THE NATURALNESS OF SEXUALITY AS THE TECHNIQUE OF SEDUCTION IN THOMAS CAREW’S POETIC NARRATION

The article under consideration focuses on the study of the poetic heritage by one of the prominent representatives of the English literary tradition of the XVIIth century, a leading Cavalier-poet Thomas Carew with special emphasis on the stylistic peculiarity of his erotic discourse. Being restricted by the social norms and behavioral patterns of the court poet still found his own manner of seduction which won him a reputation of the wit of his time and a real libertine. In order to make a sexual appeal less overt the narrator using his erudition and sense of humor tries to demonstrate the naturalness of sexual intercourse, depicting the pleasures of flesh as an integral constituent of the circle of life, the law of Nature. Seducing a lady the narrator appears to contradict the Platonic tradition, being quite tough and stating that courting and complimenting a Lady in a traditional knight manner does not make any sense and a man should not feel inferior to a woman, instead threatening her that her beauty is not for long and thus the lovers are to use their time following the motto of the epoch “carpe diem”. Even the biblical allusions are to prove the naturalness of sexuality being only the frightening background for the lovers who follow their instincts and thus find their own paradise.

Thomas Carew (1594-1640) a well-known Cavalier poet has been the focus of the scientific interest for quite a while now, but still remains one of the underrated representatives of the English literary tradition of the XVIIth century. Once labeled as one of the "minor poets", he stills seems not to be taken seriously. Despite the range of foreign researchers who have done a lot to rehabilitate one of the most well-known literary figures of his troubled times [1] (among which one should specially mention R. Parfitt [2], R.Skelton [3], S. Nixon [4], B. King [5], L. Martz [6], Renée Hannaford [7], C. Neaves [8], J. Scodel [9]), the domestic critique and the general readership still seems to underestimate, to say the least, the poetic heritage of the prominent Cavalier.
Thus, the purpose of the paper under consideration is to analyse the chosen love poems by Thomas Carew with the special emphasis on the verbalization of eroticism and sexuality in them.
The topicality of the given research is obvious due to the fact that the erotic mood of the love lyric by Thomas Carew has not been enlightened to a degree in the Ukrainian literary studies and the sexual component of this "Oracle of love" is still to be studied more closely.
It should be mentioned that the author under consideration had to skate on the thin ice motivating the addressee of his poetic works to respond to the impulse of the narrator and forget about the behavioral norms and patterns enjoying the pleasures of sexual intercourse. Thomas Carew was elaborate in choosing techniques to motivate the lady to do it. Among them one can mention the emphasis he laid on the pleasures of the flesh, sexuality itself being treated as an integral constituent of Nature, universe and the circle of life.
The motif of unnatural coldness of the beloved lady, which, according to the lyrical hero, does not fit into the harmonious picture of the universe, is the key one in the poem "Divine Mistress". Paradoxically, a woman, in the opinion of the narrator, is sinful as she is proud of her own excessive holiness, thus making the man, who adores her, suffer. He is upset that his beloved "is not molded in his image": It should be noted that the poet believes that nature is more precious than all other substances and ideas. For him, true humanity equals being natural, not artificial which, in its turn, is false. This idea, declared in the final lines of the poem, which are essentially a request from the lyrical hero, who appeals to the gods to teach his beloved to be human (natural): Yet, I confess, I cannot spare From her just shape the smallest hair; Nor need I beg from all the store Of heaven for her one beauty more. She hath too much divinity for me: You gods, teach her some more humanity.
Thomas Carew seems to find it difficult to come to terms with the state of affairs that he witnesses in the circle of his closest friends: people are forced to hide their true feelings and emotions under a variety of conventions, to obey the prescriptions of courtly etiquette, literary clichés, and other social norms. He himself seems to prefer a different type of relationship -a sincere relationship between a man and a woman who are able to freely express their feelings and emotions. Though, it may be just a roleplay, he is famous for, to seduce a lady, to make her forget about norms of behaviour and try the forbidden fruit of physical love. Thus, sexual intercourse is justified by being absolutely natural and the gods of ancient times (unlike the saints of Christianity) are to prove it.
In the poem "Сomplement", written in a humorous manner, the author appears to be polemicizing with numerous literary clichés used by poets of the time when describing their lovers. T. Carew creates a kind of parodic baroque catalog of women's virtues and charms, which were replicated in poetic texts and turned into trite metaphors that were often used by courtiers in their courtships. The lyrical hero lists all the feminine charms that could ignite his feelings for a woman, but at the same time concludes that the nature of his own love is immense: I love not for those eyes, nor haire, Nor cheekes, nor lips, nor teeth so rare; Nor for thy speech, thy necke, nor breast, Nor for thy belly, nor the rest: Nor for thy hand, nor foote so small, But wouldst thou know (deere sweet) for all.
