Unit 21 H.W. Longfellow and Edgar Allan Poe
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UNIT 21 H.W. LONGFELLOW AND EDGAR ALLAN POE Contents 2 1.0 Objectives 2 1.1 Introduction 21.2 Longfellow and Poe 2 1.3 A Psalm of Life 21.3.1 Outline of the poem 2 1.3.2 Appreciation 21.3.3 Poetic Devices 2 1.4 The Raven 2 1.4.1 Outline of the poem 21.4.2 Appreciation 21.4.3 Poetic Devices 21.5 Summing Up 21.6 Answers to Self-check Exercises 21.0 OBJECTIVES After reading this unit, you should be able to appreciate and analyse H.W. Longfellow's 'A Psalm of Life'and Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Raven'. Also, on the basis of the analysis done by us, you should be able to analyse the other poems which you come across in your day-to-day life. 21.1 INTRODUCTION In Units 19 and 20, we have discussed the prescribed poems of Emerson and Whitman. In this Unit, we shall analyse the poems of two more American poets, namely. H.W. Longfellow and E.A. Poe. The biographical sketches of Longfellow and I Poe are given in the following section. t 21.2 LONGFELLOW (1807-1882) AND POE (1809-1949) - - -- - - 1- . -r- I 1 Henry Wards Worth Longfellow (1807-1882)was9' a master of words and3 acchts. Longfellow has been praised by the recent critics for his technique and decried for his didacticism. His art concealed largely, because of its simple naturalnyss. Unlike most poets, he managed to get both rhyme and rhyth'm without using many unusual words and, as a rule, without changing the normal oider of phrases and sentences. ~on~fellowcould; at times, make each word, each line do its job. The plots of his bes' narratives were developed by him in excellent order. His best lyrics-whatever might be said against their didacticism---at least have the unity which the development of a single thought or sentiment give them. Here we should not forget that Walt Whitmai complained of Longfellow's poetry being "reminiscent, polish'd, elegant, with the air of,first conventional library, picture-gallery or parlor, with ladies and gentlemen in them ..." Longfellow published Hyperion, a prose romance after the reigning German fashion and an echo of both his foreign travels and the pictures of legends that had fired his imagination. In the same year, he published his first volun~eof verse, Voices of the Night, containing 'Hymn to the Night' and 'A Psalm of Life'. In 1841, he published Ballads and Other Poems, containing 'The wreck of the Hesperus'. 'The Skeleton in Armor', 'The Village Blacksmith' and 'Excelsior'. On his seventy fourth birthday, he made the following entry in his journal : "I am surrounded by roses and lillies, Flowe'rs Every where, And that which should, accompany old age, As honor, love, obedience, troops of friends". He died in 1882. I - - - . - - Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) was the saddest and the strongest figure in American literary history. He was born in Boston in 1809 to itinerant actors. His first volume of poetry entitled Tamerlane and other poems was published in ~ostoain1828 and second volume of poetry entitled Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems in' 1830. His Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque was published in 1840 and 'The Raven' brought his fame in 1843. Critical opinion of Poe's writings tended bpward the extremes. W.B. Yeats judged Poe to bg'always and for all lands a great lyric poet' and many Frencb authors such as ~audassant,Baudelaire, and Valery have ebtolled him as an original artist of high distinction. Poe was hailed as the Father of $ymbolist Poetry in France. But in AmeMca, on the other hand, Poe was ignored by writers of the stature of Emerson. In the following sections, we shall discuss the prescribed poems of Longfellow and,Poe. I 21.3 'A PSALM OF LIFE' What the Heart of the Young Man Said to the Psalmist , Tell me not, in mournful numbers, "Life is but an empty dream!" For the soul is dead that slumbers, And things are not what they seem. Life is real! Life is earnest! And the grave is not its goal; "Dust thou art, to dust returnest," Was not spoken of the soul. Not enjoyment, and not sorrow, Is our destined end or way; But to act, that each to-morrow Finds us farther than to-day. Art is long, and Time is fleeting, I And our hearts, though stout and 'brave, I Still, like muffled drums, are beating Funeral marches to the grave. In the world's broad field of battle, In the bivouac of Life, Be not like dumb, driven cattle! Be a hero in the strife! Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant! Let the dead Past bury its dead! Act,-act in the living present! Heart within, and God o'erhead! Lives of great men all remind us I We can make our lives sublime, And, departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time; Footprints, that perhaps another, Sailing o'er life's solemn main, A forlorn and shipwrecked brother, Seeing, shall take heart again. Let us, then, be up and doing, With a heart for any fate; Still achieving, still pursuing, I ., Learn to labor and to wait. 21.3.1 Outline of the Poem The poem contains the response of a youngman to a Psalmist. (Psalmist is a writer of sacied hymns or songs.) In the first stanza, the youqgman asks the Psalmist not to tell him that life is an empty dream or life is unreal. In the following stanza, the youngman emphatically states that life is real and that the grave is not its goal. He further says that the body comes from and returns to dust, but not the soul. In Stanza 3, he states that ne~therenjoyment nor sorrow is the goal of life. Action is - the maip aim of life. In Stanza 4, he feels sorry that we waste our time in thinking about graves and funerals withofit bothering about the greatness of art. Continuing in ' the same vein, the youngman says (in the fifth stanza) one should not be like the dumb cattle driven by others; but one should be like a hero in the struggle and strife of life. Ag2in, in the sixth stanza, the emphasis is on action in the present, without caring for the past or the future. Further, he suggests that God's grace will be . bestowed on men of action. In the seventh and eighth stanzas, the youngman says that I the lives of great men inspire us to become great and leave our footprints on the sands of time and those footprints will be followed by the less fortunate brothers. In the . concluding stanza, the emphasis is again on action and the capacity to wait. 21.3.2 Appreciation 'A Psalm of Life' is a simple, lucid, and meaningful poem. It is a satire on the writers of holy hymns and religious preachers whose sermons are suffused with pessimism, fatalism and defeatism. The speaker, in the present poem, is a youngman. Being young, his emphasis is on optimism and action. He is frank and forthright in making categorical statements. He says : "Life is real! Life is earnest! 8 .. And the grave is not its goal; 'Dust thou art, to dust returnest' Was not spoken of the soul." He exhorts people to be heroes in the struggle of life and to become great by emulating greatmen. Finally, he implores people to 'learn to labor and to wait'. In the present poem, the emphasis is on action, but not on the fruits of action. Doesn't this attitude remind you of the philosophy of The Bhagavad Gita? The Gita says : "Act regardless of the fruits of your actions". Longfellow also talks about 'God O'erhead' andpsks people to learn to labor and to wait. Further, Longfellow did affirm in 'A Psalm of Life', the masculine creed of action, without bothering about 'enjoyment' or 'sorrow', as a means of creating values. This affirmation is a manifestation of the philosophy of pragmatism. Though the message conveyed by the poem is meaningful and ,useful, do you not think that it is didactic? 21.3.3 Poetic Devices I) The poem contains seven stanzas. Each stanza follows the rhyme scheme ab, ab. To all the stanzas are rhythmic. 2) 'Alliteration is used in a number of places'. Example : soul ' - slumbers grave - goal . spoken - soul durn - driven 3) The words have been chosen well. The choice of words contributes to the simplicity and lucidity of the poem. Do you find any other poetic devices used in the poem? Self-check Exercise 1 Answer the following. 1) .Write a critical appreciation of 'A Psalm of Life'. (150 words) 2) Write a brief note on the poetic devices used in the poem. (75 words) I 21.4 THE RAVEN Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondere(, weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,- - -- While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, EW. md - WAlmPOe As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. "Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door : Only this and nothing more." Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December, And each separqte dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor. Eagerly I wished the morrow;-vainly I had sought to borrow From my books surcease of sorrow-sorrow for the lost Lenore, For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore : Nameless here for evermore.