The Oxford Companion to English Literature | Augustan age
Augustan age, a term derived from the period of literary eminence under the Roman
Emperor
Augustus
(
27
BC
–
AD
14
) during which
Virgil
,
Horace
, and
Ovid
flourished. In English literature it is generally taken to refer to the early and mid-18th cent., though the earliest usages date back to the reign of
Charles
II
. Augustan writers (such as
Pope
,
Addison
,
Swift
, and
Steele
) greatly admired their Roman counterparts, imitated their works, and themselves frequently drew parallels between the two ages.
Goldsmith
, in The Bee, in an ‘Account of the Augustan Age of England’ (
1759
), identifies it with the reign of
Queen
Anne
, and the era of
Congreve
,
Prior
, and
Bolingbroke
. See also neo-classicism
. See
H.
Weinbrot
, Augustus Caesar in ‘Augustan’ England (
1978
).
[The entire page is 126 words long]
Join eNotes
The above is a free excerpt. Get total access to this content with the:
