Platonism in English poetry of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries

"Platonism in English Poetry of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries" by John Smith Harrison is an exploration of how Platonic philosophy deeply affected English poetry focusing on the 1500s and 1600s. The scholarly work looks at how Platonism helped form the spiritual and moral ideas of many poets, especially Edmund Spenser, written in the early 1900s. It studies ideas of love, beauty, and goodness as they come from Platonic ideas and how these show up in the poetry of the time. The beginning of the book explains that it looks at Platonism as a big impact on poetry in general, not just on individual poets. It presents ideas like the difference between worldly and heavenly beauty, showing how these are used in Spenser's writing, with characters who stand for ideas like holiness and self-control. For example, the character Una in "The Faerie Queene" is shown as a symbol of Platonic wisdom and truth. The book also talks about how poets of the period matched their ideas of love and beauty with Platonic ideals, putting this discussion in the context of the culture and history of the time.