Abstract
This Take home analyzes the Romantic, Victorian and Modern period, describing its characteristics, historical events, and some authors who were representatives of these literary movements. The Romantic period was a cultural and intellectual movement that was reflected in music, literature, and art in general; Europe was the cradle of this movement at the end of the 18th century, giving rise to poets as spokespersons of people and exponents with an intense perspective about modern life and its vanity. The Romantic period is characterized by the exaltation of emotions and individual thought, the idealization of nature, and the rationalization of the importance of values and social freedom that it was put in danger after the Industrial Revolution. William Blake, for instance, exposes in his poem "An Island in the Moon" a satirical message of the reality that bothered him; in addition, Joseph Warton, Margaret Drabble, William Wordsworth, and Sir Walter Scott were protagonists in this movement, giving life to Romanticism. The Victorian period originated during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901) was the product of a second awareness, and a new English revival that sparked interest in understanding the needs of modern life, influencing writers and their literature; the few representative writers of this era were Charles Dickens, George Eliot, Elizabeth Gaskell and Matthew Arnold. The Modernist period began shortly after the 20th century, driven by a current of cultural shock that was contrary to the Victorian and its worship to everything in general; moreover, experimentation and individualism were characteristic of this movement, and its appreciation was direct with art. The greatest historical event that marked this period was the first World War that strongly influenced the stance of the writers and their works. Authors such as Elizabeth Bishop, Joseph Conrad, Hilda Doolittle, Thomas Stearns Eliot, and William Faulkner gave life to this movement covered of new aims, opening the way to a new stage of literature and art in general.
TIMELINE
Biography of William Blake
William Blake was a writer and printmaker who was part of the Romantic movement, being influenced by the political and cultural changes of the time; nevertheless, he is recognized for being a writer with an original and different nuance that distinguishes him from many other writers of this period. William Blake was born on November 28 in 1757 and was from the city of Broad Street in London. His father, James, offered him a moderate and quiet life in his childhood. His mother, Catherine, taught him to read and write since William was not forced to attend a conventional school because he constantly talked about having visions, so his mother preferred to educate him at home. During his youth, Willian studied at Henry Pars art school; however, due to economic problems, his parents decided that William would be apprenticed to a master engraver; later, William would work making drawings of tombs and monuments, leading him to appreciate the art and gothic style. In 1782, William Blake married Catherine Boucher; he taught her how to read, write, and draw to takes her into account in the work of printing illuminated poetry. W. Blake made several publications such as Poetical Sketches (1783), Songs of Innocence (1789), and Songs of Experience (1794). In addition, one of his most revealing poems is The Human Abstract (1794) that exposes a plane of good and evil where the mind of the human being is the source of both good and bad feelings; the poet explains the codependence that exists between good and evil; that is, good needs evil to exist and vice versa. He was a poet who leaned toward the radical and imaginative writing, despising the Neoclassical ideas of the time; his focus on writing was based primarily on a deep and intellectual content and not on an aesthetic style of 18th-century poetry. Although William Blake is a well-known writer today, the success did not accompany him during his youth until his old age where he was asked to collaborate to design several illustrations of other important artists including the bible.
VICTORIAN PERIOD
Alfred Tennyson was born on August 6, 1809, and is considered one of the most famous poets of the Victorian period. He belonged to a large family of 11 brothers. Due to the limited resources his family had, Tennyson attended Louth Grammar School for a few years; therefore, his education was instructed by his father who instilled in him the love for books. Tennyson at his young age made some compositions with the styles of Alexander Pope, Sir Walter Scott, and John Milton. In his youth, he wrote several works such as The Devil and the Lady which is a collection of poems that were published until 1930.
Thomas Ernest Hulme was an English esthetician, literary critic, and poet who was part of the Imagist movement, becoming a great influence on the literature of the Modern period. T. E. Holme was born on September 26, 1883, in Gratton, Staffordshire and was the first born of Thomas Hulme and Mary Young. His father was a gentleman farmer and a businessman who sold ceramics. Thomas Ernest Holme was a prominent child at Newcastle High School for Boys, winning several math and science prizes; in addition, he was awarded by the association of debate of this school as well. This poet had a stage of rebellion in his youth, so his parents decided to send him two years later to St John's College, Cambridge where he was admitted (1902). Time later, he decided to attend the University College, London. However, he left the university without finishing to study in order to travel to Canada where he began his writings inspired by the origin of truth, knowledge, the world, and language. He argued that the world and its diversity could not be defined or understood in a single theory. In 1908, T. E. Hulme joined a group of poets where he sought an "impressionist" idea that would allow him to develop different verses from the past. Then, the American writer Ezra Pound and FS Flint were included to a group of poets that T. E. Hulme organized in 1909. Additionally, the philosophy was a field that this writer studied, focusing on the work of Henri Bergson, who had ideas against the materialism of the 19th century. Autumn (1908) and The Embankment (1909) are two literary pieces of this poet that reflect on the misery of life, the consciousness of the eternal, and the admiration of nature and its beauty. Thomas E. Hulme never married despite being known for having several relationships with young women and died in 1917 in war action in Nieuport.
