Early American Poetry: Selections from Bradstreet, Taylor, Dwight, Freneau, and Bryant

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Univ of Wisconsin Press, Jul 21, 1978 - Poetry - 398 pages

Here is the first major-figure anthology of American poetry of the colonial and early national periods, an indispensable volume for both students and scholars of American literature and civilization.
Five major literary figures are spotlighted: Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672), Edward Taylor (1642?"-1729), Timothy Dwight (1752-1817), Philip Freneau (1752-1832), and William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878). An introduction to each chapter summarizes the life of the poet, reviews his or her literary career, describes and evaluates artistic achievement, and places the poet in an intellectual context. The writer's relationship to changing religious, philosophical, political, and cultural patters is established. The contemporary perspective is augmented by the inclusion of an appendix which presents three important poems by other writers: Micheal Wigglesworth's "God's Controversy with New England," Ebenezer Cook's The Sot-Weed Factor, and Joel Barlow's "Hasty Pudding."
Eberwein goes beyond the most popular and familiar works to include those of unrecognized literary merit, presenting a thoroughly unique approach which illuminates the full range of the writers' themes, forms and poetic voices.

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Contents

Anne Bradstreet 16121672
3
Edward Taylor 1642?1729
62
Timothy Dwight 17521817
121
Philip Freneau 17521832
190
William Cullen Bryant 17941878
254
Appendix
319
Index of Poets and Titles
377
Index of First Lines
381
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