY BRADSTREET (1612-1672)

- Born in Northampton, England
- Privately educated, she grew up reading the classics and English Renaissance poets
- Got married to a lawyer in England, her father and husband were Puritans
- Emigrated to Salem with her husband and parents in 1830, aged 18
- She moved from place to place: Salem, Boston, Ipswich, North Andover ( a farm where she spent the rest of her life)
- Had 8 children, due to her husband’s frequent absences she managed the farm and family alone
- She was ahead of her time; she fought for public recognition as a woman
- Had no intention to publish her verse; her poetry circulated among family and friends
- She was deeply influenced by Guillaume du Bartas, a 17th century French poet and Sir Walter Raleigh
- In her late poems she was influenced by English Metaphysical poets, especially Edmund spenser
- She wrote epic poems, love lyrics, elegies, meditative poetry, religious verse, political poems, etc.
- In 1650 her brother-in-law had her poetry published in London as The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America
- Bradstreet was aware that collection was imitative in form and contents
- The only well-known poem in the collection was The four elements i.e. one of her allegorical dialogs known as the
quaternions (others were The Four Ages of Man, The Four Seasons of the Years, The Four Humours of Man)
- The above poems deal with what was considered science and philosophy and used in Bradstreets school for girls
- Much of her poetry deals with secular topics, unusual and daring for a Puritan
- Her later poetry was more personal, simpler and more lyrical
- She wrote about personal experiences, motherhood, womanhood, marriage,illness, deaths of loved ones, family, husbands
absence
- Her poems are often written in the form of an argument
- She used paradox, pun, startling parallels in similes and methapors(conceits)
- She frequently contrasts wordly pleasures with eternal reward, as a puritan she stoops to gods will, e.g. in her poem Some
Verses Upon the Burning of Our House. July 10th 1666
- passage
- Despite her stern Puritanism the poet barely conceals her resentment toward god for taking away her much loved home
- Her verses reveal the inner conflict between human attachment to material world and indifference required by Puritan
doctrine
- Apart from consecutive rhyme and a regular metrical pattern (iambic tetrameter) she also used alliteration, assonance and
cacophony
- The tone of the poem is very emotional, her language is very passionate

SEVERAL POEMS
- Unhappy with The Tenth Muse, Bradstreet revised many of her poems and wrote 18 new ones to be published in a revised
edition
- Several Poems were published in 1678 after her death –a much better collection containing her best known poems

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF HER POETRY

- In her poems she frequently questioned the power of male domination in society
- She even questioned the harsh Puritan concept of a wrathful god
- She found pleasure in the realities of her life; family, home, nature
- Very un-Puritan like, she exposed her innermost thoughts and feelings in her poetry
- passage + analysis of the passage!!!(Bradstreet vs Spenser)

SOME DIFFERENCES BETWEEN BRADSTREETS AND SPENSERS POETRY

- Spensers summarizing couplet brings to the surface the beloveds finest qualities
- Bradstreets final couplet stresses the Puritan idea that love should be cherished in a way that ensures its transcendence after
death
- Bradstreets poem begins and ends with a paradox. In the last line the verb live refers on life to earth and the afterlife
- passage + analysis (GLEJ LISTE, TEGA NEMOREM PREPISVT)

CONTEMPLATIONS
- An intimately meditative poem built on contrast and comparison of heaven and Earth
- Written in seven line stanzas riming ababcc. The last stanza consists of four rimed couplets
- In stanzas 1-3 the poet observes the beauty of autumn, particularly the rich colours
- The beauty “below” makes her wonder of the beauty “above”, referring to the heavens
- In lines 4-7 she marvels at the magnificence of the sun; no wonder some ancient civilizations believed it to be a Deity
 9

- She uses argument, rhetorical questions, anaphora, metaphors, similes, personification, poetic devices (rime, alliteration,
assonance...)
- Her most independent work revealing a tension between the material world and the love of God. It can be divided into three
parts:
-stanzas 1-7 :: the poetess observes external nature and speaks about the sun as its generative force
-stanzas 8-20 :: she recalls mans fall in paradise, as a Christian she believes in redemption
-stanzas 21-28 :: she observes the fish and the birds as natural creatures without moral responsibility
-stanzas 29-33 :: she returns to human beings who are morally responsible. They often make wrong choices but their hope is
redemption.

“IN MEMORY OF MY DEAR GRANDCHILD ELIZABETH BRADSTREET WHO DECEASED AUGUST 1665”
- Bradstreet wrote three elegies to commemorate the deaths of her grandchildren who died in infancy
- Her poem illustrates her inner conflict between a devout Puritan and a loving grandmother
- Unusual for a Puritan: Puritans were suspicious of a mother’s (or grandmother’s) fondness for a child; the poet addresses a
topic that was not a commonplace one in her time
- Another example; “In reference to Her Children”poem In Reference to Her c..
- Note Bradstreets use of natural imagery in her poem : “birds”, “Cocks”, “Hens”, “dam”, “the young”, “trees”, she is ironic;
the poem ridicules the enforced invisibility of Puritan mothers in those days
- Note her affectionate tone; her open display of motherly affection
- poem In memory of my dear grandchild ...

INTERPRETATION
- The first four lines: the poet expresses a seep love for her granddaughter using endearing words and metaphors
- Next three lines: the Puritan poet questions her right to grieve bearing in mind that the baby’s soul has gone to heaven
- The first four lines of the second stanza illustrate the natural cycle of life, from birth to death
- The final three lines; the poet attempts to accept the fact that some people and things die in their prime
- The speaker attempts to overcome her grief by reminding herself that god alone determines the duration of one’s existence on
earth

IN MEMORY ... POETIC DEVICES USED

Bradstreet uses anaphora (farewell, and) metaphors (my heart’s too much content; the pleasure of mine eye; fair flower),
Metonymy (days), synecdoche (his hand), personification ( time), sound effects ( end rhyme, internal rhyme, assonance, sibilance,
alliteration).

