17th century British literature  

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English literature, Elizabethan literature, Jacobean era literature

The sonnet form and other Italian literary influences arrived in English literature. The sonnet was introduced into English by Thomas Wyatt in the early 16th century.

In the later 16th century English poetry was characterised by elaboration of language and extensive allusion to classical myths. The most important poets of this era include Edmund Spenser and Sir Philip Sidney.

The most important literary achievements of the English Renaissance were in drama (see English Renaissance theatre). William Shakespeare, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language, wrote over 35 plays in several genres, including tragedy, comedy, and history. Other leading playwrights of the time included Ben Jonson, and Christopher Marlowe.

At the Reformation the translation of liturgy and Bible into vernacular languages provided new literary models. The Anglican Book of Common Prayer and the Authorized King James Version of the Bible have been hugely influential. King James Bible as one of the biggest translation projects in the history of English up to this time, was started in 1604 and completed in 1611.

It represents the culmination of a tradition of Bible translation into English that began with the work of William Tyndale. It became the standard Bible of the Church of England, and some consider it one of the greatest literary works of all time. Sir Francis Bacon termed phrase "Knowledge is Power", his works are deemed so influential they're included in the Western canon

Major poets of the 17th century included John Donne and other metaphysical poets, and John Milton with religious epic Paradise Lost. Another seminal work of Milton was Areopagitica, among history's most influential and impassioned philosophical defences of the principle of a right to freedom of speech, which was written in opposition to licensing and censorship and is regarded as one of the most eloquent defenses of press freedom ever written.

Notable writers

17th century English literature




Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "17th century British literature" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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