‘Of Bodies chang’d to various Forms I sing:’ Metamorphoses in Early Modern English Poetry on Science

The world of seventeenth-century science was a world of astonishing possibilities. The advances in optics brought both distant planets and tiny insects closer to the human eye. The development of manned flight offered promises of space travel. And with blood transfusion, humans could take on the nature of animals.

Contemporary poetry seized on these exciting opportunities: in its poetic realms, lice draw carriages to the Moon and back, adulterers sprout wings to help them in their conquest, and men turn into sheep. This talk will examine the transformations inherent in early modern English poetry on contemporary scientific topics.