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Victorian Poetry By 1 Subject: ENGLISH Class: B.A. Part 1 Honours, Paper – 1, Group B Topic: Victorian Poetry By: Prof. Sunita Sinha Head, Department of English Women’s College Samastipur L.N.M.U., Darbhanga VICTORIAN POETRY INTRODUCTION: - Definition: Poetry written in England during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901) may be referred to as Victorian poetry. About Victorian Age: England, during this time, was undergoing a tremendous cultural upheaval; the accepted forms of literature, Victorian art and music had undergone a radical change. Victorian Poetry was a very crucial period in the history of poetry, as it linked Romanticism and Modernism of the 20th century. The Romantic Movement, which preceded the Victorian Renaissance, had often portrayed the human pursuit of knowledge and power as a beautiful thing, for example in works of Wordsworth. The writers of this period however, are known for their interest in verbal embellishment, mystical interrogation, brooding skepticism, and whimsical nonsense. 2 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE VICTORIAN POETRY: - 1. Pessimistic subject 2. Elegiac tone 3. Lyrical expression 4. Musical /Pictorial poetry 5. Description of the misery of the poor or old people 6. Theme of dissatisfaction with the loss of old values and 7. Sudden modernization and Degradation of the society. 8. Interest in Medieval legends, myths and fables 9. More realistic view of nature 10. Focus on Masses 11. Morality and Sense of Responsibility 12. Denied the existence of God through scientific means. 13. Realistic themes like isolation, despair. 14. Use of Sensory Devices and Imagery 15. Humour and Sentimentality 3 VICTORIAN POETS: Victorian poetry is divided into two main groups: 1. The High Victorian Poetry 2. The Pre-Raphaelites. VICTORIAN POETRY The High Victorian Poetry + The Pre-Raphaelites 1. Alfred Lord Tennyson 1. Dante Gabriel Rossetti 2. Robert Browning 2. A. Charles Swinburne 3. Elizabeth Barret Browning 3. William Morris 4. Matthew Arnold 5. Gerard Manley Hopkins 4 Dealing with the first group, the major High Victorian poets were Alfred Lord Tennyson, Robert Browning, Elizabeth Barret Browning, Matthew Arnold and Gerard Manley Hopkins. A. THE HIGH VICTORIAN POETRY Lord Alfred Tennyson (1808-1892) Lord Alfred Tennyson stood as the summit of poetry in England. He had been awarded with the Chancellor’s Medal for his poem Timbuctoo at university. In 1850, he became poet-laureate to succeed Wordsworth. For nearly half a century, he was not only a man, and a poet, but the voice of all people, expressing their doubt and faith, grief and triumphs. He was the saddest of all English poets. In his poetry we find: 1. Dreaminess of Spenser 2. Majesty of Milton 3. Natural simplicity of Wordsworth 4. The fantasy of Blake and Coleridge 5. The melody of Keats and Shelley 6. Narrative vigor of Byron. 5 Lord Alfred Tennyson is most famous for his poem In Memoriam. It is a collection of 131 poems. It deals with the great conflict of the age between doubt and faith. It is an elegy composed to many short lyrics. It also laments on death of his closest friend Arthur Henry Hallam. His other poems include The Lady of Shallot, Break, Break, Break, Idylls of the King and Locksley Hall. Robert Browning (1812-1889) Browning was the lover of music. His famous poems are A Toccato of Galuppi, The Last Rider Together, My Last Duchess, Rabbi Ben Ezpa, Fra Lippo Lippa, A Death to the Desert, Men and Women (a collection of poems) etc. Browning is often credited with the mastery of the dramatic monologue, a form that allowed him to explore the unique psychologies of his numerous narrators. He was an undying optimist, who said, “God is in his Heaven, All’s right with the world.” Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861)) She is another Victorian poet who established her own voice within the literary tradition of Victorian era, by focusing on a different range of contemporary issues. As a female poet, a considerable part of her work was dedicated to voice the unjust treatment of women in the contemporary patriarchal society, and to claim equal social status and freedom as men. Her poetry contributed largely to the emerging feminist movement of19th century Victorian England. In Aurora Leigh which is one of her most renowned poems she presents the life story of a woman writer who struggles against the social prejudices against women. Elizabeth Barrett Browning also voiced the contemporary political concerns and issues of slavery, which in a certain way is a practical application of her argument that women should be allowed a voice in political and social issues. 6 Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889) Hopkins is another unique poetic figure belonging to the Victorian literary tradition. His poetic vision marks such a strong development of the general Victorian ethos, that he at times is classed as a modern or twentieth century poet. Hopkin’s innovative formal structures, especially concerning “sprung rhythm” and also his theories regarding “inscape” heighten the uniqueness of his poetry against the average Victorian tradition. Hopkins is known for his spiritual poems, often revealing the wilderness and emptiness within his own soul, and also speaking of the despair and human suffering in the contemporary society. Pied Beauty, God’s Grandeur and The Windhover are some of his famous poems. Matthew Arnold (1822-1888) Matthew Arnold was a great poet cum critic. His famous poems are Rugby Chapel, Thyrsis, Scholar Gypsy, Dover Beach, Sohrab and Rustam, Shakespeare (it is a sonnet), “Scholar gypsy”, “Empedocles on Etna” and the epic “Balder Dead.” Thyrsis is a great pastoral elegy and in this poem, he mourns the death of his friend, Arthur Clough. Rugby Chapel is also his elegy in which he mourns the death of his father. However, he is mainly famous for his essay (critical works) like, Culture and Anarchy, Literature and Dogma. Arnold is a Victorian poet who speaks of the nothingness and meaninglessness of life in the contemporary society. His poem “Dover Beach” is known to summarize the general ethos of the Victorian society, with its intensified visions of despair, loss of love and faith, gloom, negativity and meaninglessness of human life. His works truly represent his age. A sad undertone runs through nearly all his poetry. His views of modern life, of its complexity, its sick hurry and divided aims are present in his poetry. 7 Dealing with the second group, the major poets were - Dante Gabriel Rossetti William Morris and Algernon Charles Swinburne. B. THE PRE RAPHAELITE-POETS The Pre-Raphaelite Poets The Pre-Raphaelite was a movement. It was begun in 1848 by three painters in England including Dante Gabriel Rossetti. It aimed at a return to older principles in painting, 18 but as Rossetti and other followers like William Morris and Swinburne were also gifted writers, they aimed to bring about a change in literary manner as well. Dante Gabriel Rossetti Rossetti was a poet as well as a noted painter. His sonnets are among the most musical in English. He is sometimes criticized as a fleshly poet because his poems contain sensuous pictures of feminine beauty. But he combines the physical beauty with spiritual beauty in The Blessed Demozel. Rossetti argued that poetry ought to be based on the senses. Many of his poetic lines are written in a way a painter’s eye captures the beauty of the thing. Rossetti wrote about nature with his eye on it, but did not feel it in his bones as Wordsworth does. Rossetti was too fond of alliteration. Algernon Charles Swinburne Swinburne followed the poetic style of Rossetti, but could not use alliteration so much successfully in his poems as did Rossetti. Critics argue that his poetry does not contain much thought, though it can be sung well. When his work Poems and Ballads appeared in 1866, he was much blamed for moral reasons. A later book of Poems and Ballads is not so much offensive as the previous one. It shows his interest in French writers and includes the laments for them. Tristram of Lyonesse is 8 usually considered to be his best work. It tells the undying story of Tristram and Iseult. William Morris Morris was also influenced by Rossetti. His early works The Defense of Guenevere and Other Poems (1858), The Life and Death of Jason (1867), and The Earthly Paradise (1870) are purely romantic in method and style, with an undertone of sadness. Thankyou! *** By: Prof Sunita Sinha Head, Department of English Women’s College, Samastipur L.N.M.U. Darbhanga Mob: 9934917117 E mail: [email protected] Website: www.sunitasinha.com .
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