The Language of Architecture in Early Modern English Poetry

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2018-05

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The Ohio State University

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Abstract

This essay intends to follow the development of Early Modern architectural language from the "esoteric names" that Vitruvius describes through to the work of English poets from Edmund Spenser to John Milton. In doing so, the essay will explore the metaphorical language initially developed by Vitruvius, and the way that English translator's and theorists imparted their own metaphorical meanings onto the language of architect. The foundations of Vitruvian architecture, with its tendency to use of densely metaphorical language and reliance on comparisons between human and architectural characteristics, provided Renaissance poets with a rich theoretical basis on which to ground their own architecturally-inspired writings.

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Poetry, Renaissance, Early Modern, Architecture, Country House, Vitruvius

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