Eucharist and the Poetic Imagination in Early Modern England (Ideas in Context, Series Number 104)

"The Reformation changed forever how the sacrament of the Eucharist was understood. This study of six canonical early modern lyric poets traces the literary afterlife of what was one of the greatest doctrinal shifts in English history. Sophie Read argues that the move from a literal to a figurative understanding of the phrase 'this is my body' exerted a powerful imaginative pull on successive generations. To illustrate this, she examines in detail the work of Southwell, Donne, Herbert, Crashaw, Vaughan and Milton, who between them represent a broad range of doctrinal and confessional positions, from the Jesuit Southwell to Milton's heterodox Puritanism. Individually, each chapter examines how Eucharistic ideas are expressed through a particular rhetorical trope; together, they illuminate the continued importance of the Eucharist's transformation well into the seventeenth century - not simply as a matter of doctrine, but as a rhetorical and poetic mode. This book: Combines a literary approach focused on a close reading of the texts with an understanding of the historical and theological background ; Assimilates and responds to the increasing attention paid to the Eucharist in literary studies ; Brings together six canonical early modern English poets and presents each in a stand-alone discussion"--Publisher's website Cover 1 Contents 9 Illustrations 10 Acknowledgements 11 Note on the Text 13 Introduction 15 Eucharist and the poetic imagination 15 History of a controversy: rhetorical reformations 22 Eucharistic figuration: Luther, Zwingli, Calvin 28 Types of ambiguity: The Book of Common Prayer, 1549–1559 33 Writing after the Reformation: 1559–1674 44 Eucharist troped 51 Chapter 1 Southwell and paradox 54 Paradox, anonymity and the Jesuit aesthetic 56 Southwell’s literary apostolate 61 Body as text: imitation and martyrdom 65 Text as body: writing, relic, sacrament 73 Poetry and the failure of sacramental substitution 75 Chapter 2 Donne and punning 83 The sacramental pun 86 Love and the eucharist 90 Implicit sacramentalism: rhetoric and divinity 100 Transubstantiating transubstantiation 109 Chapter 3 Herbert and metanoia 112 The metanoietic impulse: correction and deception 114 The divided voice 119 The divine voice 125 Metanoia and the eucharist 129 Submissive equivocation: Herbert’s mysterious eucharist 138 Chapter 4 Crashaw and metonymy 141 Criticising Crashaw: a matter of taste 142 Outrageous appetites: the erotics of the edible Christ 146 Crashaw’s self-consuming art 151 Metonymy and Christianity 158 Communion in one kind: eucharistic accommodation 163 Chapter 5 Vaughan and synecdoche 168 The synecdoche of the flashing flint 172 Scriptural poetics and the Book of Nature 178 Anglican recusancy and the Book of Common Prayer 182 ‘Vitall gold’: communions of light 188 Chapter 6 Milton and metaphor 193 Metaphor and Christianity 195 The eucharist in paradise 201 Transubstantiating transubstantiation II 207 Covenant and sacrament 210 Eve’s misreadings: of sacramental symbols and the fruit 213 Epilogue 219 Select bibliography 222 Primary 222 Secondary 224 Index 234