Victorian Poetry

 

Victorian poetry(1800-1901)

Victorian poetry is the poetry written during the period of Queen Victoria’s reign (1837-1901). During The Victorian age, numerous poetic ideals were developed, such as the increased use of the sonnet as a poetic form. Victorian poetry resembles the works of the Romantics, as such Romantic writers as William Blake, Keats, W. Wordsworth and Shelley had an immense impact on the Victorian poets. These two periods have a lot in common: skepticism, interest in everything mysterious, distrust of organized religion.

Some characteristics, or features, of Victorian poetry move poetry away from the Romantic era poets. One such characteristic, or feature, is the Victorian interest in Medieval legends, myths and fables over the classical legends and mythology embraced by the preceding Romantic poets. Another is a more realistic and less idealized view of nature. Another is a change of emphasis on what types of common people and common language is emphasized in poetry: whereas for Romantics it was the country rustic, for the Victorians it is more often the common urban dweller.also One of the main defining characteristics of Victorian poetry is that it is pictorial, which means it uses detailed imagery to convey thoughts and emotions. While many poets use imagery, the Victorians took this a step further. They used sensory elements to describe abstract ideas such as the struggles between religion and science.

Victorian poetry is characterized by both religious skepticism, inherited from the Romantic Period, but contrarily also devotional poetry that proclaims a more mystical faith. Religion becomes more of a personal experience expressed through poetry. Victorian poetry also employs more humor and whimsy than the prior Romantic Period. Despite the whimsy, in the Victorian Era, poetry and literature take a more harsh and utilitarian view of nature and philosophy.However, unlike the Romantics, the Victorian poets were more likely to deny the existence of God through scientific means("Dover Beach" by Matthew Arnold is the great Victorian example). Their poetry was more light-hearted and humorous, often whimsical or nonsensical.Themes were much more realistic, identifying emotions such as isolation, despair and general pessimism.Several factors that influenced Victorian poetry and literature were the conflicts between scientific discoveries.Even though many Victorian poets struggled with a loss of faith, there was still a sense of high morality that they held close and revered.Through their writing, they tried to encourage readers toward more noble actions and attitudes.

One of the most significant accomplishments of the Victorian Era is the appearance of female poets. There were few female poets before, as poetry was considered to be predominantly male occupation. Despite these views, works of such poets as Elizabeth Browning, Christina Rossetti, and the Bronte sisters became famous during The Victorian Age.

Speaking about male poets, such figures as Alfred Tennyson, Matthew Arnold and Robert Browning should be mentioned. Among the Victorians, Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892) enjoyed the greatest popularity. He wrote on a variety of topics, including religion and ethics. His poetry responded to all the issues and concerns of the Victorian society and reflected moods and attitudes of the Britons.Matthew Arnold (1822-1888) has never been as popular as Tennyson. He did not feel a part of the time in which he lived, and in his nonfiction works (“Literature and Dogma”) sharply criticized the British Society for immorality and lack of culture, idealizing ancient civilization.Robert Browning (1812-1889), too, felt like a stranger in Victorian England. Together with his wife Elizabeth Barrett Browning, also a recognized poet, he lived in Italy for a long time, and even when he returned home, he did not write about England. His style of writing is easily recognizable. He put the freedom and spiritual emancipation of the individual above all and was interested in moral and spiritual conflicts.

lyric poetry was a dominant genre of poetry emerging during the 19th century, deriving from the Victorian conventions of narrative and dramatic poetry. The lyric is distinguished as one of the three broad group of poetry. The general principles that define lyric poetry are its conventions of being a shorter poem in which the narrator expresses personal feelings that are often directly addressed to the reader.the “Victorian Lyric” adopted was more “linguistically self-conscious and defensive” than the Lyric of the Romantic era.Victorians often mixed up their genres, so the lyric became incorporated with other forms such as the dramatic monologue or “dramatic lyric”. Tennyson’s the “Lady of Shallot” is one of the most well known poems from the Victorian era .The poem gathers a sense of the dramatic once movement begins a very uncommon occurrence in lyric poetry.

Victorian Poetry was a very crucial period in the history of poetry, as it linked Romanticism and Modernism of the 20th century. Therefore, it is sometimes difficult to identify to which epoch this or that poet belongs, as it is not easy to categorize them all in these broad movements.