L'oeuvre poetique de jonathan swift

Poetical works of jonathan swift

• Auteur / Autrice : BERNARD HIBON
• Direction : Patrick Rafroidi
• Type : Thèse de doctorat
• Discipline(s) : Études anglaises
• Date : Soutenance en 1989
• Etablissement(s) : Paris 3

Mots clés

Mots clés contrôlés

Poésie

Swift, Jonathan (1667-1745)

Mots clés libres

Etudes anglaises

Litterature du 18e siecle

Poesie

Swift jonathan

Résumé

La premiere ambition de swift fut de devenir poete, et il composa d'abord des odes; ou il s'efforca d'imiter abraham cowley et s'inspira des idees de sir william temple. Les premiers essais sont des echecs, mais l'on y trouve deja les themes de l'oeuvre en prose a venir. A partir de 1698, la poesie change de ton. Les themes deviennent plus personnels, et swift compose souvent une poesie de circonstance. Appreciee du vivant de l'auteur, qui en etait fier, cette poesie fut ensuite souvent mal comprise et tenue pour mineure. On negligea notamment sa dimension humoristique. Elle apparait pourtant comme un complement indispensable au reste de l'oeuvre, et nous permet de mieux cerner la personnalite de l'auteur que sa production en prose.

In the early part of his life, swift wanted to become a poet, and he began to write odes, in which he imitated abraham cowley. He was also influenced by the ideas of sir william temple. Swift's first attempt was a failure, but we find in the odes many of the themes that will be developed later in the prose works. From 1698 on, the poems are quite different. The themes are more personal, and swift's poetry is often occasional. Swift's poems were held in high esteem in his lifetime, but after the poet's death, this aspect of his genius was gradually misunderstood and considered to be of minor importance. The humour of swift's verse was neglected. Yet, swift's poetry is a necessary complement to his other works, and it gives the reader a better view of the author's personality than his prose works.