The Baroque Era Reflected in Literature

I thought that distinguishing "Baroque" characteristics in literature would prove to be much more difficult than seeing the Baroque's influence in a painting. However, after class on Thursday, the effects of the Baroqe period in literature were made much more clear than I had anticipated. For example, in John Donne's poem "Nativity," the contrast we noted in the colors of paintings was obvious in the words of the poem. "Well-beloved imprisonment" and "He/ Which fills all place, yet none hold Him" are examples of such contrast. Similarly, Donne evoked deep, mysterious questions from his poems which were quite distinctive as being Baroque in nature. In "The Computation," he ponders "What is considered a long time? A lifetime?" Even in "Sermon 25," he asks the profound question, "What is nothing?" These inquiries are definitely not easily answered. The intricate language, the elaborate words used in the literature is another key element of Baroque literature. Did anyone find it difficult to pick out Baroque features in the examples of writing we were given? What other aspects of the Baroque era is represented in writers such as Donne and Milton?