| The Renaissance Essay, Research Paper
The Renaissance
Renaissance, French for “rebirth,” perfectly describes the intellectual and economic
changes that occurred in Europe from the fourteenth through the sixteenth centuries. During the
era known by this name, Europe emerged from the economic stagnation of the Middle Ages and
experienced a time of financial growth. Also, and perhaps most importantly, the Renaissance was
an age in which artistic, social, scientific, and political thought turned in new directions.
The renaissance could be described as a time of the awakening when great minds
influenced and changed the perspectives of people towards the arts, architecture, literature and
even science. It was in this age that artists such as William Shakespeare, EE Cummings,
Leonardo Da Vinci etc emerged. It was the dawn of a new era. The demise and reformation of
the church now enabled Artists, the audacity to express themselves in a way never they had
never done before.
Spenser s One Day I wrote upon the Strand , is a good example of the renaissance age
poetry. He portrays a humanist in the poem, writing in the sand and declaring his love for his
lady. He writes, that despite of nature their love shall live for eternity, which he would do by
writing her name across the sky. This poem reflects a lot about the renaissance. In the Medieval
ages, he would have been deemed an heretic, and would probably have been punished by the
church. He went on to show the likely rebuke he would have gotten for attributing human nature
, immortal characteristics. Lyrics such as let baser things die , would have been called
blasphemy not out of ignorance but at the limitation of individual thoughts during the time. But
in Spenser s time, he s kind of poetry was condoned and perhaps even encouraged.
This was the kind of artistic expression that separated the time of the awakening from
others. It was their ability to put all their thoughts to paper, even those violating folkways, mores
and values. This was the time of the awakening, the renaissance age.
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