A Glance at the English Civil War Period Through Poetry

 

A Glance at the English Civil War Period Through Poetry

by Umut Can Bulut

Over the years, art has kept its place as an important indicator to help understand the spirit of a certain time. An artwork, by containing in it intense emotion and unique viewpoints to life, can say a lot that would not be found in a simple account of history. Therefore, studying artworks in their time context can unveil some interesting links between the work and the influential events of the time period. Poetry, being one of the most emotionally expressive art forms, works perfectly in that regard. Thus, using poetry to take a glance at the past is a great way of getting valuable insight into the history, in this case getting insight into the English civil war period. Abraham Cowley, Andrew Marvell, and John Milton were all well-known poets of that time. Therefore, putting their famous works which were written around that time, like Marvell’s “To His Coy Mistress” or Milton’s Paradise Lost along with Cowley’s “The Grasshopper”, into context should reveal intriguing perspectives on the socio-political climate of civil war period England. However, in order to do that, further explanation on the civil war period in England needs to be given first.

The civil war was conducted by two of the major political opposition groups of the time. The Puritans, who wanted the abolition of the monarchy and the establishment of a republic, rose against the Royalists, who wanted to protect the monarchy. At the end of the war, the Puritans were victorious under Oliver Cromwell’s leadership. The Commonwealth was established, and Cromwell became the Lord Protector. With this victory, England witnessed the regicide of the dethroned Charles I. and the exile of the remaining royal family. A parliament was formed and, for better or worse, the people of England were now being governed under a republic. Former to this, change in the rule and governance was nothing new to the people. As kings came and went, the politics of the state changed accordingly, but there was never governance of a republic before. It was indeed unusual for everybody, from the common folk to the intellectuals. Moreover, it was a republic that was being run by Puritans, therefore it forced certain Puritan values upon people, which meant considerable changes in daily lives besides politics. Anything that was regarded as immoral in the eyes of the Puritans was now prohibited. Drinking, dancing, playing, and singing were some of those things (Cleveland, 413). However, this situation did not last long. About a decade later, with the death of the Lord Protector who was the pillar of the Commonwealth, the republic fell apart, and Charles II., the exiled son of the beheaded King Charles I., was brought back home. He claimed the crown, and the monarchy was restored. The series of events that led to this restoration was distressful. All of the dramatic power shifts that happened during this process naturally affected the people of England deeply. The rapid changes of authorities over a short period of time created doubt and distrust. One day a person could be able to speak their mind freely and the other day those exact words would be the reason for their public execution. The poets were the ones who suffered the consequences of this situation heavily since they earned their livings by expressing their ideas in their art. Thus, the political affiliations of the poets were known by everyone. Hence, when the monarchy was eradicated, the Royalist poets had no chance of carrying on in the new Commonwealth. They either had to hide or follow the royal family into exile. Vice versa, the poets who supported the Commonwealth had to go into hiding once the monarchy was restored. It was basically a struggle for survival at that point, poets evading and dodging the authorities who might come after them. Regardless of which side they supported, most poets went through a depressing phase as this political turmoil unfolded.   

“The Grasshopper”, written by Abraham Cowley, reflects this situation through its way of channeling the state of mind of the poet. Cowley was a Royalist, a “cavalier poet”, and with the fall of the monarchy it was not likely for a known Royalist to survive in the Commonwealth. Therefore, he had to follow the royal family into exile. The hardships of being defeated and forced to leave his home must have made him feel lower than ever, so low that he thought even a mere grasshopper’s life was better than his, which was his argument in “The Grasshopper”. Being a poet of the metaphysical school, Cowley defends this far-fetched argument by describing the easy and happy life of a grasshopper. The grasshopper lives a convenient life, according to Cowley. He emphasizes how it does not have to work for its survival. Nature provides the food it needs: “All the fields which thou dost see/ All the plants belong to thee” (Cowley, lines 11-12). Another thing Cowley touches upon is the lack of any hardship in the life of the insect; it doesn’t even face a cold, harsh winter in its lifetime: “Dost neither age nor winter know” (Cowley, line 28). Cowley makes it seem as if nature was tailored for a grasshopper, so it can live a perfect life. However, this is not the case in the human experience. When compared to human life, the simple life of the grasshopper creates a heavy contrast. Unlike the insect, man has to work for his survival. Furthermore, man has all kinds of complications, such as politics, that make life that much harder. An insect would never suffer the consequences of its political ideas, for an insect does not have politics or ideas. This is what Cowley is envious of. The way Cowley shrinks human life, thus his own life, down to a point at which it can be compared to the life of an insect could be regarded as an indicator of how the Royalists, in general, felt under the political, social, and economic climate of the time: defeated and humiliated.

