History of English Literature II

The Poets of the Early Victorian Age

1832-1900

course instructor: BREYA 1

 Course: History of English Literature II
Course Instructor: Breya

course instructor: BREYA 2

Poets of the Early Victorian Period
• The most important poets during the early Victorian period were Tennyson and Browning
• Arnold occupied a somewhat lower position than Tennyson and Browning
•
• from 1820 till the publication of Tennyson‘s first important work in 1833, English poetry had fallen into the hands of mediocrities
• by the publication of his two volumes in 1842 that Tennyson‘s position was assured

• Wordsworth declared Tennyson as: ’decidedly the greatest of our living poets’
• Browning‘s recognition by the public came about the same time

• The early Victorian poetry which started in 1833, therefore, came to its own, in the year 1842
• The early poetry of both Tennyson and Browning was imbued with the spirit of romanticism, but with a difference

• Tennyson recognized an affinity with Byron and Keats

• Browning recognized an affinity with Shelley

• their romanticism no longer implied an attitude of revolt against conventional modes

• It had itself become a convention

• The revolutionary fervour in poetry of Romantic Age got shifted

• It shifted to an evolutionary conception of progress in poetry of Victorian Age

• The evolutionary conception of progress was propagated by the writings of Darwin, Bentham and their followers
• Though inspiration was still derived from the past ages

• However, under the spell of the marvels of science, poets looked forward rather than looking backward
• The dominant note of the Victorian Age as contained in Browning‘s memorable lines, was: ‘The best is yet to be’

• the main characteristic of the early Victorian Age was: Faith in the reality of progress
• As Tennyson found his spiritual consolation in contemplating the
‘One far off divine event
To which the whole creation moves’ course instructor: BREYA 3
Poets of the Early Victorian Period
The different trends of The Victorian Age:

• Faith in the reality of progress was thus the main characteristic of the early Victorian Age.

• Doubt, scepticism and questioning became the main characteristic of the later Victorian Age.

course instructor: BREYA 4

Alfred Lord Tennyson

course instructor: BREYA 5

Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892)
• Tennyson is the most representative poet of the Victorian Age.
• His poetry is a record of the intellectual and spiritual life of the time.
• He was a student of science and philosophy
• he was deeply impressed by the new discoveries and speculations which were undermining the orthodox religion.
• Darwin came up with his theory of Evolution: ‘struggle for existence’ and ‘the survival of the fittest’
• His work upset and shook the foundations of religious faith.
• Thus there was a conflict between:
• science and religion,
• doubt and faith,
• materialism and spirituality.
• These two voices of the Victorian age are perpetually heard in Tennyson‘s work

His Works
• In Memoriam - the great conflict between faith and doubt
• Lockslay Hall of 1842 - reflects the restless spirit of ‘young England‘ and its faith in science, commerce and the progress of mankind
• Lockslay Hall Sixty Years After (1866) - expression to the feeling of revulsion against the new scientific discoveries threatening the very foundations of relig ion
• The Princess - the higher education of women and their place in the fast changing conditions of modern society
• Maud - patriotic passion aroused on account of the Crimean War
• Idylls of Kings - contemporary problems

His finest English songs on account of their distinction of music and imagery
• Break, break, break -
• Tear, idle tears
• Crossing the Bar
course instructor: BREYA 6
• The Lotos Eaters: this poem sets Tennyson as master of imaginative description
Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892)
• During his lifetime Tennyson was considered as the greatest poet of his age,

• but after his death a reaction started against him,

• he was given a much lower rank among the English poets.

• But with the passage of time Tennyson‘s poetry regained its lost position,

• and at present his place as one of the greatest poets of England is secure mainly on account of the artistic perfection of hi s verse

course instructor: BREYA 7

Robert Browning

course instructor: BREYA 8

Robert Browning (1812-1889)
• During his lifetime Browning was not considered as great a poet as Tennyson,
• Later, the opinion of the critics changed in favour of Browning,
• Because of his depth and originality of thoughts, he is now ranked superior to Tennyson His Works:

• Browning and Tennyson were contemporaries • Pauline (1833)

• their poetic careers ran almost parallel to each other, • Paracelsus (1835)
• but as poets they presented a glaring contrast • Sordello, (1840)
• Pipa Passes
• Browning is given preference over Tennyson, because of his poetry that betrays weakness and helpless • Dramatic Lyrics (1842),
pessimism • Dramatic Romances and Lyrics (1845),
• Browning gives a strange vitality to his poetry. • Men and Women (1855),
• It is his firm belief in the immortality of the soul which forms the basis of his generous optimism • Dramatis Personae (1864),
• Dramatic Idylls (1879-80)
• He was chiefly interested in the study of the human soul, he discusses • Bishop Blougram‟s Apology,
• the problems of life and conscience • Two in a Gondola,
• in all of his poetry, Browning himself is the central character, and he uses the hero as his own mouthpiece • Porphyria’s Lover,
• Fra Lippo Lippi,
• The chief fault of Browning‘s poetry is obscurity • The last Ride Together,
• his thought is often so obscure or subtle that language cannot express it perfectly • Childe Roland to a Dark Tower Came,
• A Grammarian’s Funeral,
• He was interested in the study of the individual soul, • Rabbi Ben Ezra,
• he seeks to express the hidden motives and principles which govern individual action • Prospice
• in his poetry, he gives off fine shades of psychological study • My Last Duchess
• The Ring and the Book
• Browning himself blamed for his obscurity, because he is careless as an artist
• But in spite of his obscurity, Browning is the most stimulating poet, in the English language

