What do you understand by Neo-classicism? What are the various factors which gave rise to the"neo classical school" of poetry?

The literary ideal of neo-classicism in English literature belongs to the period after the restoration of royalty in 1660 and the early decades of the 18th century. in fact, it was the age of dryden and pope that revived the classical spirit and made neo-classicism operative in English literature. the concept of neo-classical literature is found to have its base thereon.

Neo-classicism implies actually a return to the classical spirit the spirit of ancient greece and rome. after the stupendous growth of romantic literature, under the impact of the renaissance, there was a reaction against the excesses of romanticism. extravagances in images, intricate and far-fetched analogies,extreme fancifulness and too much emotional exuberances were well-nigh unbounded in some elizabethan authors. the result was the restraint.,indirectly imposed by the introduction of classicism. that new revival of classicism was termed as neo-classicism, and that was found strongly manifested in the literature of France, spain and Germany of that time.

The restoration of royalty brought about a thorough change in english literary ideas and ideals. that was mainly caused by the influence of french literature. the king,who had come from France, brought with him a French cultural influence that had a strong effect on the existing literary pattern, ousted it, to some extent, and introduced the then spirit of classicism,better known as neo-classicism in the continent.with the coming of the neo-classical spirit in English literature, romantic elements declined.the emotional exuberance and the imaginative fervour of the Elizabethan sonneteers, song -writers and dramatists were heard no more.under the impact of classicism, the literary ideals and aspirations of the ege grew and those were distinctly different from what had been in the Elizabethen age. the celebrated literary men of the neo-classical age in english literature endeavoured to perfect their literary art according to the literary models and standards,set up by the classical latin authors of reputed in particular.

The Augustan Age

It is customary to designate the neo-classical age of the eighteenth century as the augustan age in English literature. of course, such a designation does not seem very appropriate, fro some solid reasons. in the first place, the term 'eighteenth century' is not properly applicable here. dryden who must be deemed as the pioneer of the augustan age in English poetry,completed his great literary production before  the chronological beginning of the eighteenth century.in the second place,judged from the qualitative standard, the claim seems more apparent and superficial the real and factual.

The augustan age refers of the golden age of latin poetry during the reign of the mighty emperor augustus of rome.the history of the roman literature of that period is bright with rice poetry and shines brightly with such immortal names as ovid, virgil, horace, and so on.

Of course, the English literature of the restoration and the early decades of the eighteenth century in found mainly inspired by those Roman authors. this is particularly discernible in the English poetry of the eighteenth century. the age is usually characterised as the classical age -the augustan age in English poetry ---, as the neo-classical spirit is found dominant in the poetry of the age. as a matter of fact, this literary age is found so styled in the  presumption of its close resemblance to the grand latin literature of the time of augustus. the poets of the age appear to have fancied themselves as a second virgil,a second horace,a second ovid and to have as much assured positions in their society as those latin masters.of course,thar was more fancy than a fad.