John Gay, The Shepherd's Week

Ian Gordon (Anglia Ruskin University)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.05: English Writing and Culture from the Glorious Revolution to the French Revolution, 1689-1789.
Vol. editors: Paul Baines (University of Liverpool), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Pat Rogers (University of South Florida), Nicholas Seager (University of Keele)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1714 - 1720

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Poetry (any)

Resources

John Gay's burlesque pastoral poem, The Shepherd's Week, has its origin in a literary-critical debate concerning the nature of pastoral poetry that took place in the early part of the eighteenth century. In April 1713 a series of five articles, written by Thomas Tickell (1686-1740) appeared in Richard Steele's The Guardian, arguing for a revival of the realistic English tradition in pastoral, going back especially to Spenser. Tickell particularly praised the pastoral poems of Ambrose Philips (1674-1749), but almost totally neglected those of Gay's friend, Alexander Pope (1688-1744), which had been published at the same time: in Tonson's Miscellany,…

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3039 words

Citation: Gordon, Ian. "The Shepherd's Week". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 11 May 2004 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=7721, accessed 26 April 2024.]

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