Gondibert
The title page of the 1651 edition of Gondibert
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| Author | William Davenant |
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| Country | England |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Epic poetry |
| Publisher | John Holden (original) |
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Publication date
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1651 |
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Gondibert is an epic poem by William Davenant. In it he attempts to combine the five-act structure of English Renaissance drama with the Homeric and Virgilian epic literary tradition. Davenant also sought to incorporate modern philosophical theories about government and passion, based primarily in the work of Thomas Hobbes, to whom Davenant sent drafts of the poem for review.
A lengthy philosophical preface takes the form of a letter to Hobbes, and is printed in the first edition with Hobbes' own reply and comments. Though Davenant asserted that the completed work would be in five sections or "books", only the first two books and part of the third book were completed.
The philosophical Preface with Hobbes's reply to Davenant appeared, along with a few stanzas of the poem, in an edition published during Davenant's exile in Paris in 1650. There were two editions of the partially completed text in London in 1651. A 1652 edition contains the first two books and part of the third. This version is also prefaced by commendatory poems written by Edmund Waller and Abraham Cowley. Some additional material was included in an edition published after Davenant's death.
The plot of the poem is loosely based on episodes of Paul the Deacon's History of the Lombards. The poem tells the story of an early medieval Lombard Duke called Gondibert and his love for the beautiful and innocent Birtha. His love for Birtha means he cannot return the affections of princess Rhodalind, the king's daughter, even though he would be made ruler of Verona if he married her. Rhodalind, in turn, is loved by Oswald. These various conflicts of desire and devotion occasion philosophical reflections on the nature of love, duty and loyalty. The story is never resolved, since the poet gave up on the work before completing his design.
The poem has been interpreted as an allegory of the power struggles of the English Civil War, during which Davenant was a prominent Royalist. Gondibert himself has been identified with Charles II and Rhodalind with Henrietta Maria. According to Kevin Sharpe, the allegorical aspects can be overstated, but "certain passages seem clearly to allegorise specific events. The hunting of the stag in the second canto of book one strongly suggests the pursuit of Charles I. Suggestions of this sort are undoubtedly convincing in general, even if they don't work out so well in particular."
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