Enthusiastic poetry and rationalized Christianity: the poetic theory of John Dennis.(Critical Essay)

The critical writing of John Dennis (1657-1734) participates in the long-standing attempt to appropriate classical aesthetic and philosophical categories in an explicitly Christian framework. His critical shoot forward also aims, however, to unite verse and religion for political extremitys His account of poetry is exceptional, in part, because of the ways in which he attempts to base his arguments upon a presumed sense of broad political appeal. In offering a poetic theory that purports to unite the aims of Christian religion, imaginative literature, and national politics, Dennis also thus