BRADSTREETS PLACE IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

- Her poetry was highly praised by Cotton Mather and several other contemporary critics
- Her work was later overshadowed by writers like Hawthorne and Poe
- She was rediscovered in the 1960s thanks to feminists
- Nowadays she is seen by some as an early feminist author but also as a religious author and a Puritan.

EDWARD TAYLOR MANKA !!!?

CAPTIVITY GENRE:: INDIAN CAPTIVITY NARRATIVE
- This prose form reached wide audiences
- They were written according to a formula; while settlers taken by the Indians, enduring hardships and horrors, escaped / being
rescued through god’s providence
- They drew upon a Puritan myth of the chosen people; they escaped persecution at home, crossed the sea, entered a wilderness
swarming with devils (=Indians), suffered due to the cruelty of the latter and were redeemed by God’s providence
- Indian captivity narratives go beyond the stories of individuals and turn into allegories of salvation of Puritans

MARY ROWLANDSON (1637-1711)

- Mary White was supposedly born in England and came to Salem as a child
- The family moved to Lancaster, a frontier village
- She married Reverend Joseph Rowlandson and had 3 children
- Little is known about her life
- In February 1675 the Indians attacked Lancaster and people took refuge in Rowlandsons’ house
- The Indians overpowered them and took 24 hostages, among them Mary Rowlandson and her children, one child died a week
later; Rowlandson was kept hostage for three months, she was mistreated and wounded
- In May she was freed for a ransom of 20 pounds
- Her remaining children were later returned as well
- She wrote an account of her ordeal

- passage Mary Rowlandsons Narrative::

 10

- Although she now and then observes traces of humanity in some Indians, the emphasis is on the Indians as sent by god to
punish the sinners
- Her captivity story is a moral lesson of the victory of faith
- Rowlandsons salvation is proof that god will eventually bring his Chosen People to heavenly kingdom
- She uses plain style, both emotional tone and strangely matter-of-fact reporting (e.g. the death of her baby)
- Presents Indian cruelty in detail
- Quotations from the bible to support her theses
- Captivity is perceived as trial for the soul to test ones faith

OTHER CAPTIVITY NARRATIVES

- The genre was extremely popular, the majority of stories were based on true events, some were pure fiction as well
- Captivity as trial: if a Puritan passes the test, he/she saved the Christianity despite the Devil
- Well known examples:
-Cotton Mather: “The Captivity of Hannah Dustan” included in Magnalia Christi Americana (Dustan was a colonial Puritan
from Massachusetts who was captured and escaped in a canoe)
- “The Story of Mary Draper Ingles” (MS, written approximately 1824 by John Ingles, Mar’s son)
- John Williams, The Redeemed captive Returning to Zion (1706), written according archetypal Puritan pattern of suffering
and redemption, the suffering caused by the Indians and the Roman Catholics
- Ingles was a colonial woman from Virginia abducted by Indians. She and another woman escaped and returned home on foot
covering some 500 miles.
- In the 19th century Indian narratives were adapted for pulp fiction (Indian was treated as inferior “redskin”)
- Even high literature presented native Americans as “noble savages” (J.F.Cooper), the notion that prevails in the first half of
20th century (Faulkner)

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN –humorist

- Claims that England belongs to Prussia original settlers
- The king of Prussia imposes legal and political restrictions upon English people
- Satirized George the thirds attitude towards American people
Legacy ::
- franklins philosophy of the practical to useful from rags to riches
- his belief in American dream
- his model of autobiographical writing
- his scientific discoveries
- his humour

CHARLES BROCKDEN BROWN ( 1771-1810)

NOVELIST, SHORT STORY WRITER, POET AND ESSAYIST
- He became a lawyer but gave up law for writing
- Was a member of the New York Friendly club
- After the period of literary apprenticeship his literary career suddenly erupted
- He published 4 novels in 2 years
- At the turn of the century he became an editor and contributor of the Monthly Magazine and the American Review

BROWN’S MAJOR NOVELS

- Wieland, or, the Transformation (1798)
- Ormond, or, the Secret Witness (1799)
- Edgar Huntly, or, Memoirs of a Sleepwalker (1799)
- Arthur Mervyn, or, Memoirs of the Year 1793 (1799)

WIELAND, OR, THE TRANSFORMATION –primarily a gothic novel: it narrates the frightening story of how Theodore
Wieland is driven to madness and murder of his own family.
- Told from the perspective of Wielands sister Clara; a first-person narrative
- Clara is at first a reliable narrator in control of the situation; then she becomes intensely unnerved until she turns out to be
almost mad
- The novel was based on a true story of a multiple murder case
PLOT:
Wieland Jr. Is the son of a German mystic. Wieland Sr. Built a temple on a hill near his home where he practised his eccentric
religion. He had strange premonitions of some impending evil. It turns out he was right.
Wieland Jr. Inherits the estate where he lives with his wife, children, sister Clara and his best friend Henry. Then he falls prey to a
mysterious ventriloquist Carwin. Carwin uses his specific skill without Wieland knowing what it is. Wieland believes the
mysterious voice to be gods. The voice tells Wieland to kill his wife, his children, his sister and he obeys. Clara escapes. She
believes it was Carwin that ordered the murders. But the “divine voice” was in fact a result of Wieland’s progressive madness.
Wieland is sentenced to prison but he escapes. He attempts to kill Clara and his best friend but is topped by the “divine voice”.
This time it is Carwin who fakes it. Wieland realizes that it was his madness that turned him to a murderer and commits suicide.
Years later Clara recovers from the horrors, marries her brother’s best friend and writes about the family tragedy.
 11

excerpts POGLEJ LISTE!

