Cleveland

JOHN CLEVELAND (1613 - 1658)

Cleveland 'the last of the Metaphysicals' was the most popular poet of his age (far more so than Milton, for example) and no fewer than 25 editions appeared between 1647 and 1700. His reputation declined, however, after Dryden's criticism that the poet was apt to deliver 'common thoughts in abstruse words'. His often dazzling conceits and comparisons were termed 'Clevelandism'.

Cleveland was an ardent Royalist during the Civil War and served as judge-advocate at Newark, where Charles I surrendered to the Scots in 1646. Charles was taken to Newcastle, and a plaque in Market Street indicates the house where the king was held for dome eight months of tense bargaining, until the Scots, much to Cleveland's disgust, handed him over to Parliament. One of his most savage satires 'The Rebel Scot' was written at this time.

Cleveland seems to have been a destitute wanderer between 1646 and 1655, dependant on Royalist sympathisers for support. His actual whereabouts, however, are a mystery. It is not impossible that he spent time in the North East; the poem 'News from Newcastle' (first printed in 1651) is ascribed to him. It certainly has more of Clevelandism than other poems so ascribed, and whoever wrote it was a poet of more than usual accomplishment. He clearly also knew the Tyne very well. The beginning is arresting - and Newcastle is pronounced with the short 'a' that was the norm of polite speech until the early 19th century.

England's a perfect world, has Indies too;
Correct your maps, Newcastle is Peru!

Then follows a wonderfully convoluted set of conceits in praise of coal. The poet mentions 'the bald parched hills that circumscribe our Tyne' and with surprising fervour, now writing as if he were a Tynesider, mentions Blaydon and Stella, as he sees London's wealth draining northwards:

We shall exhaust their chamber and devour
Their treasures of Guildhall, the Mint, the Tower.
Our staiths their mortgaged streets will soon divide,
Blathon own Cornhill, Stella share Cheapside.

Myers Literary Guide:	The North-East
JOHN CLEVELAND (1613 - 1658) Cleveland 'the last of the Metaphysicals' was the most popular poet of his age (far more so than Milton, for example) and no fewer than 25 editions appeared between 1647 and 1700. His reputation declined, however, after Dryden's criticism that the poet was apt to deliver 'common thoughts in abstruse words'. His often dazzling conceits and comparisons were termed 'Clevelandism'. Cleveland was an ardent Royalist during the Civil War and served as judge-advocate at Newark, where Charles I surrendered to the Scots in 1646. Charles was taken to Newcastle, and a plaque in Market Street indicates the house where the king was held for dome eight months of tense bargaining, until the Scots, much to Cleveland's disgust, handed him over to Parliament. One of his most savage satires 'The Rebel Scot' was written at this time. Cleveland seems to have been a destitute wanderer between 1646 and 1655, dependant on Royalist sympathisers for support. His actual whereabouts, however, are a mystery. It is not impossible that he spent time in the North East; the poem 'News from Newcastle' (first printed in 1651) is ascribed to him. It certainly has more of Clevelandism than other poems so ascribed, and whoever wrote it was a poet of more than usual accomplishment. He clearly also knew the Tyne very well. The beginning is arresting - and Newcastle is pronounced with the short 'a' that was the norm of polite speech until the early 19th century. England's a perfect world, has Indies too; Correct your maps, Newcastle is Peru! Then follows a wonderfully convoluted set of conceits in praise of coal. The poet mentions 'the bald parched hills that circumscribe our Tyne' and with surprising fervour, now writing as if he were a Tynesider, mentions Blaydon and Stella, as he sees London's wealth draining northwards: We shall exhaust their chamber and devour Their treasures of Guildhall, the Mint, the Tower. Our staiths their mortgaged streets will soon divide, Blathon own Cornhill, Stella share Cheapside.
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