Reinterpretations

<p>First published in 1971 <i>Reinterpretations</i> focusses upon a group of closely related major poems—<i>L’Allegro</i> and <i>Il Penseroso</i> Milton’s companion pieces and <i>Lycidas</i> Pope’s <i>Rape of the Lock</i> and <i>Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot</i> and Johnson’s <i>London</i>. The critical and interpretive light which Professor Hardy brings to bear on these works constitutes a considerable reinterpretation which informs our understanding of seventeenth and eighteenth century English poetry.</p><p>In the individual essays Professor Hardy suggests that the real theme of Milton’s companion poems has gone unrecognized and that not only has <i>Lycidas</i> a clear structural unity but the final effective statement of its theme depends on a realization of how this unity is achieved. He argues that current interpretations of Pope’s beautiful heroine are generally too limiting especially in ignoring the wit of the <i>Rape</i>’s overall conception and that the <i>Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot</i> far from being a mere collection of brilliant passages has a structure skilfully articulated in terms of its individual theme. Finally he demonstrates that Johnson’s reworking of Juvenal’s famous third satire has as its central structural metaphor implies an original and essentially political theme. This book will be a beneficial read for students and researchers of English literature.</p>