- Carwin’s role in the novel is somewhat mysterious, he utters strange sounds for everybody to hear, he admits that he may
have used his skill wrongly

- The novel contains the elements of gothic (inexplicable mysteries and horrors, secret passages, death by spontaneous
combustion ...) and sentimental novel (the theme of seduction)
- Interpretations vary:
-the dangers of extreme religion (a possible indictment of Puritanism)
-the theme of madness
-a critique of American individualism at the expense of common good

- Brown’s novels combine fiction and history (the yellow fever epidemic, violence between the white settlers and the Indians
etc.)
- He wished to educate his audience
- His novels are mostly classified as gothic novels (they indeed contain numerous gothic elements) : an oversimplification
- Browns writings were criticized as immature and imitative
- His works were later reissued and re-evaluated in America and England
- Browns novels were also published in combined editions with Schiller’s and Mary Shelley’s
- His were the 1st American novels to be translated into other European languages
- Brown influenced (and was influenced by) William Godwin (a british philosopher), his wife Mary Wollstonecraft (feminist
philosopher and writer), and Mary Shelley
- Browns work was known to many British writers of his era, such as William Hazlitt, Thomas Love Peacock, John Keats, Sir
Walter Scott.
- American writers such as Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, H.W.Longfellow and other knew Brown
- He was an influential and important author.

EARLY AMERICAN POETRY :: THE REVOLUTIONARY ERA

- Literary independence lagged behind the political independence
- Most literature was imported from Britain
- No international copy law enabled piracy of literature and hindered the development of original American literature

PHILIP FRENEAU:: THE FATHER OF AMERICAN POETRY (1752-1832) :: POET,

EDITOR, BUSINESSMAN
- Freneau was born into a French-Scottish Protestant family in New York but grew up in New Yersey
- He studied theology at the College of New Jersey (Princeton University)
- Wrote anti british satirical poems on the eve of the revolution
- After the war he married and embarked upon editorial career; edited the Democratic Republican The National Gazette
- As a businessman he travelled a lot
- Upon retirement he wrote more political satires and some fine nature poems
- The latter are his best showing traits of neoclassicism and signal approaching romanticism
- The House of Night is considered the first distinctly romantic poem in America. The wild romantic scenery and the theme of
death point toward romanticism
- The House of Night excerpt

REVOLUTIONARY POET
- Freneau was well-known for his satirical poems written during the Revolutionary War; The British Prison Ship, American
Liberty, A Midnight Consultation, George the Third’s Soliloquy
- He is considered the pioneer of sea lyrics: On the Death of Captain Nicholas Biddle
- excerpt George the Third’s Soliloquy

THE BRITISH PRISON SHIP

- A long satirical poem in 3 cantoes: I. The Capture, II. The Prison Ships, III. The Hospital Prison Ships. Written in 1780.
- Based on Freneau’s personal experience during the Revolutionary War
- The speaker tells about his imprisonment on an overcrowded death ship where prisoners were treated like terrorists and
general conditions were catastrophic
- The prison ship excerpt

THE POET OF AMERICA

- Freneau wrote poems that celebrate American topics: The Virtue of Tobacco, The Jug of Rum, The Pilot of Hatteras
- The majority of his poetry displays neoclassical characteristics; the forms, the diction, Deism
- Some simple short lyrics of his bridge the Neoclassical era with the approaching Romanticism; vivid, sensuous imagery,
celebration of nature and primitivism
- excerpt On the Death of Captaon Nicholas Biddle
- excerpt The Wild Honeypuckle
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THE WILD HONEYPUCKLE

- The poem shows the influence of Wordsworth and Coleridge
- It was published in the collection Poems (1786)
- Celebrates the frail short-lived beauty of the forest flower
- The poem anticipates 19th century simple nature imagery
- The transience of the forest flower is compared to the transience of human life – “the space between is but an hour”
- The laws of nature remain a mystery to the poet: a closed book
- The flower exists in a non-human sphere; there are no feelings and sensations involved in its short life; the flowers come and
go in a neverending circle
- A similar idea is expressed in the ode The Caty-Did
- The poet bewails the transience of an insect that only lives one summer and is destined to pass the line between life and death
and more beyond to the uncertainty of an afterlife
- excerpt The Caty-Did

THE INDIAN BURYING GROUND

- After visiting an Indian burial ground, Freneau wrote the following poem, considered to be one of the first to idealize the
Indian. The Indian Burying Ground was 1st published in the American Museum, November 1787.
- Freneau believed the Indians were bound to die out. In his poems the Indians are often associated with death
- He didn’t associate the Indian with stereotype of the Noble savage but rather saw them as a kind of ancestors, the natural
people whose time was running out
- The Enlightenment believed in all nature to be ruled by universal laws (and the Indians were part of that nature)
- excerpt The Indian Burying Ground
- The poem celebrates the Indian hunters who were buried in a sitting position so that their graves formed characteristic
mounds
- They were buried with miniature images of objects they had used in daily life
- According to Freneau the Indians were “human manifestations of nature”
- Freneau uses the metaphor “the children of the forest”
- Freneau’s view of nature: it is primitive and basically good but doomed to die – be it plants, animals or the aboriginal people
- They need to die to make room for new life
- According to Freneau god created everything, he is omnipresent: “He lives in all and never strayed a moment from the works
he made”
- Freneau’s work was chiefly done prior to the Romantic Movement in England, before lyric poetry had received the great
impetus and liberation which came with that movement and before poetic form had been released from its classic restraints.
There was no poetic school in America, no master to emulate, no atmosphere to stimulate a young poet. Freneau was a
pioneer, and one is surprised at the fresh note which still gives a modern touch to some of his lyrics.

WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT

- From Massachusetts; of a mayflower stock
- Studied law; walked to his workplace, observing nature
- Earliest collection, political poems
- Most famous was THANATOPSIS (1813) –meditation upon death
- A solitary bird flying on the horizon inspired him to write
- To a Waterflow(1821) –most celebrated
excerpt Thanatopsis ::
- first version published when he was 16
- in blank verse, romantic
- connection between death and nature the return to nature
- the person will live on in another way – eternity
- claims that nobody dies alone, since everybody dies
- possible influence – Grey’s elegy written in the Church Courtyard
- his poetic idols were Wordsworth and English pre-romantic poets
- the first American poet to paint on American landscape  the Prairies
- need for creating new language to describe it
excerpt The Prairies ::
-imagery from the great plains; wild, solitary beauty;
-fauna ( buffalo, prairie hawk)
-flora, places, mound builders, the aboriginal people
- contrast: nature with man made things and creatures ; nature is eternal while generations of people, animals, languages are
mortal
- he introduces American landscapes that require new language
- his body of work: best poems on nature, death pensive, melancholic; obvious influence of English romantic poetry
- bows to the guidance of god
- puritan tendency to moralize is still visible
- master of blank verse and simple quotation
- Best collection is Poems(1821)  signals the birth of original American poetry
 13

 excerpt :: To a Waterfowl
RALPH WALDO EMERSON (1803-1882)
-NATURE
Chapter One; Nature excerpt
About the stars and how we perceive them. The stars are taken for granted and symbolize universe; they are accessible and
inaccessible. Then moves to the landscape; interconnectedness.
Chapter Two :: Commodity
Nature supports human existence in terms of physical necessities; plants, animals, resources,..
Chapter Three :: Beauty
Part of nature and more important than commodity; medicial, restorative effects of nature; it is beautiful
Chapter 4 :: language
Relationship with nature; etymology: to prove abstract notions are derived from physical objects..ex heart-meaning emotions
Chapter 5 :: discipline
How to understand nature; through understanding and reason; will and power to subordinate nature to mans needs
Ch. 6 :: idealism
Role of a poet who must manipulate nature to his needs; magnifies some words and lessens some quotes from Shakespeare
Ch 7 :: spirit
Truths beyond reason; human reason cannot penetrate the spirit of nature, concept of a universal spirit
Ch 8 :: prospects
To understand nature, through intuition and not empirical knowledge

THE AMERICAN SCHOLAR 1837; delivered at Harvard to PHI BETA KAPPA

excerpt
- metaphorical language; use of similes and poetic
- published in pamphlets
- included in Essays from 1841
- the scholar is just one of many functions of a man (“a man thinking”; he must reject old ideas from books, only inspiration;
must study nature, art and literature)
- the scholar should take the leading role in society – self reliant; should not submit to pragmatism
- Oliver Wendell Holmes declared this speech to be Americas intellectual declaration of independence

THE DIVINITY SCHOOL ADDRESS

- Harvard divinity school
- Outrageous ideas; god is not a person .. formal church is false and dry
- He called out to the students to follow their intuition, not prescribed footsteps (irreverent and atheistic)
- Banned from Harvard for years

SELF-RELIANCE
- Doctrine of extreme individualism :: every person ≠ unique creation of god; not to conform to pressure of the society and
religion
- “trust thyself” –slogan :: man should not postpone life but live now
excerpt:: poetic, figurative language

EMERSON AS A POET
- Relatively small poetic output
- Published an essay The Poet in 1844
- Influenced Walt Whitman The Leaves of Grass; emerson was the 1st who praised this collection
exc The Poet ::
-develops William Cullen Bryant’s idea of american’s need for poetry
-demands a new poet to respond to the new reality

exc emerson The Rhodora – On Being Asked Whence the Flower (indirect rhetorical question)
-16 lines, iambic
-1847; in his 1st collection Poems
-rhyme is aabb, cdcd – couplets
-passionate language
-personification
-sound effects: sibilance(lines 1,3), assonance (line 3), alliteration
-gods omnipresence; questions origin of the bush
-the concept of transformation (lines 5,6) –his spiritual assumptions
-the floating petals transform the appearance of the water –beauty is transformed, exists for its own sake, the admired red bird
seems ordinary next to the floating petals

exc Emerson :: The Snow-Storm (1841)

- As many of his ideas thisone is too explained in his essays
 14

- Tone, mystery & awe

- Metaphor at the beginning(trumpets) –violence, commotion
- Reader is then summoned to see the artistry the storm has left behind
- Abundant architectural images
- Personification of winter; creative power
- In the last lines, the speaker subordinates human art to that of nature –it takes it one night to transform the world into a
fairytale
- Chaos to perfection; like nature so should the poet create unique, original images –seek originality; be open to innovation

- Emerson was an abolitionist; lecture on evils on slavery from 1844(concord)

- Anarchist; passage of the fugitive slave law 1850
- Vigorous protest in 1838; us removed Cherokees from their land
- Ecologist; concerned to mans relation to nature
- Denied the reality of evil –highly optimistic :P
- Believed in a divine force (reason, mind, over-soul  ≠ anthrophomorphic god
- Most influential poet