ROMANTIC PERIOD
TIMELINE
Biography of William Blake
William Blake was a writer and printmaker who was part of the Romantic movement, being influenced by the political and cultural changes of the time; nevertheless, he is recognized for being a writer with an original and different nuance that distinguishes him from many other writers of this period. William Blake was born on November 28 in 1757 and was from the city of Broad Street in London. His father, James, offered him a moderate and quiet life in his childhood. His mother, Catherine, taught him to read and write since William was not forced to attend a conventional school because he constantly talked about having visions, so his mother preferred to educate him at home. During his youth, Willian studied at Henry Pars art school; however, due to economic problems, his parents decided that William would be apprenticed to a master engraver; later, William would work making drawings of tombs and monuments, leading him to appreciate the art and gothic style. In 1782, William Blake married Catherine Boucher; he taught her how to read, write, and draw to takes her into account in the work of printing illuminated poetry. W. Blake made several publications such as Poetical Sketches (1783), Songs of Innocence (1789), and Songs of Experience (1794). In addition, one of his most revealing poems is The Human Abstract (1794) that exposes a plane of good and evil where the mind of the human being is the source of both good and bad feelings; the poet explains the codependence that exists between good and evil; that is, good needs evil to exist and vice versa. He was a poet who leaned toward the radical and imaginative writing, despising the Neoclassical ideas of the time; his focus on writing was based primarily on a deep and intellectual content and not on an aesthetic style of 18th-century poetry. Although William Blake is a well-known writer today, the success did not accompany him during his youth until his old age where he was asked to collaborate to design several illustrations of other important artists including the bible.
Analysis of "Human abstract" by William Blake
“Pity would be no more,
If we did not make somebody Poor:
And Mercy no more could be,
If all were as happy as we;
And Mercy no more could be,
If all were as happy as we;
And mutual fear brings peace;
Till the selfish loves increase.
Then Cruelty knits a snare,
And spreads his baits with care.
He sits down with holy fears,
And waters the ground with tears:
Then Humility takes its root
Underneath his foot.
Soon spreads the dismal shade
Of Mystery over his head;
And the Catterpiller and Fly,
Feed on the Mystery.
And it bears the fruit of Deceit,
Ruddy and sweet to eat;
And the Raven his nest has made
In its thickest shade.
The Gods of the earth and sea,
Sought thro’ Nature to find this Tree
But their search was all in vain:
There grows one in the Human Brain”
This poem is an appreciation of the root of the emotions that arise naturally from the human condition. William Blake mentions the emotions’ origin and the reason for its existence; for example, he describes how someone's good intentions are strongly related to the adversity of some else. The "Human Abstract" is a clear example of the exaltation towards the feelings and complexity of the human being, so it is a very characteristic poem of the Romantic period. The Romanticism stood out for the admiration and the glorification of everything as well as the feelings and the human being as a unique and mystical being. In the first stanza, William Blake talks about the existence of compassion and mercy that originate from someone's poor and sad condition. The writer speaks of a parallel point where these feelings are dependent on those conditions for its existence; that is, people could not know the meaning of the compassion if there was not a person in a bad condition that aroused this feeling; in short, W. Blake tells us that goodness exists because evil exists. In the second and third stanza, the poet also speaks of peace, which is the result of mutual fear that stops direct confrontations; that is, peace is assumed and accepted for fear of challenging something that could be superior to ourselves. However, cruelty appears because of selfishness and sabotages this peace. W. Blake uses the pronoun "his" (line 4) to give human qualities to cruelty, presenting it as a character that fulfills his purpose as the villain; then, humility is born as a product of this cruelty, being the hero; two opposite sentiments that coexist in an inherent way. In the fourth stanza, the writer uses a metaphor to show how a feeling or intention undergoes a metamorphosis, changing to another feeling or intention completely different as well as the caterpillars experience this change, becoming a butterfly. In the fifth and sixth stanza, W. Blake mentions a crow that has already made its nest, creating a metaphor where the nest represents the "origin", and the crow is an allusion to "evil". The author exposes that the gods have searched for the tree where this nest has been built, but the seek has been in vain because the matrix of this feeling just is found in the human mind.
