Fiddled out of Reason is a study of several poems spanning the life
and career of Joseph Addison, who, along with John Dryden,
Alexander Pope, Ambrose Philips, Isaac Watts, and many British
poets of the turn of the eighteenth century, helped to cultivate a
broad new current of nonliturgical "hymnic" verse that became
immensely popular across that century, though it has eluded
critical notice until now. The texts the book examines-Addison's
St. Cecilia's Day odes (1692, 1699), his libretto for the opera
Rosamond (1707), and a sequence of five hymnic works in The
Spectator (1712)-precede by twenty-five years John Wesley's
publication of the first hymnal for use in the Church of England.
The book argues that "secular" hymnic works such as Addison's
emerged alongside religio-political controversies and anxieties
about British national identity, morality, and expressions of
"enthusiastic" passions. Church and Tory interests largely rejected
hymnic verse, claiming it would only "fiddle" unwitting readers
"out of their reason" and reignite the dangerous fervor of
Revolution-era Nonconformity and Dissent. As is evident from his
poetry, Addison, a moderate Whig, ardently opposed this view,
arguing that the hymnic could in fact be a portal to national and
individual amelioration. After an introductory chapter exploring
period conceptions of hymnic poetry and the highly contested term
"hymn" itself, the argument proceeds through three sections to
trace the hymnic's upward trajectory through Addison's early,
mid-period, and mature verse. The book devotes the lion's share of
its attention to the last of these three, which includes the
five-poem Spectator sequence (a poem from the sequence, "The
Spacious Firmament on High," will be familiar to many readers).
Indeed, in addition to offering new readings of hymnic works by
Dryden and Pope, Fiddled out of Reason provides the first extended
critical treatment of these five important poems. Publication of
the book coincides with the 300th anniversary of Addison's death
and with the appearance of a new Oxford edition of Addison's
nonperiodical writings.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
