The American Puritan elegy : a literary and cultural study / Jeffrey A. Hammond.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Safe Driver A. D. I.

Series:

Cambridge studies in American literature and culture ; 123.

Cambridge studies in American literature and culture ; [123]

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Elegiac poetry, American--History and criticism.

Elegiac poetry, American.

American poetry--Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775--History and criticism.

American poetry.

American poetry--Puritan authors--History and criticism.

American poetry--New England--History and criticism.

Literature and anthropology--New England--History.

Literature and anthropology.

Christianity and literature--New England--History.

Christianity and literature.

Puritans--New England--Intellectual life.

Puritans.

History.

American poetry--Puritan authors.

American poetry--Colonial period.

New England.

Intellectual life.

Death in literature.

Grief in literature.

Physical Description:

xv, 264 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2000.

Summary:

Jeffrey Hammond's study of the funeral elegies of early New England reassesses a body of poems whose importance in their own time has been obscured by almost total neglect in ours. Hammond reconstructs the historical, theological and cultural contexts of these poems to demonstrate how they responded to Puritan views on a specific process of mourning. The elegies emerge, he argues, as performative scripts that consoled readers by shaping their experience. They shed new light on the emotional dimension of Puritanism and the important role of ritual in Puritan culture.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 240-255) and index.

ISBN:

0521662451

OCLC:

41564974