VICTORIAN PERIOD
TIMELINE
Biography of Alfred Tennyson
Alfred Tennyson was born on August 6, 1809, and is considered one of the most famous poets of the Victorian period. He belonged to a large family of 11 brothers. Due to the limited resources his family had, Tennyson attended Louth Grammar School for a few years; therefore, his education was instructed by his father who instilled in him the love for books. Tennyson at his young age made some compositions with the styles of Alexander Pope, Sir Walter Scott, and John Milton. In his youth, he wrote several works such as The Devil and the Lady which is a collection of poems that were published until 1930.
1824 Tennyson's father falls ill and takes refuge in alcohol. This situation saddens Tennyson a lot, but he continues to write poems with Frederick and Charles. In 1827, Tennyson's reputation increases when he joins Frederick at Trinity College in Cambridge where he becomes a close friend of Arthur Hallam. This friendship had a lot of meaning in Alfred's life. In the year 1829, Tennyson won a gold medal from the Chancellor with a poem called Timbuctoo. In 1831, Tennyson's father dies. Alfred leaves Cambridge without graduating due to the debts that his grandfather discovers that Alfred's father left. In 1833, Alfred writes some of his most important poems which are related to the personal situations he was going through at that time since three of his brothers suffered from a mental illness and his great friend Hallam died suddenly. Some of those works are "The Two Voices" (of which the original title, significantly, was "Thoughts of a Suicide"), "Ulysses," "St. Simeon Stylites, "and the most recognized "In Memoriam" in commemoration of Hallam's death. 1850 was an important year in the life of Alfred. In that year, Alfred renews his communication with Emily Sellwood and marries her; in addition, Edward Moxon publishes the inspirational elegies of Hallam's death that Tennyson had been writing for some years called In Memoriam. This elegy was a great success and allows Tennyson to win the friendship of Queen Victoria who helps him with his appointment as poet laureate.
Analysis of "In Memoriam" by Alfred Tennyson
"In Memoriam" is extensive of 131 poems with a prologue and an epilogue. This series of poems was inspired by the pain that Alfred felt for the death of his friend Hallam. Section four of In Memoriam, line 93-108.
IV
To Sleep I give my powers away;
My will is bondsman to the dark;
I sit within a helmless bark,
And with my heart I muse and say:
O heart, how fares it with thee now,
That thou should'st fail from thy desire,
Who scarcely darest to inquire,
'What is it makes me beat so low?'
Something it is which thou hast lost,
Some pleasure from thine early years.
Break, thou deep vase of chilling tears,
That grief hath shaken into frost!
Such clouds of nameless trouble cross
All night below the darken'd eyes;
With morning wakes the will, and cries,
'Thou shalt not be the fool of loss.'
In the first stanza, Alfred Tennyson talks about his desire to sleep in order to get away from the pain caused by the death of his friend. Alfred also mentions on line 94 that his will is a slave to darkness. Darkness can mean the pain that dominates him, keeping him in depression. In the second stanza, Alfred speaks to his heart, giving it a personification, implying that his heart can speak and listen. This personification gives a deeper meaning to the verse, allowing the reader to have a clearer and accurate idea of what the writer is feeling. Tennyson sadly asks his heart about his condition. He tells his heart to ask itself why it beats so slowly as if his heart did not know it. In the third stanza on lines 101 and 102, it can be interpreted that Alfred was referring to Hallam´s death which occurred in the early years of their friendship. Moreover, in lines 103 and 104, Alfred mentions his desire to break that extensive and deep vessel full of tears that he has repressed until freezing, but now he wants to vent all those tears. On lines 105 and 106 of, Alfred talks about problem clouds. The agglomeration of clouds in the sky indicates that a storm is coming, and this weather symbolizes sadness and loneliness. Alfred mentions that these clouds of problems cross each night under the dark eyes. Probably, it is the torment of his pain that does not allow him to sleep. The last two lines of the poem, the writer gives a personification to the will when he mentions that the will "cries" and told him if he will continue being the fool who follows suffering the death of his friend. In addition, throughout the poem, the writer creates the rhyme scheme. The first and the fourth line end in the same rhyme each other, and then the second and third line have the same rhyme at the end; for example, in the first stanza, lines 93 and 96 both have the same ending "ay" in the words "away" and "say;" also on line 94 and 95 they have the same ending in "ark" in the words "dark" and "bark". This style of rhyme used by the writer Alfred Tennyson gives the poem greater elegance and originality.
