Cavalier poet

The cavalier poets was a school of English poets of the

17th century, that came from the classes that supported King
Charles I during the English Civil War (1642–1651). Charles,
a connoisseur of the fine arts, supported poets who created
the art he craved. These poets in turn grouped themselves
with the King and his service, thus becoming Cavalier
Poets.[1]

A cavalier was traditionally a mounted soldier or knight, but

when the term was applied to those who supported Charles,
it was meant to portray them as roistering gallants.[2] The
term was thus meant to belittle and insult. They were
separate in their lifestyle and divided on religion from the
Roundheads, who supported Parliament, consisting often of
Puritans (either Presbyterians or Independents).

The best known of the cavalier poets are Robert Herrick, Charles I of England
Richard Lovelace, Thomas Carew, and Sir John Suckling.
Most of the cavalier poets were courtiers, with notable
exceptions. For example, Robert Herrick was not a courtier, but his style marks him as a
cavalier poet.

Contents
Characteristics of Cavalier poetry
Issues of Classification
Other languages
See also
Notes
External links

Characteristics of Cavalier poetry

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 the Rump
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.” [4]
In many ways, this poetry embodies an attitude that mirrors “carpe diem.” Cavalier poets
certainly wrote to promote Royalist 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 worshipped as a creature of perfection.[5] 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. While most of the poetry written by these cavalier poets does advocate the cause of the
monarchy in some way, not all of the writers we now consider cavalier poets knew that they fell
under this categorization during their lifetime. 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. Once
the conflict began between the monarchy and the rebellious parliament, the content of the
poetry became much more specifically aimed at upholding Royalist ideals. These men were
considered by many to write in a nostalgic tone in that their work promoted the principles and
practices of the monarchy that was under philosophical and, eventually, literal attack.

There was also a celebration of the monarchy of Charles I among the cavalier poets. Jonson in
particular celebrated ideas of common sense, duty, moderation, propriety, and elegance (the
which he also practiced).[6] These ideas did not belong to the ancients but rather belonged to
the court and to England. In this way although the cavaliers embraced the old ways of thinking
from the ancients, they also incorporated their own ideas and thoughts into their poetry. This
made their writings applicable for the era they were writing in and also portrayed the greatness
of the crown and of Charles.

Other characteristics of cavalier poetry were the metaphor and fantasy.

Issues of Classification
According to The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia[7]

The foremost poets of the Jacobean era, Ben Jonson and John Donne, are regarded
as the originators of two diverse poetic traditions—the Cavalier and the
metaphysical styles.

English poets of the early seventeenth century are crudely classified by the division into
Cavaliers and metaphysical poets, the latter (for example John Donne) being much concerned
with religion. The division is therefore along a line approximating to secular/religious. It is not
considered exclusive, though, with Carew (for example) falling into both sides, in some opinions
(metaphysical was in any case a retrospective term). The term 'sacred poets' has been applied,
with an argument that they fall between two schools:

Herbert, Crashaw and Vaughan form, not, indeed, a school of poetry, but a group
with definite links connecting them. Unlike the Fletchers and Habington, who
 looked back to “Spenser’s art and Sydney's wit,” they come under the influence both
of the newer literary fashions of Jonson and Fres, and of the revived spirit of
cultured devotion in the Anglican church.[8]

Others associated with the Cavalier tradition, according to Skelton, include Lord Herbert of
Cherbury, Aurelian Townshend, William Cartwright, Thomas Randolph, William Habington, Sir
Richard Fanshawe, Edmund Waller, and James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose. Because of
the influence of Ben Jonson, the term Tribe of Ben is sometimes applied to poets in this loose
group (Sons of Ben applies properly only to dramatist followers of Jonson).

In his introduction to The New Oxford Book of Seventeenth Century Verse Alastair Fowler
makes a case for the existence of a third group centering on Michael Drayton and including
William Browne, William Drummond of Hawthornden, John Davies of Hereford, George
Sandys, Joshua Sylvester and George Wither.

Other languages
▪ The Welsh poetry of Gwilym Puw, who fought as a Captain in the Royalist Army and lived
long enough to witness the Stuart Restoration, marks him out as a Cavalier poet in the
Welsh language.
▪ Revealing that he saw the Jacobite rising of 1745 as the continuation of the war his
ancestors had waged against Oliver Cromwell and the Rump Parliament, Alasdair mac
Mhaighstir Alasdair's 1751 poetry book "Ais-Eiridh na Sean Chánoin Albannaich" ("The
Resurrection of the Ancient Scottish Language") included literary translations into Gaelic of
three poems by Cavalier poet James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose, which expressed
his loyalty to King Charles I and to the House of Stuart during the English Civil War.[9]

See also
▪ Castalian Band, royalist court poets under James VI of Scotland, father of Charles I.
▪ Cavalier song
▪ Metaphysical poets

Notes
1. Larsen, Erik (Spring 1972). "Van Dyck's English Period and Cavalier Poetry". Art Journal. 31
(3): 255. doi:10.2307/775510 (https://doi.org/10.2307%2F775510). JSTOR 775510 (https://
www.jstor.org/stable/775510).
2. The Broadview Anthology of Literature: The Renaissance and The Early Seventeenth
Century. Canada: Broadview Press. 2006. p. 790. ISBN 1-55111-610-3.
3. Clayton, Thomas (Spring 1974). "The Cavalier Mode from Jonson to Cotton by Earl Miner".
Renaissance Quarterly. 27 (1): 111. doi:10.2307/2859327 (https://doi.org/10.2307%2F28593
27). JSTOR 2859327 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/2859327).
4. The Broadview Anthology of Literature: The Renaissance and The Early Seventeenth
Century. Canada: Broadview Press. 2006. p. 790. ISBN 1-55111-610-3.
5. Larsen, Eric (Spring 1972). "On the Theory of the Excitation of Hydrogen by Electron
Impact". Art Journal. 31 (3): 497–506. JSTOR 77551 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/77551).;
Reprobates: The Cavaliers of the English Civil War, John Stubbs review (https://www.telegra
ph.co.uk/culture/books/8328843/Reprobates-The-Cavaliers-of-the-English-Civil-War-by-Joh
n-Stubbs-review.html)
 6. Clayton, Thomas (Spring 1974). "The Cavalier Mood from Jonson to Cotton by Earl Miner".
Renaissance Quarterly. 27 (1): 111. doi:10.2307/2859327 (https://doi.org/10.2307%2F28593
27). JSTOR 2859327 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/2859327).
7. The Jacobean Era (http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/ent/A0858002.html) Archived (https://we
b.archive.org/web/20121012162002/http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/ent/A0858002.html)
October 12, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
8. F. E. Hutchinson, Cambridge History of English and American literature (http://bartleby.com/
217/0201.html)
9. Digitised version of Alasdair mac Mhaighstir Alasdair's Ais-Eiridh na Sean Chánoin
Albannaich / The resurrection of the ancient Scottish language (http://digital.nls.uk/7728235
7), 1751 at the National Library of Scotland. The literary translations of the poems by
Montrose are on pages 166-169.

External links
▪ Cavalier poets (http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/ent/A0810943.html)
▪ "Cavalier poet" medical school mystery (http://dcdave.com/article5/CavalierPoet.html)

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