Exploring the Elizabethan Age - Robert Herrick - Essay Example

Exploring the Elizabethan Age: Robert Herrick Introduction Robert Herrick (1591-1674) invented writing that adopted the fanciful compound of Christianity in England and paganism in Rome. His writing consisted of reality and fantasy put under a poetry domain. Robert Herrick explored the Elizabethan age where Shakespeare was known for his historical writings and Edmund Spenser published books. His age stretched to the restoration period common with the dramatic compositions of John Dryden and the publication of Paradise Lost. Herrick’s compositions were contemporary with other poets including George Herbert and John Donne. Herrick’s history remains unknown apart from a few letters and 1,403 poems found in his book The Works both Humane and Divine of Robert Herrick, Esq. (1648). His educational history remains unknown as the period between his birth and death does not provide detailed information. Herrick was born in Cheapside to Nicholas Herrick and Julian Stone. Social and Cultural Influence At the time Robert Herrick was beginning his career, there were many social and cultural aspects that influenced his career both positively and negatively. However, it is essential to note that Robert Herrick through his career has managed to influence black American music as well as society. According to Kampf, eight outstanding individuals have made lasting contributions to the American nation (2). Robert Herrick falls among the individuals who have influenced the black American poetry culture. Despite the difficulties and problems that blacks encountered at the time, Herrick was able to elude most of them in order to launch a perfect career. The black church influenced Herrick’s career. He noted in an interview that without the church experience, he would not have known if he would have been able to sing in public places (Nakesha and Shameera 23). Poetry in church choirs is a common African American activity and is something that influenced many African American poets at the time. For instance, Marian Anderson and Leonyne Price were also introduced to music through church choirs (Nakesha and Shameera 24). Quoting from Grace Bumbrey, CBS provides that African American churches have been hugely influential with the black society, and hence their performance (21). CBS calls the church of the 1990 “the rock that blacks depend on” (12). According to Norment, the American society was influenced by black poetry (2). Most of the blacks during slavery demonstrated their propensity for imprisonment through poems (Norment 2). Despite the fact that Herrick was not part of this era, he is born of this blood. Black poems are the forefathers of poetry categories such as jazz and rhythm & blues (Norment 3). According to Norment, the American society, which was then dominated by white people, was profoundly influenced by black poetry of the day (23). Black poetry during the 1990s was copied and expanded by whites, and thus whites managed to become rich and famous for what was known to be imitations (Norment 24). Problems Encountered Despite the fact that Herrick is not categorized among the best poets, he encountered many problems. 1n the 1660s, the poetry was seen as very sophisticated and social, and therefore, blacks were not allowed to participate (Nettles 8). However, this problem seemed to have been dissolved with the emergence of Marian Anderson (Nettles 9). The poetry door came down with the existence of Leotyne Price. Since she was a woman, her performance in the opera was not seen as a threat to the male dominated society (Nettles 6). According to many researchers, this aspect never made any sense since it showed that one gender was allowed to sing and the other denied (Nettles 5). Other issues included financials in a sense that white poets were much more preferred to black ones. However, if there was a talented black poet, he would be hired for much less amount (Nettles 6). This aspect of the opera gave birth to the term “color-blind casting,” which is used as the opposite to the term “dramatic realism” (Nettles 7). This is a problem that has many people asking the direction that opera boards are taking. Robert Herrick in his career once had the role of Donna Anna in Mozart’s Don Giovanni opera production (Nettles 8). This was more of a racism case since the director of Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Peter Brook, thought that Herrick, being a poet, would detract the Donna Anna role from the opera’s realism (Nettles 7). Peter Brook failed to put into consideration that non-African Americans Carmens were fat, Canios were short, and Romeo and Juliet were more than forty years of age (Nettles 9). This problem provided that racism existed in Herrick’s hometown more than it did in Europe. In fact, Herrick proclaimed that when he was performing in cities such as Hamburg, Paris and Berlin, people in these cities did not care about his skin color. Most of the people engaged him since he could do his part. When he was pouting at Don Carlo, Herrick made himself lighter to be accepted in the community. However, he said that since that time, he had not made himself light for the sake of performances (Nettles 10). Despite this fact, and comparing to Robert Herrick, Anderson’s theater contract was used to specify equality, despite being a separate orchestra setting for African-Americans (Nakesha and Shameera 22). There is no much difference between Herrick and Anderson since both suffered from the racial prejudices that black people tried to fight for a long time. Black Poets that Influenced Herrick’s Career Marian Anderson has had a lot of influence on Herrick’s career. Despite the fact that both Herrick and Anderson performed almost at the same time, it was Anderson’s ability to break the barriers that prevented African-Americans from performing in opera houses, those which opened doors to Herrick’s career. Before Herrick started his career, it had been difficult for African-Americans to perform in opera. In fact, this was thought to diminish the status which had been given to the opera house. Marian Anderson was the first African-American to perform in an opera house, and thus paved the way for most African-American poets that wanted to perform in an opera house at the time. Although she is not famous and did not accomplish such a task as Anderson, Sissieritta Jones was a positive influence on Robert Herrick’s career (NATS 17). Sissieritta was much compared to the reigning white diva Adelina Patti, an aspect that provided her with the required stage performances. However, one problem was the racial discrimination that reigned between whites and blacks during the period. However, this did not prevent Jones from performing at the Wallack’s Theatre in New York (NATS 18). Despite that, Herrick needed an insight into how to take on the world. Perhaps, by emulating Anderson’s way, it made him famous in some of the best cities in the world. However, the introduction of Soprano Dorothy Maynor provided Herrick with new and much improved concepts of performance. The public praise of Maynor accelerated her career in the 1660s, an insight that Herrick found to be influential with his career (NATS 19). Maynor’s performance was different from Leontyne Price’s, considering that Price defined the essence of a prima donna. What Herrick needed was a way to combine talent with a flair of drama, a character that was well portrayed by Grace Bumbry (NATS 19). This technique was so crucial when it came to performance in the opera house. Response from White Audience During 1660s whites’ responses, the African-American poetry was decidedly different compared to these days. Most of the whites recognized African-American as slaves, a concept that extended to performances in the opera house. Although there were a few changes by the time Herrick was introduced to life in the opera, the white response to African American performance had not changed much (Finkelman 13). In fact, most whites preferred the roles played by African-Americans in the opera to be performed by white people. However, this was mostly in Herrick’s hometown. In other cities such as Hamburg and Paris, Herrick received a much better response from the whites. Most of them did not look at the color of his skin but his performance as an entertainment artist. In fact, Herrick noted that while performing, he had to make his skin lighter only once, an aspect of the society that never happened again (Finkelman 14). Most of his audience did not care about his skin color while outside Oklahoma. Works Cited CBS. The age of the Black diva - Afro-American opera poets. Findarticles, 2013. Web. February 1, 2013. . Finkelman, Paul. Encyclopedia of African American history, 1896 to the present ..., Volume 1. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. Print. Kampf, Penny. Oklahoma Poetry Hall of Fame inducts Native poetryians. Nativetimes, 2013. Web. February 1, 2013. . Nakesha, Faison, and Shameera Simmons. "African American Culture." 2008. Print. NATS. Robert Herricks, Soprano. Texomanats, 2013. Web. February 1, 2013. . Nettles, Darryl Glenn. African American concert poets before 1950. New York: McFarland, 2003. Print. Norment, Lynn. Poetry - influence of Black poetry on White America. Findarticles, 2013. Web. February 1, 2013. . Read More