w11 poetry u11 u15

nullU11 Victorian Poets & U15 20cent. PoetsU11 Victorian Poets & U15 20cent. PoetsVictorian Poets Victorian Poets Victorian PoetsVictorian PoetsLord Alfred TennysonRobert BrowningElizabeth Barrett BrowningVictorian vs. RomanticVictorian vs. RomanticThe Victorian poet, just like the Romantic, moves back in time and space, higher too and beyond the conventional experience, into a more imaginative order of experience. the Romantic remains lyrically elevated in/by that imaginative transport (idealism) , the Victorian poet has soared into the provisional infinite, Hence the shared elegiac tone associated to Victorian lyricism. difference between the Romantic love of (organic) metaphor and the Victorian alternative love of allegory, simile and dramatic representation in general. the Victorian poets selected the form of the dramatic monologue as their favourite form of self-expression.Lord Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892)Lord Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892)Alfred Tennyson: His Early LifeAlfred Tennyson: His Early LifeOften regarded as the chief representative of the Victorian age in poetry. Tennyson succeeded Wordsworth as Poet Laureate in 1850; he was appointed by Queen Victoria and served 42 years. Alfred began to write poetry at an early age in the style of Lord Byron. After spending four unhappy years in school he was tutored at home. Tennyson then studied at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he joined the literary club 'The Apostles' and met Arthur Hallam, who became his closest friend. He began to write "In Memoriam", an elegy for his lost friend - the work took seventeen years. Tennyson published Poems, Chiefly Lyrical, in 1830, which included the popular "Mariana". Alfred Tennyson: His PoemsAlfred Tennyson: His PoemsHis next book, Poems (1833), received unfavorable reviews, and Tennyson ceased to publish for nearly ten years. "The Lady of Shalott", "The Lotus-eaters" "Morte d'Arthur" and "Ulysses" appeared in 1842 in the two-volume Poems and established his reputation as a writer. After marrying Emily Sellwood, whom he had already met in 1836, the couple settled in Farringford, a house in Freshwater on the Isle of Wight in 1853. From there the family moved in 1869 to Aldworth, Surrey. During these later years he produced some of his best poems. Alfred Tennyson: His PoemsAlfred Tennyson: His PoemsAmong Tennyson's major poetic achievements is the elegy mourning the death of his friend Arthur Hallam, "In Memoriam" (1850). The patriotic poem "Charge of the Light Brigade", published in Maud (1855), is one of Tennyson's best known works, although at first "Maud" was found obscure or morbid by critics ranging from George Eliot to Gladstone. Enoch Arden (1864) was based on a true story of a sailor thought drowned at sea who returned home after several years to find that his wife had remarried. Idylls Of The King (1859-1885) dealt with the Arthurian theme. Alfred Tennyson: his Last DaysAlfred Tennyson: his Last DaysIn the 1870s Tennyson wrote several plays, among them the poetic dramas Queen Mary (1875) and Harold (1876). In 1884 he was created a baron. Tennyson died at Aldwort on October 6, 1892 and was buried in the Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey. The first group of Idylls of the King appeared in 1859; it was expanded in 1869 and 1872, and in 1885 Tennyson added the final poem. He arranged the 12 poems chronologically in 1888 to constitute a somber ethical epic of the glory and the downfall of King Arthur. In the Arthurian legend, Tennyson projected his vision of the hollowness of his own civilization. Alfred TennysonAlfred TennysonHe is the spokesman of his people in times of National sorrow or rejoicing. In some poems, he ministered to national pride, stoked the fires of imperialism, and brought poetry nearer to the national life than it had been since Shakespeare. The main works of Tennyson are In Memoriam; Idylls of the King and etc. No English poet surpasses Tennyson at linking descriptions of nature or setting to state of mind. Robert Browning (1812-1889) Robert Browning (1812-1889) English poet, noted for his mastery of dramatic monologue.Browning’s Early Literary CareerBrowning’s Early Literary CareerHe read voraciously as a youth, and began to write poetry while still quite young, influenced by Percy B. Shelley, whose radicalism urged a rethinking of modern society. However, Browning's earliest works earned him nothing but some negative attention for their expression of strong sensations their morbid tone. Thus for a time he set poetry aside to work on plays, finding in their fictional world an apt space for experimentation and development as a creative mind. Most of the plays did not find success, however, and Browning turned back again to verse. Browning’s WorksBrowning’s WorksBrowning's first important poem was the lengthy Paracelsus (1835). --- a long dramatic monologue, the poem described the career