Inspiration in the Age of Enlightenment reconsiders theories of apostrophe and poetic authority to argue that the Augustan age created a new form of inspiration, one that not only changed the relationship of literary production to authority in the...
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Inspiration in the Age of Enlightenment reconsiders theories of apostrophe and poetic authority to argue that the Augustan age created a new form of inspiration, one that not only changed the relationship of literary production to authority in the modern period but that also crucially contributes to defining the movement of secularization in literature from the Renaissance to Romanticism. By examining the formal mechanisms of invocation in Augustan literature, and by exploring a wider range of writers that extends beyond Swift and his vehement critique of enthusiasm, Eron charts a positive ref
Contents; Acknowledgments; Preface; Introduction; Chapter One: Amused and Bemused; Chapter Two: "Eyes that Must Eclipse"; Chapter Three: Curtain, Muse!; Chapter Four: Genius, Muse; Chapter Five: The "Unknown" and The "Unveiled"; Coda; Bibliography; Index; About the Author