Occasion and audience as poetic constructs in early modern occasional poetry

Abstract

Occasional poetry, composed for specific events such as weddings or funerals, was a dominant form of poetry in early modern Europe. Despite its historical prominence, the role of the occasion as a literary and rhetorical construct in occasional poetry has been very little studied. This article investigates how early modern occasional poetry represents its occasions by studying occasional poetry written in the Swedish Kingdom. Rather than treating the occasion merely as a historical backdrop, I argue that it functions as a central poetic element that shapes the poem's communicative structure. Drawing on rhetorical theory, lyric studies, and close readings of wedding and funeral poems, this study examines how poets construct spatiotemporal settings, engage audiences, and elevate real-life events through projections that include fictional elements. The study sheds light on the poetics of a genre that has a dual role as both a social gesture and a literary artifact.