• his merit was finally recognized, and he was placed beside Tennyson and even considered greater
• In the opinion of some critics he is the greatest poet in English literature since Shakespeare
course instructor: BREYA 9
Tennyson and Browning

Tennyson Browning
i. Tennyson is first the artist and then the teacher, i. However for Browning the message is always the important thing
ii. He is conscious of the form and expression ii. he is very careless of the form in which it is expressed
iii. Tennyson always writes about subjects which are dainty and comely iii. with subjects which are rough and ugly
iv. He talks about contemporary issues of the time iv. he aims to show that truth lies hidden in both the evil and the good
v. Tennyson‘s message reflects the growing order of the age v. advocates the triumph of the individual will over the obstacles
vi. His work is is summed up in the word ‘law’ vi. In his opinion self is not subordinate but supreme
vii. He believes in disciplining the individual will vii. There is a robust optimism reflected in all his poetry
viii. He attempts at subordinating the ‘individual will’ to the universal law viii. betrays weakness and helpless pessimism
ix. There is a note of resignation struck in his poetry ix. He advocates boundless energy, his cheerful courage
x. His resignation amounts to fatalism x. his faith in life and in the development that awaits beyond the portals of
death
xi. Tennyson‘s genius is mainly lyrical
xi. Browning‘s is predominantly dramatic, and his greatest poems are written
in the form of the dramatic monologue

course instructor: BREYA 10

Mathew Arnold

course instructor: BREYA 11

Matthew Arnold (1822-88)
• Another great poet of the early Victorian period is Matthew Arnold
• though he is not so great as Tennyson and Browning
• Unlike Tennyson and Browning who came under the influence of Romantic poets, Arnold, was a great admirer of Wordsworth
• he reacted against the ornate and fluent Romanticism of Shelley and Keats
• He strove to set up a neo-classical ideal as against the Romantic
• He gave emphasis on ‘correctness‘ in poetry, which meant a scheme of literature which picks and chooses according to standards
• Besides being a poet, Arnold was a great critic of poetry
• He is the greatest critics during the Victorian period, and he belongs to that rare category of the critic who is a poet also
• Arnold‘s poetry does not possess the merit of the poetry of Tennyson and Browning
• His poetry when is at its best, it has wonderful charm
• Among his early poems, the sonnet on Shakespeare deserves the highest place

His Works

• Requiescat
• Strayed Reveller
• Empedocles on Etna
• Sohrab and Rustum
• The Scholar Gipsy
• Thyrsis (an elegy on Clough, which is considered of the same rank as Milton‘s Lycidas and Shelley‘s Adonais)
• The Forsaken Morman
• Summer Night
• the Memorial Verses

course instructor: BREYA 12

Matthew Arnold (1822-88)
• Most of the poetry of Arnold gives expression to the conflict of the age—
- between spontaneity and discipline,
- emotion and reason,
- faith and skepticism

• Being distressed by the unfaith, disintegration, complexity and melancholy of his times, Arnold longed for primitive faith, wholeness, simplicity, and happiness
• This melancholy note is present throughout his poetry

• Even in his nature poems he looks upon Nature as a cosmic force indifferent to, or as a lawless and insidious foe of man‘s integrity
• In his most characteristic poem Empedocles on Etna, Arnold deals with the life of a philosopher who is driven to suicide because he cannot achieve unity and
wholeness

• His attitude to life is very much in contrast with the positive optimism of Browning
• Though poetry is an art which must give aesthetic pleasure, according to Arnold, it is also a criticism of life

• As a critic Arnold wants poetry to be plain, and severe

• Arnold‘s own poetry was greatly affected by his critical theories

• While Tennyson‘s poetry is ornate and Browning‘s grotesque, Arnold‘s poetry on the whole is plain and prosaic

course instructor: BREYA 13

Some Minor Poets
• Besides Tennyson, Browning and Arnold there were a number of minor poets during the early Victorian period
• Mrs. Browning and Clough are well-known

Elizabeth Berrett (1806-61)

• became Mrs. Browning in 1846
• Before her marriage she had won fame by writing poems about the Middle Ages in imitation of Coleridge

Her Works:
• Cowper’s Grave,
• The Cry of Children which is an eloquent protest against the employment of children in factories.
• Sonnets from the Portuguese, expresses deep love
• Aurora Leigh (1857)

Arthur Hugh Clough (1819-1861),

• a friend of Arnold
• He came under the influence of Wordsworth in his early years, but later he cut himself off
• He searched for a moral law which was in consonance with the intellectual development of the age

His Works:
• Dipsychus
• The Bothie of Toberna Vuolich
course instructor: BREYA 14