@prefix vivo: . @prefix edm: . @prefix ns0: . @prefix dcterms: . @prefix skos: . vivo:departmentOrSchool "Arts, Faculty of"@en, "English, Department of"@en ; edm:dataProvider "DSpace"@en ; ns0:degreeCampus "UBCV"@en ; dcterms:creator "Watson, Charles Ernest"@en ; dcterms:issued "2010-01-27T00:07:36Z"@en, "1974"@en ; vivo:relatedDegree "Master of Arts - MA"@en ; ns0:degreeGrantor "University of British Columbia"@en ; dcterms:description "In the literature of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries poets felt a special affinity with the subject of the end of the world, and utilized visions of the apocalypse in their works. Examples of such descriptions of the final dissolution of the world are to be found in the major European literatures of the period. In order to stay within manageable limits, and since their works are representative of the treatment of this topic, this study involves an examination of the apocalyptic visions of Agrippa d'Aubigné, John Donne, Marc Antoine de Gérard Saint-Amant, and Richard Crashaw. Specifically the poems considered are d'Aubigné's \"Les Tragiques\", Donne's \"Anniversaries,\" Saint-Amant's \"Le Contemplateur\" and \"La Solitude,\" Crashaw's adaptation of the Latin hymn entitled \"The Hymn of the Church, in Meditation of the Day of Judgment, 'Dies Irae,'\" and \"The Teresa Poems.,\" In both the Jewish and Christian traditions there are apocalypses that reveal the nature of the end of things. The most well known of these apocalypses are the books of \"Daniel\" and the \"Revelation of St. John.\" In this study the visions of the four authors are considered in the light of this tradition. The critical approach in the first four chapters is the examination of each of the authors' poems separately, and the discussion of the primary features of their apocalyptic descriptions. This necessitates a consideration of the author's attitude toward his artistic purpose, his conception of his source of inspiration, his exact use of the apocalypse in the body of his poem, and the use of certain rhetorical techniques that are fundamental to the nature of an apocalyptic work. In the chapters on d'Aubigné and Donne the artistic purpose and use of the apocalypse is viewed as propagandist or seriously moral, the source of inspiration that of the man inspired by God, and the rhetorical method the exercise of cumulative piling, harangues, and spectacular language. Contrasted with the serious and universal function of the apocalypse in d'Aubigné and Donne, in the visions of Saint-Amant and Crashaw the source of inspiration emanates from the poets' own understanding of their imaginative state. The visions are seen as more personal, and in the case of Saint-Amant, as a necessary structural element. In both authors variations on the rhetorical techniques of the other authors are evident. In the final chapter features of the authors' apocalyptic poems which are also found in either the Jewish or Christian traditions are assessed. Whereas the poems of d'Aubigné and Donne are seen as sharing the overall moral outlook and direction with these traditions, such as a prophetic source of inspiration and intent to console, the poems of Saint-Amant and Crashaw are not. They are described as introverted versions in which the personal and primarily aesthetic overrides the universal. The reasons for the appearance of the subject in the authors are suggested in terms of the poets' individual motivations and a sceptical crisis in the period. Lastly, the suggestion is made that a definition and distinction be given to the genre and motif of the apocalypse."@en ; edm:aggregatedCHO "https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/19173?expand=metadata"@en ; skos:note "c. I VERSIONS OP THE APOCALYPSE IN FOUR SEVENTEENTH CENTURY AUTHORS by Charles Ernest Watson B.A., Arizona State University, 1972 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS i n the Department of Comparative Literature We accept t h i s thesis as conforming to the required standard: THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA A p r i l , 1974 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make i t freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the Head of my Department or by his representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department The University of British Columbia Vancouver 8, Canada i d ABSTRACT In the l i t e r a t u r e of the l a t e sixteenth and early seven-teenth centuries poets f e l t a special a f f i n i t y with the subject of the end of the world, and u t i l i z e d visions of the apocalypse i n t h e i r works. Examples of such descriptions of the f i n a l d issolution of the world are to be found i n the major European l i t e r a t u r e s of the period. In order to stay within manageable l i m i t s , and since t h e i r works are representative of the treat-ment of t h i s topic, t h i s study involves an examination of the apocalyptic visions of Agrippa d'Aubigne, John Donne, Marc Antoine de Gerard Saint-Amant, and Richard Crashaw. S p e c i f i -c a l l y the poems considered are d'Aubigne's Les Tragiques, Donne's \"Anniversaries,\" Saint-Amant*s \"Le Contemplateur\" and \"La Solitude,\" Crashaw's adaptation of the L a t i n hymn en t i t l e d \"The Hymn of the Church, i n Meditation of the Day of Judgment, 'Dies Irae,'\" and \"The Teresa Poems.,\" In both the Jewish andcVristian traditions there are apocalypses that reveal the nature of the end of things. The most well known of these apocalypses are the books of \"Daniel\" and the \"Revelation of St. John.