One of the most famous and extravagant poetic works of Thomas Carew is the scandalous poem "Rapture", which, according to many researchers, resonates with J.
The title of the work itself can be interpreted in different ways: "rapture" can stand for "ecstasy" or as well may be a derivative of the verb "rape". It is not surprising, given all the growing pressure from the Puritans and the flourishing of the cult of platonic love at court, that this work must have caused numerous gossips and rumors among his contemporaries. The theme of "natural" love, irony and play, implied in the work of Thomas Carew, found its vivid representation in this poem. In the first lines, the author addresses his beloved lady, inviting her to Elysium, a strange land of erotic pleasures where lovers fully surrender to sensual passion and thus achieve heavenly bliss. At the entrance to this paradise, Thomas Carew places a bulky allegorical figure of a giant Colossus, a kind of man-made idol -Honour, which prevents the free entry of lovers into the land of bliss: The giant, Honour, that keeps cowards out, Is but a masquer, and the servile rout Of baser subjects only bend in vain To the vast idol;… This image-symbol personifies social morality, which, under the guise of religious precepts, stands in the way of human happiness on earth. The poet uses emotionally coloured evaluative metaphors ("masquer idol", "the grim Swiss", "tame fools") that manifest his extremely negative attitude towards a stupid idol that can be defeated with the help of courage Thomas Carew emphasizes that the idol called "Honour" has nothing to do with the divine spark, as it owes its existence not to the laws of nature or the divine will, but to human envy: We shall see how the stalking pageant goes With borrow'd legs, a heavy load to those That made and bear him ; nor, as we once thought, The seed of gods, but a weak model wrought By greedy men, that seek to enclose the common, And within private arms empale free woman.
The author plays on the conflict between socially accepted norms of behavior that limit the free expression of human sexuality and the natural needs of young lovers.
The leitmotif of the poem is the apologetics of sensual pleasure, which is masterfully portrayed by the "cavalier"-poet and thus makes a brilliant example of erotic lyrics.  The allusions of the Olympians -Jupiter and Venusare aimed, on the one hand, at rehabilitating the sensuality (for the gods themselves were unable to resist the power of love passion), and, on the other hand, actualizing in the minds of elite readers mythological stories in which the earthly nature of love was not yet constrained by any religious precepts or taboos.
It should be noted that Thomas Carew seems to be polemicizing with Robert Herrick, who recognized only those physical pleasures that are sanctified by church marriage as non-sinful. On the contrary, T. Carew glorifies "free love", which is nourished by nature itself, not by duty or law: Like and enjoy, to will and act is one : We only sin when Love's rites are not done.
Thomas Carew appears to support the Rococo imperative: there can be no restrictions in love, as it is the manifestation of human nature. Therefore, the uncomplicated Baroque metaphoricity that created the effect of a darkened and, at the same time, a philosophical aura of the concept of love, but rather a purely Rococo apologetics of naturalness is the defining characteristic of this poem by T. Carew.
In the following passage T. Carew essentially responds to all his future critics who will accuse him of excessive frivolity and promiscuity. As if foreshadowing the thunder that would fall on his head from the English Parliament, the poet draws the attention of all his opponents to the fact that their hypocrisy is only an empty fiction.
It's just a bunch of worthless words that stand in the way of the free will of human nature, whose rights are more significant and sacred to T. Carew than any fictions, And yet religion bids from blood-shed fly, And damns me for that act. Then tell me why This goblin Honour, which the world adores, Should make men atheists, and not women whores?
Thus, whereas the teacher of T. Carew J. Donne in his well-known poem "Ecstasy" poetizes the organic union of spiritual and sensual principles in the earthly love, the author of "Rapture" pays much more attention to the descriptions of the sensual-erotic aspect. In J. Donne's poetry, which is baroque in its semantics and spirit, the harmony of antinomic principles is emphasized, and Thomas Carew in his poem rehabilitates corporeality: firstly, corporeality is a manifestation of naturalness, secondly, it represents the divine beauty of the earthly man, and thirdly, it is devoid of sinfulness, because sinfulness itself appears as a kind of fiction, a series of words that limit human freedom and the right to enjoyment.
So, it can be concluded that poetic narration studied in the article represents the characteristic worldview and aesthetic paradigm of the Cavalier poets in terms of its problematic and thematic orientation, the semantics of artistic imagery, and the erotic coloring of the leitmotif. Here we can find key concepts (eroticism, hedonism, voyeurism), and such typical artistic strategies as the aesthetics of nuances and hints, the dominance of the playful element, which manifests itself at the level of plot, metaphor, and imagery, emphasized elitism, and heightened intellectualism, the erotic and sexual components seem to play the key role there.