Victorian PoetryAlfred Tennyson & others.1 Victorian PoetryKey words: diversity, renovation, inheritance from Romanticism.•Lord Alfred Tennyson-Poet Laureate, lyrical & sentimental Idylls of the King/ In Memoriam / Poems, Chiefly Lyrical •Robert Browning- Dramatic Monologue, one of the forefathers of modern poetry Men & Women / Dramatis Personae / The Ring and the Book•Matthew Arnold-skeptical and pessimistic perspective, one of the major literary critics of the time. The Strayed Reveler / Poems / Culture and Anarchy, Literature and Dogma.•Elizabeth Browning-humanism, passion The Seraphim and Other Poems / Sonnets from the Portuguese.2 Victorian Poetry•Thomas Hardy-fatalism, an extraordinary variety of meters and stanzaic forms. Wessex Poems/The Dynasts /Moments of Vision •Dante Gabriel Rossetti -sensuality and its medieval revivalism, founder of Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood The Blessed Damozel /Ballads and Sonnets/ The House of Life •Christina Georgina Rossetti-asceticism/ decorative, sensuous, colorful. Verses / Goblin Market and Other Poems / The Prince’s Progress and Other Poem. •Gerard Manley Hopkins -sprung rhythm, unique verse building The Windhover / The Starlight Night 3 Poet Laureate-Lord Alfred Tennyson•1827, “Poems by Two Brothers”, in collaboration with his brother Charles.•1827, Cambridge University•1830, late 1832, two volumes of poetry•The unfavorable reception of these two early volumes led to a ten-year silence for the young poet, and only the appearance of two new volumes of verse in 1842 which contained many of the most typical of his shorter poems finally brought him considerable fame and financial rewards.•In the meantime, composing on and off since 1833 a long elegy on the death of Hallam, in 1850, finally appeared “In Memoriam”.•1850, made poet laureate upon the death of Wordsworth.4 Lord Alfred Tennyson•A wide range of subject matter-ranging from medieval legends to classical myths and from domestic situations to observations of nature, as source material for his poetry. •Use of the musical qualities of words to emphasize his rhythms and meanings •He also reflects a concern common among Victorian writers in being troubled by the conflict between religious faith and expanding scientific knowledge. 5 Poet Laureate- Lord Alfred TennysonSWEET and low, sweet and low, Wind of the western sea, Low, low, breathe and blow, Wind of the western sea! Over the rolling waters go, Come from the dying moon, and blow, Blow him again to me;While my little one, while my pretty one, sleeps.6 Robert Browning•His father was a learned man who had an extensive library of 6,000 volumes and was interested in art and music; young Browning received a good education at home. •His first volumes of poetry were not well received (“Pauline” in 1833, “Paracelsus” in 1835 and “Sordello” in 1840)•Plunged into a romantic love affair with Elizabeth Barrett.•1855, the most important collection of his monologues, “Men and Women”, which contained the monologues of 50 men and women of historical or legendary origin or purely imaginary. •“Men and Women”, “One Word More”, “Dramatis Personae” of 1864, established finally Browning’s great fame as a poet. •Browning returned to England following his wife’s death and after a time of retirement he began to appear in public. •1870s, he delved into ancient Greek literature, and translated from Euripides and Aeschylus. •He died in Venice, Italy, in 1889, and was buried in the Poet’s Corner, Westminster Abbey. 7 Dramatic MonologueDefinition: A speech or soliloquy by a character to an imaginary audience, in which the reader gains insight into the character's personality or history.•A fiction speaker/audience •A symbolic setting •Dramatic gestures •An emphasis on speaker's subjectivity •A focus on dramatics •Irony •Involved reader's role-playing 8 My Last Duchess•Who is the narrator? •Who are the audience?•What’s the speaker’s comment on the Duchess?•What do you think of the Duchess?•What dramatic elements can you find in the poem?•What do you think caused the death of the Duchess?9 Meeting at NightThe gray sea and the long black land; And the yellow half-moon large and low: And the startled little waves that leap In fiery ringlets from their sleep, As I gain the cove with pushing prow, And quench its speed i’ the slushy sand. Then a mile of warm sea-scented beach; Three fields to cross till a farm appears; A tap at the pane, the quick sharp scratch And blue spurt of a lighted match, And a voice less loud, through joys and fears, Than the two hearts beating each to each! 10 Elizabeth BrowningWhat's the best thing in the world?June-rose, by May-dew impearled;Sweet south-wind, that means no rain;Truth, not cruel to a friend;Pleasure, not in haste to end;Beauty, not self-decked and curledTill its pride is over-plain;Love, when, so, you're loved again.What's the best thing in the world?--Something out of it, I think. 11 Matthew Arnold•As a boy and young man, under the influence of his father, a historian and a Protestant clergyman of the liberal church.•1847, after a fellowship in Oxford, went to London, as private secretary to a high government official. •1849, his first book of poems, “The Strayed Reveler” was published. •1851, appointed an inspector of schools, which post he held for 35 years.•1852, “Empedocles on Etna”•1857, selected Professor of Poetry at Oxford, which position he held for ten years and he delivered lectures there from time to time.•1858, “Merope. A Tragedy”•1867, “New Poems”•His most important literary criticism, “Essays in Criticism”•1888, died of a heart attack12 Matthew Arnold•Poetry should be the ‘criticism of life’ and express a philosophy, “the main march of mind of his time” •Simplicity, lucidity, and straightforwardness •The bridge between Romanticism and Modernism: His use of symbolic landscapes was typical of the Romantic era, while his skeptical and pessimistic perspective was typical of the Modern era. 13 The Buried Life -adaptedLight flows our war of mocking words, and yet, Behold, with tears mine eyes are wet! I feel a nameless sadness o'er me roll. Yes, yes, we know that we can jest, We know, we know that we can smile; But there 's a something in this breast, To which thy light words bring no rest, And thy gay smiles no anodyne; Give me thy hand, and hush awhile, And turn those limpid eyes on mine, And let me read there, love! thy inmost soul. 14 Other Poets-Dante Gabriel Rossetti I looked and saw your eyes In the shadow of your hair As a traveler sees the stream In the shadow of the wood; And I said, “My faint heart sighs Ah me! To linger there, To drink deep and to dream In that sweet solitude.” I looked and saw your heart In the shadow of your eyes, As a seeker sees the gold In the shadow of the stream; And I said, “Ah me! What art Should win the immortal prize, Whose want must make life cold And Heaven a hollow dream?”15 Other Poets-Dante Gabriel RossettiWHEN I am dead, my dearest, Sing no sad songs for me; Plant thou no roses at my head, Nor shady cypress tree: Be the green grass above me With showers and dewdrops wet; And if thou wilt, remember, And if thou wilt, forget.I shall not see the shadows, I shall not feel the rain; I shall not hear the nightingale Sing on, as if in pain; And dreaming through the twilight That doth not rise nor set, Haply I may remember, And haply may forget. 16 Quotes•Self-reverence, self-knowledge, self-control; these three alone lead one to sovereign power. -Tennyson •How sad and bad and mad it was - / But then, how it was sweet! -Browning•Better by far you should forget and smile than you should remember and be sad. – Christina Rossetti•Life is not a having and a getting, but a being and a becoming. -Matthew Arnold17 。