On the other side of the coin, back in the homeland, life was not a lot better under the new republic compared to life in exile. The republic was not a stable one and parliaments were not effective; perhaps not surprisingly so, as it was the first experience of England with a republican system. On top of this instability, as mentioned before, there were changes in common life. Puritan values were being forced upon people, and not complying with those values meant meeting severe punishment. Furthermore, with the centralization of power around the Lord Protector, the republic started to look less and less like a republic and more like a monarchy. Therefore, people were anxiety-ridden, not knowing what was to come next and how their lives would be affected by these changes in politics. Andrew Marvell was one of those anxious people who lived in England during this time of uncertainty. Not being able to see what is there at the end of the tunnel, he took shelter in seizing the moments that are present and wrote about it in his poem “To His Coy Mistress”. In this poem, Marvell is in a rush, he is trying to convince his lover to give herself to him before it is too late. In the very first two lines of the poem he writes: “Had we but world enough and time/ This coyness, lady, were no crime.” He thus openly states that it is a crime to let moments go by without making the most of them. The present is the only thing that he knows for sure belongs to him. Therefore he wants to embrace it before it inevitably flies away. The fear of running out of time is prevalent all through the poem, but it is best expressed in these lines: “But at my back I always hear/ Times winged chariot hurrying near” (Marvell, lines 21-22). He feels the future is closing in and thus the decay of what he has now. Not just Marvell but most of the people who lived in the same tempestuous socio-political climate as he most likely felt the same way about the future.  

Being said that, there were also people who found comfort in this brief reign of the republic. Identifying the traditional monarchy with the devil himself, Puritans would have accepted a tyrant that held the same values as them rather than a member of the royal family. Unfortunately for them, after the death of Oliver Cromwell, the royal family returned and the monarchy was restored in 1660. Even though Charles II. agreed to rule in accordance with the parliament, not all of the supporters of the - now former - republic were safe. There was a series of executions and punishments, which led to the hiding of the other Puritans out of fear for their lives. John Milton was one of them. He was an active supporter of the republic and Cromwell. He had strong political opinions that he openly expressed in his pamphlets, wherefore his presence on the political stage was well known by others. Being aware of what kinds of hazards being a well-known Puritan brings with it in the restored monarchy, he had to be out of sight so that he could be out of mind. However, resentment brewed in him, resentment of losing something precious to him. Thus, his state of mind under these circumstances gave birth to his greatest work, Paradise Lost. In this literary epic, Milton wrote about how humankind lost the state of bliss and fell from grace. Some people interpreted this as the reflection of Milton’s frustration about losing the republic, which he very well might have considered as the “state of bliss” since he was such a devoted supporter of it. The power struggles and the longing for a lost utopia that takes place in this epic make it a qualified piece of work for understanding England from the eyes of a Puritan during this time of extreme political disturbance on a level of greater depth.   

To sum up, turbulent times in politics without doubt take their toll on people. In the case of mid-17th century England, the civil war and the rapid shifts in authorities affected a lot of people in different ways. When the monarchy fell for the first time, it was a time of great distress for the Royalists. Following it, the formation of the republic meant substantial changes in the daily life of the people and created instability. Later, when the monarchy was restored, it meant the defeat of the Puritans. All of these occurrences led to a general depression of the English people, and it inevitably found its way into the literature. The poets, who pour their souls into their works, could not help but reflect their states of mind in their poems. Poems like Paradise Lost, “To His Coy Mistress” and “The Grasshopper” allow us a glance into the minds of citizens who lived through the turbulent and troubled years of the English civil war and early restoration period.            

Bibliography

Cleveland, A. "Individual Liberty under the Commonwealth." Law Magazine and Review: A Quarterly Review of Jurisprudence, vol. 37, no. 4, August 1912, p. 413. HeinOnline. 

Cowley, A. “The Grass Hopper” All Poetry https://allpoetry.com/poem/8465821-The-Grasshopper-by-Abraham-Cowley Accessed 10 April 2022

Marvell, A. “To His Coy Mistress” Poetry Foundation https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44688/to-his-coy-mistress Accessed 10 April 2022