Appreciation About
Cavalier Poets
Made by Ien Liu
From Class 0905
Cavalier poets
• Cavalier Poetry is filled with direct language and
clear-cut expressions and images, whereas
metaphysical poetry uses complicated metaphors
and unfeasible imagery. The strength of Cavalier
poetry was in its shortness and directness. It was
easy to understand and did not confuse the readers
with intricate imagery and deep meaning. Although
short and somewhat simple, cavalier poetry was
supposed to coincide with their motto “Carpe Diem”
translating to “seize the day.”
• Representatives:
• Ben Jonson (1572-1637)
• Robert Herrick (1591-1674)
Ben Johnson (1572-1637)
• After Shakespeare, the English drama underwent a
process of decline and there were more and more
sensationalism (感觉主义）and licentious(淫乱
的)scenes upon the stage to cater to theater-goers.
In 1642, 26 years after Shakespeare’s death, the
London theaters were closed down altogether.
• Of the many contemporaries and successors of
Shake —speare, the most well-known was Ben
Johnson who was son of a brick-layer(砌砖
工).Johnson received a good education, became a
remarkable Greek and Latin scholar, then began to
write for the London stage, and rose to be one of
the leading dramatists of the day.
• Johnson was a prolific dramatist, writing dozens of
plays including tragedies ，comedies and
masques(假面剧).
• In his later years, Johnson became
the literary king of the time. Around
him gathered a group of young poets
and writers who loved to sit at his
feet in London taverns and were
proud to call themselves sons of Ben.
Among them was Robert Herrick,
author of the lyric poem “Gather ye
rose-buds while ye may”. Johnson
was the Poet Laureate of James I (桂
冠诗人).
Song to CeliaDrink?to
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Drink to me only with thine eyes,
And I will pledge with mine;
Or leave a kiss but in the cup,
And I’ll not look?for wine.
The thirst that from the soul doth
rise
Doth ask a drink divine;
But might I of Jove’s Nectar sup,
I would?not change for thine.
I sent thee late a rosy wreath,
Not so much honoring thee
As giving it a hope, that thee,
It could not withered be.
But thou thereon did’st
only?breathe,
And sent’st it back to me;
Since when it grows, and smells, I
swear,
Not of itself, but thee.
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只需用你的明眸为我祝饮，
我就用我的双眼来相酬;
或者你可以亲吻一下酒杯，
那么我也不会再寻求杯中的美酒。
由于来自灵魂的干渴，
使得我极想喝到一杯天赐的美酒；
哪怕爱神可以让我痛饮琼浆，
我也不会拿你亲吻过的那杯作交换。
最近我刚送你一个玫瑰花环，
并不是我崇敬你
而是它给人一种期望
因为你它便不再枯萎。
只要你在花环边轻轻呼吸一下，
然后再把它送还给我；
当它再次盛开，发出香味时，
让我闻到的不是它的味道，而是你。
Appreciation
• 1. The whole poem is iambic. It’s first、third、fifth、
seventh line has four meter each, while its second、
fourth、sixth、eighth line has three meter each. Its
rhyme was arranged by
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a b c b a b c b.
• 2. All the rhymes, mine、wine、devine、thine 、thee、be、
me、thee，fall on the even lines. This arrangement
makes the poem full of the beauty of music.
• 3. The poem has two parts. 1)The first part was about
drink. With a drink in hand, the lovers express their love
between eyes. The poet hoped his lover to leave a kiss on
the cup, then even the Jove’s nectar, he would not
change his wine. In the poets’ eyes, the drink brewed
with love was the most delicious in the world. Compared
to this, all the other things was nothing.
• 2）the second part was about rose. The
rose was a symbol of love. Giving his lover
a rose, the poet did not only to express his
love, but hoped that the rose would never
fade with the lover’s love. In the poet’s
eyes, his lover’s aroma was stronger than
the rose. The poet described the lover’s
delicate psychology perfectly. We can feel
the poet’s deep love between the lines.
• 4. The poet praised the sincere and pure
love.
• 2）the second part was about rose. The
rose was a symbol of love. Giving his lover
a rose, the poet did not only to express his
love, but hoped that the rose would never
fade with the lover’s love. In the poet’s
eyes, his lover’s aroma was stronger than
the rose. The poet described the lover’s
delicate psychology perfectly. We can feel
the poet’s deep love between the lines.
• 4. The poet praised the sincere and pure
love.
• 1.Someone thinks the song praises the
true , and pure love, so what’s your
idea about true love in real life?
• 2.If you want to pursue of love, what
kind of love will you choose, spiritual
love or material love? and why?
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Thanks !