of the sixteenth-century alchemist, and achieved popular success, establishing Browning as a familiar name with the reading public, if not yet as a great poet. Pippa Passes (1841 ), a loosely structured set of poems that draw from the sensationalism of modern media. Dramatic Lyrics ( 1842); Dramatic Romances and Lyrics (1845) Men and Women (1855) ; Dramatis Personae (1864) --- although not wild successes, contain most of the poems today considered central to the Browning canon. nullThe Ring and the Book (1868) --- verse novel, a historical tragedy based on a group of documents helped the poet achieve true literary stardom with the publication of Browning had found at an Italian bookseller's. --- Browning societies soon sprang up all over England, rocketing Browning into a fame he enjoyed until his death in 1889. Inspired by Shelley in his early writings, and greatly inspired by his wife Elizabeth Barrett in his later writings.My Last DuchessMy Last DuchessLucrezia de Medici, Duchess to Alphonse II of FerraraSetting: Italian RenaissanceSetting: Italian RenaissanceIt was a time when morally dissolute men like the Duke in this poem exercised absolute power. A time that produced magnificent art like the Duchess's portrait. The poem clearly refers to the historical Alfonso II, Duke of Ferrara (a city in northeast Italy), whose first wife died suspiciously within two years of their marriage Summary:Summary:This poem is basically about a Duke who is so jealous towards his wife and how she acts with other men, he gives 'The orders' to have all the smiles stop (He had her killed). [Soliloquies]The Duke is the speaker of the poem, and tells us he is entertaining an emissary who has come to negotiate the Duke's marriage (he has recently been widowed) to the daughter of another powerful family. As he shows the visitor through his palace, he stops before a portrait of the late Duchess, apparently a young and lovely girl. My Last DuchessMy Last DuchessFerrara: most likely, Browning intended Alfonso II (1533-1598), fifth duke of Ferrara, in northern Italy, from 1559 to 1597, and the last member of the Este family. He married his first wife, 14-year-old Lucrezia, a daughter of the Cosimo I de' Medici, in 1558 and three days later left her for a two-year period. She died, 17 years old, in what some thought suspicious circumstances. Alfonso contrived to meet his second to-be spouse, Barbara of Austria, in Innsbruck in July 1565. Nikolaus Mardruz, who took orders from Ferdinand II, count of Tyrol, led Barbara's entourage then. My Last Duchess (line1-4)My Last Duchess (line1-4)Frà Pandolf a fictitious artist who works with cadavars -- he dresses dead people, and takes their pictures. Frà" ('brother'), due a member of religious orders and a celibate man He is a member of religious orders and so, on the surface of things, unlikely to have seduced the Duchess. The OpeningThe OpeningGenerally speaking, in a play have a context that orients the audience, but Browning's readers have only a title and, in "My Last Duchess," a speech prefix, "Ferrara." [Dramatic dialogue drop unprepared]Characterization through diction Characterization through diction "That's my last Duchness painted on the wall The line suggests self-satisfaction and pride, coldness of the Duke . I call / That piece a wonder, now I call / That piece a wonder, now Ferrara continues, cheerfully, describing the painting, not the Duchess: "I call / That piece a wonder, now." The phrase "That piece" must mean "that portrait," surely, though there is something intangibly common, almost vulgar, in his expression. That sense of "piece," as "portrait," is archaic now and may have been so when Browning wrote the poem. This context, a man speaking of pictures of women, connotes something quite different, what the term has meant for centuries, and still means now: OED: "Applied to a woman or girl. In recent use, mostly depreciatory, of a woman or girl regarded as a sexual object."Lines 7 - 12Lines 7 - 12The Duchess's look (line7-8): "Strangers" (7), "glance" (line12); " durst “(dare , line11)Lines 14- 43 Characterization the Duchess and the DudeLines 14- 43 Characterization the Duchess and the DudeThe Duchess’s character ----a Duke’s accuse of his last wife -- “courtesy” (line20); -- “She has a heart …. And her looks went everywhere” (line22-24) -- Sir, 'twas all one! My favour at her breast, (line25) -- “She rode with round the terrace….Would draw from her alike the approving speech. (line29-31) --” She thanked men,--- good; but thanked …. sort of trifling(line31-35) Notes: the dashes, which often indicate broken thoughts, perhaps uttered under the influence of strong emotion. A unreliable voice—the character of the Duke --jealous; mean; picky; judgmental; senseless Lines 45-47 : the ClimaxLines 45-47 : the Climax This grew; I gave commands; Then all smiles stopped together. There she stands As if alive. Lines 52- 56Lines 52- 56He claims the Count's "fair daughter's self" is his "object"(53), Will she too, an objective achieved, become a thing, found on a wall like his last Duchess? Neptune, the sea-god, is "Taming a sea-horse" (55), - - - as Ferrara tamed his last Duchess. He controlled her in death like he could not in life, and the next Dutchess will be well aware of it.. enjambment, where sentences and other grammatical units do not necessarily conclude at the end of lines. Summary: Browninesque Dramatic MonologueSummary: Browninesque Dramatic Monologue 3 requirements: --The reader takes the part of the silent listener. --The speaker uses a case-making, argumentative tone. --We complete the dramatic scene from within, by means of inference and imagination.Definitions of the dramatic monologueDefinitions of the dramatic monologuea form invented and practiced principally by Robert Browning, Alfred Tennyson, Dante Rossetti, and other Victorians, have been much debated in the last several decades. Everyone agrees that to be a dramatic monologue a poem must have a speaker and an implied auditor, and that the reader often perceives a gap between what that speaker says and what he or she actually reveals. Robert Langbaum saw the form as a continuation of an essentially Romantic "poetry of experience" in which the reader experiences a tension between sympathy and judgment. One problem with this approach lies in the fact that readers do not seem ever to sympathize with the speakers in some of Browning's major poems . Rhyme SchemeRhyme SchemeBrowning uses many techniques, including a simple rhyme scheme, enjambment, and caesura to convey various characteristics and qualities .  Browning uses an AA BB rhyme scheme, which is very common to ballads and songs.Figurative LanguageFigurative LanguageThe indirect allusions to the death of the speaker’s wife lead the reader to think that the speaker committed a vengeful crime out of jealousy. His flowery speech confuses & disguises any possible motives, however, and the mystery is left unsolved.  Based on the poem's style, structure, and historical references, it becomes evident that even if the speaker did not directly kill his wife, he certainly had something to hide. U15 20thcent. British PoetsU15 20thcent. British PoetsThomas Stearns Eliot (1888 - 1965)Thomas Stearns Eliot (1888 - 1965)nullT.S. Eliot (1888-1965) The “Classical” ModernistT.S. Eliot (1888-1965) The “Classical” ModernistAn American expatriate Extremely well read and educated Married all his life to a woman who went insane Imported mythology from all over the world into his poetry.T.S. Eliot (1888-1965)T.S. Eliot (1888-1965)Felt poetry must become comprehensive Sought to revive poetry that had become dead Looked to 17th-century metaphysical poets Has close ties to Romanticism Really wants to revive classic aestheticThe Life of T. S. EliotThe Life of T. S. EliotEliot was born in St. Louis and educated at Harvard University, but spend most of his adult life in London and became an English citizen. In the artistic movement known as Modernism, Eliot was a unique innovator in poetry and The Waste Land (1922) stands as one of the most original and influential poems of the twentieth century. In the 30’s he changed his style of writing to serenity and religious humility. In his later years he started to become a playwrightAwards & RecognitionsAwards & Recognitionsthe Nobel Prize for Literature in 1948. the Order of Merit in January 1948. the Hanseatic Gothe Prize in 1954. the Dante Gold Medal in 1959. Won the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964 Eliot was recognized as an Officier de la Legion d’Honneur. The Waste LandThe Waste Landlandmarks of Modernism Theme: modern spiritual barrenness, the despair and depression that followed the first world war, the sterility and turbulence of modern world, and the decline and break-down of Western culture. Characteristics: -- the changing subject matter, the unrhymed lines -- lots of borrowings from some 35 different writers (p.161)The Waste Land: Synopsis (p.161-2) The Waste Land: Synopsis (p.161-2) 433 lines; Meditation on the state of Western civilization; mixes descriptions of contemporary life with literary allusions and quotations, religious symbolism, and references to ancient and medieval cultures and mythologies, vegetation and fertility rites Eastern religions and philosophies the ending suggests hope of redemption through concepts and images grounded on the synthesis of Christian and Eastern (Hindu/Buddhist) spiritualityLanguage & Form Language & Form Modernist poetry. Irregular verse, at times free, at times reminiscent of the blank verse of Eliot’s plays Five sections (p.161) and features multiple voices and a deliberate attempt at creating a sense of fragmentation, discontinuity, and decay.I. The Burial of the Dead (1/2) I. The Burial of the Dead (1/2) Four poems Line 1-18: Marie recalls her sledding and claims that she is German, not Russian. The woman mixes a meditation on the seasons with remarks on the barren state of her current existence. Line 19-42: A prophetic, apocalyptic invitation to journey into a desert waste, where the speaker will show the reader “something different from either/ Your shadow at morning striding behind you/ Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;/ [He] will show you fear in a handful of dust.