Vulcan's Gold: Poetic Metallurgy in the English Renaissance.
From Philip Sidney's "golden world" to Michael Drayton's praise of Chaucer for "delving into the mine" of language which he "could refine and coin for currant" to Anne Bradstreet's admission that her humble verses are "unrefined ore," early modern literature is replete with metallurgical emblems of...
| Published in: | Modern Philology Vol. 121; no. 3; pp. 272 - 296 |
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| Format: | Poetry Review |
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University of Chicago Press
Feb2024
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=174944146&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 174944146 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00268232 MPH jtl: Modern Philology issn: 00268232 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Feb2024 vid: 121 iid: 3 pid: 415 pub: University of Chicago Press artinfo: ui: 174944146 10.1086/728212 ppf: 272 ppct: 24 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 152KB tig: atl: Vulcan's Gold: Poetic Metallurgy in the English Renaissance. aug: au: Sokolov, Danila affil: University of Iceland su: Sidney, Philip, Sir, 1554-1586 Language & languages Bradstreet, Anne, ca. 1612-1672 Materials Renaissance Early Modern Period (Literary period) sug: subj: Sidney, Philip, Sir, 1554-1586 Language & languages Bradstreet, Anne, ca. 1612-1672 Materials Renaissance Early Modern Period (Literary period) ab: From Philip Sidney's "golden world" to Michael Drayton's praise of Chaucer for "delving into the mine" of language which he "could refine and coin for currant" to Anne Bradstreet's admission that her humble verses are "unrefined ore," early modern literature is replete with metallurgical emblems of poetry as mining and refinement of gold. Insofar as this aureate language associates poetic production with multiple forms of value (material durability, economic reward, aesthetic beauty), the figure is unproblematic. But the metaphor has an unsettling aspect, for the historical practices of gold production that inform it involve elements and practices antithetical to the idea of poetry (noise, darkness, noxious fumes, destruction). The image of poetic gold is thus contested between Apollo, the god of poetry, and Vulcan, the god of fire and metallurgy. By reading texts by Spenser, Jonson, Milton and others, this essay investigates how Renaissance English poetry uses this imaginative conflict to articulate and interrogate the contours of poetic making. pubtype: Review doctype: Poetry Review src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Copyright of Modern Philology is the property of University of Chicago Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. item: Modern Philology holder: University of Chicago Press dt: @attributes: year: 2024 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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