Historians and Poets

Abstract

In the modern world, Blair Worden observes, history and poetry are separate activities. In the Renaissance they overlapped. Historians and poets were often the same people. History drew on the techniques and the appeal of fiction; poetry drew on the content and the verisimilitude of history. The genres shared not only methods but aims. Both were for use: they aimed to instill virtue and wisdom. In public life they aimed to counsel and improve rulers. It is true that, as a number of recent authorities have observed, the early modern period saw a growing recognition of the differences between history and poetry. The development of realistic or Machiavellian history, and the rise of antiquarian scholarship, highlighted the differences between fact and fiction, while poetry justified itself as the voice of the imagination, which reaches beyond fact.Yet the perspectives of the modern world, and the intellectual habits of its separate academic disciplines, have obscured common ground between history and poetry that, at least until the middle of the seventeenth century, was more conspicuous than their differences. This content downloaded from 40.77.167.50 on Fri, 05 Aug 2016 05:58:50 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms