The Penguin Book Of Restoration Verse

After years of civil war, religious upheaval, political uncertainty and the rather drastic experiment of executing a king, England finally decided in 1660 that perhaps having a monarchy wasn’t such a terrible idea after all. Charles II returned to the throne, the theatres reopened, fashionable society rediscovered the pleasures of entertainment, and the poets wasted remarkably little time getting themselves into trouble.

The Penguin Book of Restoration Verse (1968), edited by Harold Love, offers a splendid excursion into one of the liveliest, wittiest and most gloriously irreverent periods in English literary history. This was an age when poetry was expected to do considerably more than admire daffodils. It could flatter a monarch, demolish a political opponent, celebrate a mistress, ridicule a rival or make a thoroughly improper joke at the expense of someone who probably deserved it.

Restoration England was a world of elaborate wigs, extravagant fashions, questionable morals and political loyalties that could change almost as quickly as the weather. The literary establishment, never entirely immune to such temptations, responded with an explosion of satire, sophisticated wit, romantic verse and occasionally breathtaking rudeness.

Among the great literary personalities associated with the period were John Dryden, Andrew Marvell, Aphra Behn and the notorious Earl of Rochester, whose contribution to English literature demonstrated that aristocratic privilege, considerable poetic talent and an almost complete absence of restraint could produce some extremely entertaining results.

Harold Love’s anthology explores the remarkable variety of Restoration poetry, capturing an era when literary ambition and social ambition were frequently indistinguishable. Poets competed for patronage, reputation, political influence and romantic attention, often discovering that an expertly composed insult could be considerably more effective than a polite letter.

The verse ranges from elegant and reflective to biting and outrageous, revealing a society fascinated by power, pleasure, religion, reputation and the complicated business of human relationships. Beneath the powdered wigs and elaborate language are recognisably modern concerns: ambition, jealousy, hypocrisy, desire and the enduring conviction that everyone else’s behaviour is rather less respectable than one’s own.

Published by Penguin in 1968, this anthology provides an entertaining introduction to a literary age in which intelligence and mischief frequently enjoyed a particularly productive partnership. It is ideal for lovers of English poetry, literary history and anyone who suspects that the seventeenth century was rather more entertaining than school history lessons suggested.

Condition: Good. A vintage paperback showing the ordinary signs of age, reading and handling. Having survived considerably longer than the reign of Charles II, it has earned the right to possess a little character.

Offered by Crappy Old Books, where we believe that literature should occasionally be provocative, history should never be dull, and a 1968 Penguin paperback has more than enough dignity to survive being sold by a business with a name like ours. No ISBN, incidentally, but four centuries of literary misbehaviour should be quite sufficient identification.

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