HENRY DAVID THOREAU

- Poetry & essay; published in The Dial
- Teacher at Concord, then New York
- A project proposed by Emerson as he was repelled by growing materialism to test the transcendalist credo of gods
omnipresence in nature and human beings –he moved to seclusion for 2 years; 1845
- Lived simple, minimum, grew his own food, observe nature, took notes, wrote journals, shunned civilization –Emersons
doctrine of self reliance
- 2 books: 1. The Week on the Concord and Merrimock Rivers (1849), a rowboat trip taken with his brother
2. Walden(1854): civil disobedience; essay describing Thoreau’s refusal to pay poll tax in 1846 in protest of slavery and his
subsequent imprisonment
- His popularity grew in 1890s by H.S.Canby’s biography published
- Walden was written to comply with human curiosity preceded by a series of well-attended public lectures in Concord;
18chapters, the last one conclusion
exc chapter Economy from Walden –long chapter
- Pondering the question what are life’s bare necessities –clothing, dwelling, food
- A detailed account on building his cabin and the simple furniture
- He also noted all his expenses(statistically)
- He provided the illustration for the book
exc chapter Sounds –the illustration of a train
exc chapter House-warming –on building a chimney on the cabin
exc chapter The Bean-field

THE JOURNAL
- Began in 1834, encouraged by emerson
- His intermost thought, observations about nature, comments on life
- Published posthumously, 14 volumes

INFLUENCES
- Extremely prolific author – articles,essays,poetry, ...
- Keen sense of observation
- Precise, to the point, philosophical, poetic-writing style
- Fond of detail when referring to practical matters
- Ecologist, a predecessor of modern-day environmentalism; very influential
- Abolitionist; public lectures against the passage of the fugitive slave law 1850
- Peaceful protest (civil disobedience) mahatma Gandhi; M.L. king jr. inspired by him

GENTEEL POETS :: respectable, well-mannered, of a higher social class

- Brahmin or Boston Brahmins
- Upper middle class, Harvard educated – professors, ambassadors, editors
- Highly esteemed poets, widely read in Europe
- Gave public lectures and published in North American Review, Atlantic Monthly
- Influential, promoted respect for learning, to educate their readers
- Conservative in terms of their background and literary styles
- Not fond of the transcendentalists, Thoreau, Whitman, Poe, ... –contemporaries

HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW

- most popular poet of the 19th cent
- storyteller, translator
 15

- born in Portland, maine

- his mother was a descendant of John Alden(mayflower)
- his father a lawyer, congressman
- an avid reader of Irving’s Sketchbook
- studied with Hawthorne at college, studied modern languages; French, Spanish, german, port.
- Stayed in Europe for 3 years – influenced by European romanticism
- Met w. Irving in Madrid and he encouraged him too
- Travelogue Outre-Mer –translated textbooks
- Voices of the Night 1839
- Professorship at Harvard and Cambridge
- Works: Hyperion 1839(fictional travelogue), Ballads and Other Poems 1841, Poems and Slavery 1842(pro-abolitionist
poems), Evangeline 1847, The Song of Hiawatha 1855, The Courtship of Miles Standish 1858
- Translated dantes’s divina commedia Lowell, howells and others; the dante club, published in 1867 as the divine comedy;
also translated Michelangelo but was published after his death

HIS SHORTER LYRICS lyrical poems

- The Arsenal at Springfield 1845 – a peace poem
- exc od tega
- exc The Jewish Cemetery at Newport

HIS BALLADS
- Dark mood; frequent inclusion of the supernatural –typical of ballads, moral purpose
exc The Village Blacksmith :: rather descriptive, honouring an ancestor, celebrates perseverance, puritan work ethics
exc The Wreck of the Hesperus :: dark, tragic theme; death of a skipper’s young daughters, protagonist who refuses to listen to
the warnings of the hurricane

HIS LONG NARRATIVE POEMS

- Popularized native legends, oral tradition
exc Evangeline; A Tale of Acadie 1847 :: two parts, each of 5 cantoes(chapters)
Evangeline Bellefontaine is betrothed to Gabriel lafeunesse,, but theyre separated on their wedding day. She searches for him and
chances upon him dying in Philadelphia as an old woman and dies soon after him.
exc Evangeline, part one. Canto one.
- The idea came from a priest who hoped Hawthorne would turn it into a novel. But he wasn’t interested
- In dactylic hexameter
- Metaphors, similes, personifications
- Melodious; assonance, alliteration, euphony, cacophony, no rhyme
- Reveals poets love for detail
- Didactic in purpose
exc The Song of Hiawatha
- The great spirit tells Indians to live in peace
- Born, raised by his grandma Nokomis, as a grown man he seeks revenge for his mother Wenonah. His father Mudjekeevis
seduced and abandoned her, he fights him, they reconcile.
- HIAWATHA returns to his ppl to lead and civilize
- Brave deeds, marries, period of peace, 2 good friends die, he kills an enemy, famine and disease, swarms of golden bees
- Tells his ppl to receive the missionaries who will teach them a new religion, departs from the isle of the Blest to rule the
Kingdom of the Northwest winddies
exc part xxi; The White Man’s Foot
exc Hiawatha’s last Words to his ppl
exc part I. The Pecea Pipe
- Based on the stories of the tribes of the region
- He viewed them as disappearing ppl
- The poem sanctifies the victory of Christianity over the primitive religion
- The trochaic tetrameter; unusual choice

THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH

- Love triangle; 2 friends
- 8 parts
- John woos Priscilla for Miles, but they fall in love instead. Miles reported dead in war. They marry. Miles returns
unexpectedly.

