John Cleveland

John Cleveland ( * in June 1613 in Loughborough, Leicestershire, † April 29, 1658 ) was an English poet.

Life

Cleveland was born in 1613 the son of a school and church servant in Loughborough. 1621 the family moved after Hinckley, where John the Grammar School attended. On September 4, 1627, he matriculated at Christ 's College, Cambridge. There he achieved in 1631 the BA and the MA degree in 1635. After that, he remained as a lecturer in rhetoric at this College to 1642; some Latin speeches from this period have survived. He also dealt with the legal and natural sciences. In the political unrest of the time Cleveland was on the side of the king and was a staunch opponent of the Puritans and Parliament. In the years 1638 and 1641 for the first time published poems by him issued by the university collections. 1642/43 Cleveland went to Oxford, where he remained until 1645 at St John 's College and was more productive. In February 1645 Cleveland lost his job in Oxford. Shortly after, a job with the garrison of Newark-on -Trent it was conferred by the royal army. The city was besieged by the Scots and finally capitulated. His whereabouts during the next nine years is unclear. A well-known supporters of the defeated royalists and without income, he was probably obliged to rely on the run and on the support of other royalists. 1655 Cleveland was arrested in Norwich. He said out to be a year earlier came from London to Norwich. After about three months in prison he wrote a clemency petition to Oliver Cromwell, after which he was released and went well to London. He died the following year at a fever disease.

Work

In Cambridge Cleveland began to write poems. In addition, he wrote love poems - both in prose and in verse - eulogies and political satires. In 1644 he published his first book, The Character of a London Diurnall, a lampoon against a kind of forerunner of modern newspapers, published in London, which was the political unrest of the time from the perspective of parliamentarians. Cleveland then wrote two more satirical prose texts: one on civil servants, seize the goods of the nobility, and one of the authors of the Diurnals, so the newspapers.

Style

In his poems, Cleveland often used unusual language images called conceits. These are typical of Metaphysical poetry, to which his poetry can be counted. Typical of him is the rapid succession of different, sometimes unexpected comparisons, which also leads to Katachresen. Other linguistic means are striking poem starts and the use of unusual, long words. The lines of a couplet often together form a statement of Epigrammartiger conciseness and irony. An example from the poem "The Rebel Scot '

Had Cain been Scot, God would have chang'd his doome,

Not forc'd him wander, but confin'd him home.

Been (If Cain Scot, God would damn him differently:

Not for walking, but for staying at home, he would have forced him. )

In his satires Cleveland attacked those who attack the monarchy, the church, the universities, or in general the established society. He demonstrates wit and ingenuity, but also does not shy not of exaggeration and polemics back. He reached what was then else was rare, even individuals to such as Oliver Cromwell.

Edition history

It has survived not a collection of his poems, has worked at the Cleveland itself. Again and again new pirated editions appeared, in which various and different number of poems are presented as the work of Cleveland. Therefore, it is unclear the real authorship in any case until today. The band John Cleveland Revived for example, one year published after his death, contains 37 poems, two of which are in fact from Cleveland.

Between 1647 and 1687 at least 25 editions of his poems appeared. From this variety is evident that Cleveland during his lifetime one of the most widely read poets of his time. Even then held his fame to for several decades. However, John Dryden criticized Cleveland in a comparison with John Donne sharp: This will give the reader " deep thoughts in simple language ," however, that " simple thoughts in abstruse words." For Samuel Johnson Cleveland's work was a prime example of the maligned by him " Conceits " the metaphysical poets. As in the 20th century created a scientific interest in his work, the research focused on the political poems. Overall, his work is now not counted among the English poetry of the highest order, but recognized its importance for the history of satire and political literature.

Works

Since a list of unauthorized collections of poetry does not make sense, only the authorized Cleveland prose and a modern, critical edition poem:

  • The Character of a London Diurnall. Oxford: Lichfield 1644th
  • The Character of a Country Committee - man, with the Earmark of a Sequestrator. London 1649.
  • The Character of a diurnal -maker. London 1654th
  • The Poems of John Cleveland. ed by Brian Morris and Eleanor Withington. Oxford: Clarendon Press 1967.

Source

Daniel P. Jaeckle: John Cleveland. In: Dictionary of Literary Biography, vol 126, ed. v. M. Thomas Hester. Detroit: Gale 1993, pp. 62-70.

  • English
  • Author
  • Poetry
  • Literature (17th century)
  • Literature ( English )
  • Born in 1613
  • Died in 1658
  • Man
England Newark-on-Trent Integrated Authority File
444497
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