MODERN PERIOD
TIMELINE
Biography of Thomas Ernest Hulme
Thomas Ernest Hulme was an English esthetician, literary critic, and poet who was part of the Imagist movement, becoming a great influence on the literature of the Modern period. T. E. Holme was born on September 26, 1883, in Gratton, Staffordshire and was the first born of Thomas Hulme and Mary Young. His father was a gentleman farmer and a businessman who sold ceramics. Thomas Ernest Holme was a prominent child at Newcastle High School for Boys, winning several math and science prizes; in addition, he was awarded by the association of debate of this school as well. This poet had a stage of rebellion in his youth, so his parents decided to send him two years later to St John's College, Cambridge where he was admitted (1902). Time later, he decided to attend the University College, London. However, he left the university without finishing to study in order to travel to Canada where he began his writings inspired by the origin of truth, knowledge, the world, and language. He argued that the world and its diversity could not be defined or understood in a single theory. In 1908, T. E. Hulme joined a group of poets where he sought an "impressionist" idea that would allow him to develop different verses from the past. Then, the American writer Ezra Pound and FS Flint were included to a group of poets that T. E. Hulme organized in 1909. Additionally, the philosophy was a field that this writer studied, focusing on the work of Henri Bergson, who had ideas against the materialism of the 19th century. Autumn (1908) and The Embankment (1909) are two literary pieces of this poet that reflect on the misery of life, the consciousness of the eternal, and the admiration of nature and its beauty. Thomas E. Hulme never married despite being known for having several relationships with young women and died in 1917 in war action in Nieuport.
Analysis of "Autumn" by Thomas Ernest Hulme
A touch of cold in the Autumn night –
I walked abroad,
And saw the ruddy moon lean over a hedge
Like a red-faced farmer.
I did not stop to speak, but nodded,
And round about were the wistful stars
With white faces like town children.
The modernist period emphasized on the moral reasoning of society and the awareness of human actions since the authors of this movement witnessed several political conflicts, and they experienced two world wars, being strongly influenced by these events that exposed the worst of the human being. In addition, the poetry took a turn in this period with the appearance of the imaginary movement that it is characterized by the description of images or senses to transmit thoughts and feelings. The poems of T. Ernest Hulme are typified by this imaginary movement, using several elements both tangible and invisible to achieve a complete and clear expression of his poems; in fact, the poem "Autumn" is part of the great collection of his work that perfectly represents his essence as a critical and retailer writer. For example, Autumn is a poem that describes a detailed scene about a specific year season; the narrator begins by describing the cold climate to locate the readers in the environment in which this scene develops, something very characteristic of his imaginative style. In the second line, the writer speaks of an “escape”, using the metaphor of walking towards a foreign place; that is, the poet talks about to get away from the noise and city distractions to escape to the countryside and contemplate the moonlight that it illuminates those people who live a simpler life away from the materialism; finally, in the last two lines, it is possible to find a “simile” where the writer compares the stars with the children faces to illustrate the melancholy that the narrator felt when admiring the sky.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the historical periods reveal the thinking ways and the perception of life that writers and society had at that time. The Romantic, Victorian and Modern period built the foundations of this new literary era. In the Romantic Period, the individualist movement, the feelings exaltation, and thought freedom emerged, allowing artists promoted the importance to express the internal emotions of the human being through music, painting, and literature. Consequently, the Victorian period brought changes in social and political reforms. Many protests about social rights were expressed in literary works, having a great influence on the social changes in the Victorian era. On the other hand, the Modern period was reflected in various social, political, and literary changes. During this period, the thought freedom and the appreciation for beauty were strengthened; in addition, Modernist literature promoted new poetic movements as the Imagist style. In general, these cultural expressions are legacies that have contributed to the formation of the current world since literature, philosophical thoughts, scientific advance, and political aspects were developed and influenced during these periods.
Work Cites
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