THE SONNETEER
- Translated dante’s divine comedy
- 6 original sonnets as poetic fly-leaves to each of dante’s work
- Wrote 64 sonnets, published posthumously
exc Oft have I seen at some cathedral door – sonnet
 16

- Strongly influenced by European literature(german romanticism)

- Great 19th cent promoter of American literature
- Highly metrical skill, very melodious
- Didactic, moralizing, sentimental
- Highly venerated, sold extremely well

- His fame declined at the beginning of 20th cent –critique of his lack of imagination, absence from passion, dictionary
meanings of words

OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES (1809-1894)

- From best social circles in Boston
- Puritan roots
- Haravard; law and medicine; later professor in Dartmouth and Harvard
- Medicated novels; so much information
- Wrote poetry
- Almost 50 of age when he 1st published
- Magazine Atlantic Monthly –monthly instalments of the Autocrat of the Breakfast Table – 1858 appeared as a book
exc The Old Ironside
- Protested the destruction of a frigate the Constitution – major battles during the revolution
- Published nationwide - arised indignation – the ship was saved

THE AUTOCRAT OF THE BREAKFAST TABLE

- Essays describe table talk-monolg at a Boston boarding house
- Characters have generic names – the Autocrat, the Professor, the Landlady,...
- Conversations cover numerous topics
- Each essay ends with a poem – theme of the essay exc

- He wrote sequels; The Professor of the Breakfast Table

- Includes poems; The Chambered Nautilus; The Deacon’s Masterpiece or the Wonderful One Hoss Shay
exc The Chambered Nautilus (metaphor: the ship of pearl)
- Transcendents the deserted shell to his own life
- Everything is a metaphor of spiritual growth –making new chambers, afterlife
- Melodius, rhyming aabbcc, alliteration, assonance,
- Directly addressing the mollusc – personification, powerful image, transference to human inner life
exc The Deacon’s Masterpiece or The Wonderful One Hoss Shay  to ni narobe napisan
- Religious topic, downfall of the Calvinism
- It wore out completely; fell apart all at once
- Popular for its flip-flop rhythm
- Metaphor; shay=calinism

Holmes = a “fireside” poet, highly esteemed, honorary doctorates

- Medicated novels
- The poetry of genteel poets recognized as childrens poetry as it was memorized by by schoolchildren

JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL

- Journalist, poet, writer, critic
- Prominent family, son of a minister
- Harvard; poems and prose articles published in magazines
- Married a poet
- Supported the antislavery movement; edited The National Antislavery Standard
- Collection of poetry  A Year’s Life
- The Vision of Sir Launfal (Holy Grail Legend)
- Editor of the Atlantic Monthly, co-editor of the North American review
exc To the Dandelion
- Non-satirical poem
- Reminds the poet of his careless childhood
- Metaphors of luxury, metonymy, personification, nine-line stanza, ababaccdd
- The modest flower turns to a symbol of every humble god’s creation worthy of human affection and divine love
exc The First Snowfall
- 4 line stanzas, rhyming every 2nd and 4th line
- Personification, metaphors, similes
- Deceptively simple, snow images, mounds that remind the poet of his loss – daughter
- Serenity of the wintry scene dulls the pain somewhat
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- A Fable for Critics, 1847 :: satirical poem, anonymous, his contemporaries and himself criticized(emerson, hawthorne, poe)
- The Biglow Papers, First Series :: satire in protest of slavery and mexian-Us war –ridiculed his enemies

exc The Vision of Sir Launfal :: based on the legend of the holy grail
PLOT :: sir Launfal orders his servants to get everything ready for him to set on a quest the next morning. He goes to sleep and
dreams of years of futile search for the holy grail. When he comes back he gives the beggar a wooden cup of water and realizes
the holy grail in a cup of charity. When he wakes up he goes charity 24/7

exc Part First, Part Second: IX

A FABLE FOR CRITICS

- Book length satirical poem
- Published anonymously
- Ridicules well known contemporaries (Hawthorne,..)
- Some poems are very vicious –Poe, Margaret Fuller
- He ridiculed himself too
PLOT :: Apollo, the god of poets asked a critic to present some leading American writers
exc od tega

THE BIGALOW PAPERS; first series

- Allegedly consists of poems in yankee dialect written by a semi-literate yankee farmer Hosea Bigalow
- He opposes slavery and US invasion of Mexico
- His father Ezekiel Bigalow writes letters
- Poems are accompanied with prose commentary, glossary and annotations by a reverend
exc Yaljem, June 1846
exc The Courtin ( a poem from the Papers)

- Lowell is classified among the genteel/fireside poets (they used traditional poetic forms, meter, rime)
- In his later life he was a diplomat in spain and England
- Expected for ppl of higher class to go off to Europe

JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER

- Same period, but not a genteel poet; came from a poor family – Quakers from Massachusetts
- Similar background as Walt Whitman – worked hard on a farm, finished high school, college
- Editor in Boston, returned to the farm for good
- Abolitionist; founding member of American Anti-slavery Society
- Early poems; political –prestigious reviews would not publish his work

JAMES FENIMORE COOPER (1789-1851)

He was born in Burlington, New Jersey, the 11th of 12 children. The family moved 150 miles north to the frontier; father initiated a
settlement to be called Cooperstown.He was privately educated at Albany, New York; enrolled at Yale at 14; expelled after only
one year for misbehaviour (ccc :P). He joined the navy in 1808 but disliked it and left it in 1811. Following his marriage in 1811
he lived as a country gentleman. He had to support the widows of his five elder brothers and pay off their debts. In 1820 his wife
challenged him to write a novel. Highly imitative of Austen it failed. In 1821 he published The Spy, his literary breakthrough.
Imitative of Scott’s historical novels it takes place during the Revolution.

