ABSTRACT

The historiography of early modern plague assumes that early modern emotions mirrored the volatile fearfulness dramatised in contemporary English plague literature, and that there was no comfort to be found in its reformative message. Meanwhile, historians have struggled to explain the resilience of English communities through frequent epidemics. Using the case study of a 1637–8 epidemic in Kingston upon Hull, where the preacher Andrew Marvell (c. 1584–1641) was broken from quarantine to return to his pulpit, this article contests that the persistence of sermons in plague provided a vital point of pastoral continuity, as well as a tool for emotional resilience. A close reading of Marvell’s surviving manuscript plague sermon, delivered at the funeral of a plague victim, will demonstrate how narratives of divine wrath and godly sorrow, embedded within early modern print culture, could offer emotional direction and succour in practice.

摘要

现代早期瘟疫的史学假设早期现代情绪反映了当代英国瘟疫文学中戏剧化的不稳定恐惧，并且在其改革信息中找不到安慰。与此同时，历史学家一直在努力解释英国社区在频繁的流行病中的复原力。本文以 1637-8 年赫尔河畔金斯敦的一次流行病为例，传教士 Andrew Marvell（约 1584-1641 年）从隔离区被打破回到他的讲坛，这篇文章认为，瘟疫中持续的布道提供了一个至关重要的因素。牧区连续性的点，以及情绪恢复的工具。仔细阅读在瘟疫受害者的葬礼上发表的 Marvell 幸存的瘟疫布道手稿，将展示关于神圣愤怒和神圣悲伤的叙述，