Class, Patronage, and Poetry in Hanoverian England: Stephen Duck, The Famous Threshing Poet (Oxford English Monographs) ISBN-13: 9780198859666

ISBN-13: 9780198859666

Binding: Hardcover

Author: Batt, Jennifer

Details: In 1730 Stephen Duck became the most famous agricultural labourer in the Hanoverian England when his writing won him the patronage of Queen Caroline. Duck and his writing intrigued his contemporaries. How was it possible for an agricultural labourer to become a poet? What would a thresher write? Did he really deserve royal patronage, and what would he do with such an honour? How should he be supported? And was he an isolated prodigy, or were there others like him, equally deserving of support?

Ducks remarkable story reveals the tolerances, and intolerances, of the Hanoverian social order. Class, Patronage, and Poetry in Hanoverian England: Stephen Duck, The Famous Threshing Poet explores these complex and contested relationships through Ducks life and work. It sheds new light on the poets early life, revealing how the farm labourer developed an interest in poetry; how he wrote his most famous poem, The Threshers Labour; how his public identity as the famous Threshing Poet took shape; and how he came to be positioned as a figurehead of labouring-class writing. It explores how the patronage Duck received shaped his writing; how he came to reconceive his relationship with land, labour, and leisure; and how he made use of his newly acquired classical learning to develop new friendships and career opportunities. Finally, it reveals how, after Ducks death, rumours about his suicide came to overshadow the achievements of his life. Both in life, and in death, this book
argues, Duck provided both opportunity and provocation for thinking through the complex interplay of class, patronage, and poetry in Hanoverian England.

Release Date: 18-08-2020

Package Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.5 inches

Languages: English

Number Of Pages: 240