THE SPY :: A TALE OF NEUTRAL GROUND

The novel tells the story of a Harvey Birch. He is supposed to be a Loyalist spy but is in fact General’s Washington’s secret agent.
- A novel of adventure and love
- It ends with Birch completing his dangerous mission
- He refuses a reward and returns to his itinerant life
The novel brought him fame and was a material success. After The Spy, Cooper became a professional writer. On the average he
wrote a two-volume novel per year. In 1823 he published The Pioneers, the first of five novels to become The Leatherstocking
Tales. Between 1826 and 1833 Cooper lived in Europe.
After his return to States he lived in Cooperstown where his popularity dwindled due to his conservative political views and
numerous libel suits against various journalists.

THE LEATHERSTOCKING TALES

This collective title encompasses five frontier novels. The protagonist is one and the same person – Natty Bumppo aka
Leatherstocking, Hawkeye aka Deerslayer aka Pathfinder aka La Longue Carabine. The novel presents Natty at various stages in
his life. Chronologically, according to Natty’s age, the novel’s sequence is the following: The Deerslayer (1841), The Last of the
Mohicans (1826), The Pathfinder (1840), The Pioneers (1823), The Prairie (1827) – Natty progresses from youth to old age.

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS

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The most celebrated novel in the cycle. It takes place in the frontier forests during the French and Indian war (1756-1763). The
plot revolves around Alice and Cora Munro who attempt to reach their father, the commander of British army at Fort William
Henry. They are blocked by Magua, the leader of the Hurons who are French allies. Uncas, the last of the Mohicans, his father
Chingachgook, and Natty Bumppo come to their rescue. After a series of thrilling attacks, captures, taking of hostages, miraculous
escapes etc. Magua is killed. Uncas and Cora also die. Natty retreats to the wilderness. Cooper said his intention was simply to
evoke the past.
Excerpts The Last of the Mohicans
- Hawkeye aka Natty Bumppo is the protagonist. He is a mature man wearing his faithful companion, the rifle Killdeer. He
lives happily among friendly Indians on the frontier. He is brave, manly, proud and honest.
- Uncas is the last of the Mohican tribe, Chingachgook’s son. He is noble and handsome and falls in love with Cora Munro. He
saves her from Magua’s captivity but eventually both he and Cora die.
- Magua is a treacherous Huron who has been expelled from his tribe owning to drunkenness. He blames Cora’s father for it
and wants to take revenge.
- Chingachgook is Uncas’ father and Hawkye’s friend. He is brave and intelligent.
- David Garmut is a singing preacher who wants to spread Christianity among natives
- Cora and Alice Munro are Colonel Munro’s young daughters. They’re half sisters. Cora is serious and dark complexioned
after her black mother and Alice is blond and silly.
- Major Duncan Heyward is a young, brave American. He is a little lost in the forest. Frontier is not where he belongs.
- Natty is an upright individualist who lives on the border between civilization and wilderness. No man’s land. He’s on friendly
terms with numerous Indian tribes. He is mainly, honest and brave. Predecessor of cowboy hero. The first famous
frontiersman in American literature (based partly on the real figure of Daniel Boone)-american pioneer and hinter whose real
life has achieved mythic proportions

- Cooper’s novels were written for adult readers but have turned into juvenile reading
- His novels reveal many defects; too many coincidences, poor characterization of women, stiff dialogues, bad syntax
- They present archetypal themes: civilization destroying wilderness, the eternal battle between good and evil.

COOPER’S SEA NOVELS

Apart from the frontier novels Cooper wrote novels of the sea.
- The Pilot (1824) takes place during the Revolutionary war. It is a mysterious man who navigates an unnamed ship along the
coast of England. His purpose: to kidnap a runaway South Carolina loyalist and use him as hostage to force Britain to accept
American victory in the war.

THE RED ROWER

Published in 1828, this romance also takes place at sea. The Red Rover is a pirate who used to be a sailor in the Royal navy. His
loyalty to the colonies led him to a quarrel with an officer whom he killed. After his escape he became a pirate. After the
Revolutionary War he gives up piracy, reforms and lives honourably.
- Cooper was a pioneer in the genre of sea fiction.
- Cooper’s frontier novels evoked a sense of the past; the wilderness is timeless.
- In his old age cooper became the target of severe criticism. Mark Twain was one of the bitterest critics.
- Nevertheless, Cooper goes into history as an important innovator (American historical novel, frontier novel, sea fiction).

WASHINGTON IRVING (1783-1859)

- Born as the youngest child of a well-to-do merchant family in New York. The year of his birth = the year of the Treaty of
Paris. Named after President George Washington whom he later met. At the age of 16 he was sent to the Sleepy Hollow
region to escape yellow fever. He explored the Catskill Mountains territory as well. He felt ill with tuberculosis.
- His brothers paid for his trip to England, France and Italy to recuperate (1804-1086). He came in touch with the Romantic
Movement. After his return to the States he studied law, passed the bar but never practiced. Encouraged by his family, he
embarked on a literary career.
- Together with his brother he created the literary magazine Salmagundi on 1807. Irving contributed humorous and satirical
pieces on contemporary life and politics under pseudonyms. In 1809 published A History of New York from the Beginning of
the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty by Diedrich Knickerbocker. He tricked the readers claiming Diedrich
Knickerbocker was a real person. He publicly proclaimed him a missing person- Irving would publish Knickerbocker’s MS if
the man did not turn up.
- Irving fought in the War of 1812 (war between the U:S: and England, fought primarily on the Ocean). The war pushed his
family sloce to bankruptcy, to ward it off, Irving travelled to England and stayed 17 years. The Sketch Book of Geoffrey
Crayon, Gent was published in instalments in 1819 and 1820. Its stories brought him success and fame.
- He met and befriended Sir Walter Scott. He was inspired by his historical novels. His major objective: to give the U.S. a
sense of history. He approached history humorously. Scott encouraged him to read German legends from which Irving pirated
freely.
- Searching for new material Irving also went to france and spain (American Minister to spain from 1842-1846). He then
returned to the U.S. where he enjoyed great popularity. His adversaries accused him of having turned his back on the U.S.
Irving toured the west and published a series of “western books” e.g. A Tour of the Prairies.

