ABRAHAM COWLEY'S "DAVIDEIS": AN EDITION (EPIC, BIBLE, JONATHAN)
Abstract
Cowley's Davideis has traditionally been considered a failure as an epic. Yet his versification looks forward to the Restoration and his use of alexandrines, hemistiches, and interpolated odes shows an originality able to rise above poetic rules. Cowley's David is an epic hero aptly suited to a Christian epic and anticipates the later heroes of Milton. Although we cannot be certain of the poem's exact date of composition, Cowley must have begun at least preparations for the Davideis in the 1630s, and he was revising the poem in the early 1650s. Because the Davideis anticipates both Milton and the Restoration poets, we should regard Cowley as a forward-looking transitional figure instead of one of the last metaphysicals. The only correct choice for a copy text for the Davideis would be a copy of the first edition. Poems (1656). Readings from later editions should be considered, but subjected to rigorous scrutiny. This edition modifies Perkin's listing of Works texts and more clearly indicates the genealogy of Poems. Although variants in the poem may be aesthetic concerns, variants in the prose notes are often the result of actual mistakes. Therefore, conservative editorial practice in the poem coupled with a more liberal approach in the prose notes produces the most reliable text and corrects numerous errors made by Shadduck in her 1981 edition.
Degree
Ph.D.
Subject Area
British and Irish literature
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