“I. The Burial of the Dead (2/2)I. The Burial of the Dead (2/2)Four poems Line 43-59: It describes an imaginative tarot reading, in which some of the cards Eliot includes in the reading are not part of an actual tarot deck. Line 60-76: The speaker walks through a London populated by ghosts of the dead (P.161). He confronts a figure with whom he once fought in a battle. The speaker asks the ghostly figure, Stetson, about the fate of a corpse planted in his garden.I. The Burial of the DeadI. The Burial of the DeadTheme: Inhabitants in the Waste Land live a hopeless life. People can usually obtain salvation (rebirth) from the burial of the dead, but inhabitants in the Waste Land are afraid of rebirth. II. A Game of Chess II. A Game of Chess This section focuses on two opposing scenes: high society and the lower classes. Two poems Line 77-138 A wealthy, highly groomed woman surrounded by exquisite furnishings. Line 139-172 In a London barroom, where two women discuss a third woman. II. A Game of ChessII. A Game of Chess Theme: The community's impotence and degradation, sex and spirit, is conveyed. III. The Fire Sermon III. The Fire Sermon Taken from a sermon given by Buddha in which he encourages his followers to give up earthly passion and seek freedom from earthly things. Four poems Line 173-206 Line 207-214 Line 215-265 Line 266-311III. The Fire SermonIII. The Fire SermonTheme: Eliot uses St. Augustine and Buddha’s thoughts to teach man to keep away from decay.IV. Death by Water IV. Death by Water The shortest section of the poem. Describes a man, Phlebas the Phoenician, who has died by drowning. In death he has forgotten his worldly cares as the creatures of the sea have picked his body apart. Theme: There will be no revival or resurrection after the Phoenician’s death. Misunderstanding of greed and values have buried human beings deeper as a whole into the whirlpool.V. What the Thunder Said (1/2)V. What the Thunder Said (1/2)One poem: line 322-423 Builds to an apocalyptic climax, as suffering people become "hooded hordes swarming" and the "unreal" cities of Jerusalem, Athens, Alexandria, Vienna, and London are destroyed, rebuilt, and destroyed again. The scene then shifts to the Ganges, half a world away from Europe, where thunder rumbles.V. What the Thunder Said (2/2)V. What the Thunder Said (2/2)Finale: line 424-434 Ends with a series of disparate fragments from a children's song, from Dante, and from Elizabethan drama, leading up to a final chant of “Shantih shantih shantih.” Theme: The thunder said human beings could be saved through three verbs--give, sympathize, and control. William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) 3 Stages of William Butler Yeats(1) 3 Stages of William Butler Yeats(1)Irish poet, dramatist and prose writer, one of the greatest English-language poets of the 20th century. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923. Yeats studied at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art, his first collection of poetry being published in 1889. The Wanderings of Oisin and other poems already showed concerns that were to remain central to his writing - Ireland, spiritualism and love. His earliest books draw on the romantics and pre-Raphaelite ideals and mythologise a 'Celtic Twilight'. 3 Stages of William Butler Yeats(2)nationalist politics : his diction grew plainer, the syntax tighter and the verse structures, whilst retaining their traditional form, more muscular. To this middle period belongs his failed courtship of the beautiful nationalist, Maud Gonne and his founding in 1899 of the Abbey Theatre in Dublin which became a focus for many of the writers of the Irish Revival of which Yeats was a key figure. 3 Stages of William Butler Yeats(2)nullAnother important influence at this time was Modernism, Ezra Pound in particular, who introduced Yeats to the principles of Japanese Noh theatre. His work after 1910 was strongly influenced by Pound, becoming more modern in its concision and imagery, but Yeats never abandoned his strict adherence to traditional verse forms. As events in Ireland began to take a bloody turn, Yeats' poems increasingly addressed public themes as in 'Easter 1916', his troubled commemoration of the Easter uprising. He entered official political life when he was elected to the Senate, the upper house of the new Free State, in 1922. 3 Stages of William Butler Yeats(3)After a final rejection from Maud Gonne and then from her daughter, Yeats married Georgie Hyde Lees with whom he was very happy. Her interest in spiritualism echoed Yeats' and his explorations in this area informed some of his powerful visionary poems. Yeats' was now ent