\" . In this study the visions of the four authors are considered i n the l i g h t of this trad-i t i o n . The c r i t i c a l approach i n the f i r s t four chapters.is the examination of each of the authors' poems separately, and the discussion of the primary features of t h e i r apocalyptic des-cr i p t i o n s . This necessitates a consideration of the author's i i i _ a ttitude toward his a r t i s t i c purpose, his conception of his source of i n s p i r a t i o n , his exact use of the apocalypse i n the body of his poem, and the use of certain r h e t o r i c a l techniques that are fundamental to the nature of an apocalyptic work. In the chapters on d'Aubigne\" and Donne the a r t i s t i c purpose and use of the apocalypse i s viewed as propagandist or seriously moral, the source of i n s p i r a t i o n that of the man inspired by God, and the r h e t o r i c a l method the exercise of cumulative p i l i n g , harangues, and spectacular language. Contrasted with the serious and universal function of the apocalypse i n d'Aub-igne and Donne, i n the visions of Saint—A-mant and Crashaw the source of i n s p i r a t i o n emanates from the poets' own under-standing of their imaginative state. The visions are seen as more personal, and i n the case of Saint-Amant, as a necessary stru c t u r a l element. In both authors variations on the rhetor-i c a l techniques of the other authors are evident. In the f i n a l chapter features of the authors' apocalyptic poems which are also found i n either the Jewish or Christian t r a d i t i o n s are assessed. Whereas the poems of d'Aubigne and Donne are seen as sharing the overall moral outlook and d i r -ection with these t r a d i t i o n s , such as a prophetic source of i n s p i r a t i o n and intent to console, the poems of Saint-Amant and Crashaw are not. They are described as introverted ver-sions i n which the personal and primarily aesthetic overrides the universal. The reasons for the appearance of the subject i n the authors are suggested i n terms of the poets' individual motivations and a sceptical c r i s i s i n the period. Lastly, the suggestion i s made that a d e f i n i t i o n and d i s t i n c t i o n be given to the genre and motif of the apocalypse. V TABLE OP CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION: THE END OP THE WORLD 1 CHAPTER I: D'AUBIGNE'S 'LES TRAGIQUES' 9 A. A Rhetorical Stance: The A c t i v i t y of Ex i l e ... 9 1. The Propagandist Intent 12 2. The Propagandist Technique 14 3. D'Aubigne's View of the 'Monde CasseS' ... 17 B. The Second Jonah 20 1. D'Aubigne's G i f t of Prophecy 20 2. The Apocalypse: 'Au Giron de Dieu' 26 C. D'Aubigne's Choice of Genre and his Use of the Bible 32 CHAPTER I I : JOHN DONNE'S 'ANNIVERSARIES' 38 A. John Donne: Introduction to the 'Anniversaries' 38 B. The Source of Inspiration 42 C. The Nobles.t Sense 47 D. Donne's Treatment of E v i l 54 CHAPTER I I I : SAINT-AMANT'S 'LE CONTEMPLATEUR' AND 'LA SOLITUDE' 63 A. 'Le Bon Gros:' Introduction to *Le Contemplateur' 63 B. The Experience of Solitude 67 C. The P i n a l Synapse 73 1. The Element of 'Ut Pictura Poesis' 77 2. The Elements of Gongorism 81 3. The Bacchic Element 85 CHAPTER IV: CRASHAW'S POETIC VISION 89 A. 'Unum Ante Thronum' 89 B. \"The Teresa Poems\" 98 v i . • CONCLUSION .. 105 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 113 APPENDIX I 126 v i i NOTE Unless otherwise stated, reference throughout t h i s study i s to the following editions; Aubigne, Theodore Agrippa d'. Oeuvres. ed. Henri Weber. Paris: Gallimard, Bibliotheque de l a Pleiade, 1969. Crashaw, Richard. The Complete Poetry, ed. George Walton Williams. Garden Cit y , New York: Doubleday & Co., Inc., 1970. Donne, John. Poetical Works. 1912. ed. Herbert J.C. Grierson; London: Oxford University Press, 1971. Saint-Amant, Antoine Gerard, sieur de. Oeuvres. 4 vols. ed. Jean Lagny. Paris: L i b r a i r i e Marcel Didier, 1967-71. <5> INTRODUCTION THE END OF.THE WORLD Quite unexpectedly as Vasserot The armless ambidextrian was l i g h t i n g A match between his great and second toe And Ralph the l i o n was engaged i n b i t i n g The neck of Madame Sossman while the drum Pointed, and teeny was about to cough In waltz- time swinging Jocko by the thumb-Quite unexpectedly the top blew off: And there, there overhead, there, there, hung over Those thousands of white faces, those dazed eyes, There i n the starless dark the poise, the hover, There with vast wings across the canceled skies, There i n the sudden blackness the black p a l l Of nothing, nothing, nothing- nothing at a l l . Poets of the l a t e sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries would have f e l t a special a f f i n i t y with the subject of t h i s poem by the modern American poet Archibald MacLeish. I t was John Donne who asked, \"What i f t h i s present were the world's l a s t night?\" and gave, along with many of his contemporaries, a des-c r i p t i o n of the world becoming \"nothing at a l l . \" ^ * Indeed, examples of poems that take the apocalypse as th e i r major topic are to be found i n many of the major European l i t e r a t u r e s of the period, and include works of Shakespeare, Milton, Donne, Herbert, Crashaw, Theophile de Viau, Saint-Amant, Agrippa d'Aubigne, Malherbe, Gryphius, Kuhlmann, and Greifenbercjf. Since my selection of authors' works has been dictated by a desire to keep the overall study within manageable l i m i t s , the scope of thi s study, a l b e i t comparative, i s narrower. I have limi t e d 'Holy Sonnet X I I I . \" 2 the extent of my study to selected works of two French and two English authors whose poems are representative of the treatment of the apocalypse i n this period. These four authors are Agrippa d'Aubigne(1551-1630), John Donne(1572-1631), Marc-Ant oine de Gerard Saint-Amant(1594-1661) and Richard Crashaw (1612-1649). The emphasis given to the apocalyptic poetry of Richard Crashaw i s not found i n the other comparative works that have dealt with t h i s topic. Part of the reason for this s i t u a -t i o n i s perhaps the present trend of c r i t i c a l opinion which, finds the poetry of d'Aubign