IRVING’S MAJOR BOOKS AND COLLECTIONS

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- A History of New York by Diedrich Knickerbocker (1809), written under a pseudonym. Knickerbocker was supposedly an
eccentric, mysterious man.
- The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. (1819, 1820) (G.C. was another pen name)
- Bracebridge Hall (1822)
- Tales of a Traveller (1824)
- The Alhambra (1832)

- Irving is best known for his short stories: “Rip van Winkle”, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”, “The Spectre Bridegroom”,
“The Devil and Tom Walker” (Tales of a Traveller)
- Excerpt Rip Van Winkle :: one day Rip takes wolf and his gun. They depart for the Catskill Mountains to hunt. Rip spends
a quiet day out and almost forgets the time. it’s getting late when he turns to go back to the village. He hears a voice calling
his name. After a while he sees a strange little fellow, a dwarf, carrying a huge keg. Rip offers help and together they
transport it uphill. Finally they reach a natural amphitheatre on top of the hill.
- excerpt Rip meeting the dwarves :: Rip watches the silent game. The dwarves offer him a drink and he gladly accepts.
Being a thirsty soul he helps himself several times. Then he falls asleep.
- excerpt Rip van Winkle wakes up :: with no little difficulty he finds his way back to the village. But nothing looks the same
anymore. He meets people who obviously don’t recognize him and he does not know who they are.
- excerpt Rip van Winkle’s return to the Village :: The boy is his grandson. His mother, a mere child when Rip left for the
Catskills, is a grown woman. Rip van Winkle is reunited with his family. He becomes a legendary figure, repeating his story
incessantly.
- excerpt Knockerbocker’s Note

“Rip van Winkle” :: commentary::

- it was presented to the readers as “Posthumous writing of Diedrich Knickerbocker”
- a fine tale with a delicate humorous touch
- the humorous effect is achieved through Irving’s selection of vocabulary
- it oscillates between rare, archaic and bombastic, sophisticated words
- Rip had a termagant wife who had the habit of breaking in upon the tranquillity of the assemblage ... Nicholas Vedder was an
august personage ... Rip’s wife is called Dame van Winkle etc.
- The story is based on a German legend that Irving read (“Peter Klaus the Goatherd”),
- Irving transferred the action to the American soil
- He placed it in the greatest historical period of the U.S. – the winning of political independence
- He Americanized the characters
- The story has become folklore. It was adapted for stage, transmitted orally
- It achieved the status of an authentic American legend

VARIOUS INTERPRETATIONS OF THE TALE

- Rip is an individual who refuses to play a prescribed role in the society. Instead he escapes to nature (pastoral escapism).
According to this interpretation he is the predecessor of numerous individualists (Huckleberry Finn, Henry David Thoreau,
Martin Arrowsmith, etc.)
- The tale can be interpreted as a political satire; Dame van Winkle representing the dictatorial British rule, her death the end of
it and the birth of the free U.S.

excerpt The Legend of Sleepy hollow

- Long tale based on a German source
- Lengthy introduction presenting the setting, Dutch manners and customs
- The protagonist is Ichabod Crane, a poor Yankee schoolmaster. He falls in love with Katrina van Tassel, the daughter of
prosperous landowner. He falls in love with the farm she will inherit as well. The whole town is invited to a party given by
the van Tassels. Ichabod arrives dressed in a borrowed suit and riding on a borrowed horse. At the party he eats, drinks and
swaps tales with the other guests. He listens to the story of the headless horseman: a Hessian trooper who lost his head in a
battle during the Revolution.
- excerpt The Sleepy Hollow
- Ichabod becomes a legend: some people believe a rival suitor (Brom van Brunt, called Brom “Bones”) played a practical joke
on him; others prefer to believe in the supernatural forces.

IRVING’S PORTRAIT OF THE SCHOOLMASTER

- Ichabod is presented humorously; as a clownish figure of poor education and doubtful intelligence
- “he was tall, but exceedingly lank, with narrow shoulders, long arms and legs, hands that dangled a mile out of his sleeves,
feet that might have served for shovels, and his whole frame most loosely hung together.”
- His social skills are underdeveloped. His social status is low; he has no property but resides in the homes of his pupils. He is
unaware of his deficiencies. He is superstitious and highly interested in stories of ghosts, witchcraft, etc. He is naive hoping to
become rich by marrying a rich girl. He is a tragic figure who is finally outwitted by the allegedly “brainless” country suitor
of Katrina, Brom Bones.

A COMPLEX NARRATIVE PERSPECTIVE OF THE STORY

The story was included in The Cketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. (written by Irving)
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- The story was supposedly written down by a Diedrich Knickerbocker who had heard the story from a “ ... pleasant, shabby
gentlemanly old fellow, in pepperand-salt clothes, with a sadly humorous face; and one whom I strongly suspected of being
poor – he made such efforts to be entertaining...”
- In the story Ichabod hears the story of the headless horseman

IRVING’S PLACE IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

- Apart from tales Irving also wrote biographies of George Washington, Christopher Columbus etc.
- He wrote numeral historical books dealing with the history of Spain
- Irving supported young authors; Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Edgar Allan Poe...
- He paved the way for the development of the American short story
- He is the forerunner of the American historical fiction
- He was one of the first authors to live by his writing alone
- He popularized American literature abroad
- He wrote with the purpose to entertain rather than moralize
- He fought for the introduction of copyright legislation.

excerpt: Irving on the purpose of a tale