John Denham, Cooper's Hill

Ian Gordon (Anglia Ruskin University)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.4: Irish Writing and Culture, 400-present.
Vol. editors: Paul Delaney (Trinity College Dublin), Anne Markey (Dublin City University), Ian Campbell Ross (Trinity College Dublin), Sinéad Sturgeon (Queen's University Belfast)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1642

Places

Ireland, Republic of (Eire) (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Poetry (any)

Resources

Sir John Denham’s Cooper’s Hill, first published in 1642, is little read today, but in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries it was greatly admired. In 1664 Dryden praised the “majesty of the style”, saying that it “ever will be the exact standard of good writing”. In 1713 Pope, in his poem Windsor-Forest, echoed Dryden’s praise, referring to “majestic Denham”, and proclaiming that “On Cooper’s Hill eternal Wreaths shall grow,/ While lasts the Mountain, or while Thames shall flow” (265-6). Later in the century, in his Life of Denham, 1779, Dr Johnson claimed that:

Cooper’s Hill is the work that confers upon him the rank and dignity of an original author. H…

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3266 words

Citation: Gordon, Ian. "Cooper's Hill". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 16 April 2007 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=21637, accessed 24 November 2024.]

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