Civil War (University of Toronto. Dept. of English. Studies and texts, 20)

By Abraham Cowley

Book Overview

The Civil War is a poem which Abraham Cowley (1618-67) did

not complete, for political and historical reasons, and of which only the first

volume was published; the other two volumes have been considered irrecoverably lost

since Cowley's death. Professor Pritchard recently found two copies of the

complete poem in a collection of family papers at the Hertfordshire County Record

Office and here presents a corrected edition of the first and previously published

book, and the text of the hitherto unpublished books two and three.

The poem

is a major addition to the body of Cowley's poetry; it has close and sometimes

surprising connections with much of his other work. It is not only the most extended

and important of his political poems but a significant addition to the genre of the

political poem. It is also unique as the attempt by a poet of stature to give epic

treatment to the events of the English Civil War.

Professor Pritchard provides

a discussion of the personal, historical, and literary contexts of the poem in the

introduction, as well as of textual problems and methods, showing the way in which

the poem is shaped both by contemporary history and polemics and by classical and

later literary tradition.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1442639431
• ISBN13: 9781442639430
• Release Date: December 1973
• Publisher: University of Toronto Press
• Length: 206 Pages
• Weight: 0.72 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.1" x 9.2"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher