originally published 3/1/2001

James Trott joins Ken Myers to discuss insights he learned while editing A Sacrifice of Praise: An Anthology of Christian Poetry in English from Caedman to the Mid-Twentieth Century. He gained an appreciation for the considerable variation in poetic standards and expectations across the entire span of English poetic history. One must understand the expectations particular to certain periods in order to more fully appreciate poets writing in those periods. Trott describes how the Reformation thrust certain Christian poets, such as John Donne, into personal crisis, and how Queen Elizabeth I’s ban on hymns resulted in a growing body of more personal poetry. Finally, Trott explains how English poetry developed a self-conscious sense of its tradition during the 17th century.

7 minutes

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