Books by Claude (Yale University Rawson

Leading literary critic and scholar Claude Rawson discusses the impact of Jonathan Swift, and the penetration of his ideas, personality and style, on major writers of the English Augustan tradition. Swift's influence extended beyond friends and admirers to adversaries and others who became great ironists in his shadow.

Jonathan Swift is generally considered one of the greatest satirists and most important writers of England and Ireland. Claude Rawson discusses the sardonic view of human nature, the political activism, and the indignations and self-divisions in Swift's prose and verse to reveal the terrible, but deeply guarded, angers found therein.

This volume provides lively and authoritative introductions to twenty-nine of the most important British and Irish poets. Each essay offers a new assessment of a single poet's achievement and importance, with readings of the most important poems. The Companion is an ideal accompaniment to survey courses in English literature.