Reason and faith- a linguistic and cultural analysis of representative British poets of 19th Century
... Victorian era there were two prominent literary movements, which can be distinguished as that of the Pre-Raphaelites (1848-1860) and Aestheticism and Decadence (1880-1901). “The Romantic Period in English literature is dated as beginning in 1785 or alternatively in 1789 (the outbreak of the French revolution), or in 1798 (the publication of Wordsworth’s and Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s Lyrical Ballads)-and as ending either in 1830 or else in 1832, the year in which Sir Walter Scott died and the passage of the Reform bill signalled the political preoccupations of the Victorian era”. Thus one can say that the Romantic period started in the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth centuries. Major writers of this period in addition to Wordsworth and Coleridge were the poets William Blake, Robert Burns, Lord Byron, P.B.Shelley, John Keats and prose writers Charles lamb, William Hazlitt, Leigh Hunt and the novelists Jane Austen, Sir Walter Scott and Mary Shelley. Romanticism was an artistic and culture movement which was in parts a reaction against the rationalism of the Enlightenment, and the overriding dominance of logic and science in the modern world. The Romantic Movement had a fondness for all things Gothic (Medieval) and Gothic styles began to challenge the dominant influence of ancient Greece and Rome in architecture and art. The attitude that prevailed favoured innovation as against traditionalism in the forms and styles of literature as well. One of the major romantic poets ‘William Wordsworth’ denounced the poetic diction of the previous century and proposed to deal with ideas from common life and in a selection of language, which was really used by men. He set out to treat seriously low subjects in a common language as one would have treated a serious genre with a high subject and elevated style in the 18th century. Thus, the basic neoclassic rules of decorum in style were violated. Other innovations of this period were the exploitation by Samuel Taylor Coleridge and John Keats of the realm of the supernatural in their poems; and the use of poetic symbolism, especially by Blake and Shelley. Thus The Romantic works of literature exhibited a love for the unusual, unreal, the exotic as well as the glorification of simple country people and peasants-in implicit contrast to the values of modern, urban people. To a remarkable degree nature, i.e. the landscape, together with its flora and fauna was their persistent subject of poetry, and the Romantic poets described in a language that was amazingly accurate and steeped with sensuous manners. However, it would be a mistake to simply label the romantic poets as ‘nature poets’. While it is conspicuous that the major poems by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Shelley and Keats dealt with the aspects of landscape, this was not presented for its own sake, but only as a stimulus for the poet to engage in the most interesting human activity, that of thinking. Many of their poems are reflective; they are poems of feelings, contemplation and meditation that though often stimulated by a natural phenomenon, are concerned with central human experiences and problems. These poets found the mind of man to be their favorite haunt. Romanticism also placed a high value on feelings, imagination and the personal experience of the artist, as Wordsworth declares, “in his Preface to Lyrical Ballads, that good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.” According to this point of view, the essential element in poetry is the poet’s own feelings, while the process of composition, since it is ‘spontaneous’, is directly opposite to the artful manipulation that was employed by the neoclassical writers. The Romantic poets believed that if a poem is to be genuine, the immediate act of composition must be spontaneous, that is unforced and free of the artificial rules and conventions. Romantic poetry very often invited the reader to identify the protagonists with the poets themselves, either directly or in altered but recognizable forms. The Romantics were idealistic, and the French Revolution, fostered the sense in the writers of the early Romantic period that theirs was a great age of new beginnings and high possibilities. They believed that imagination was the means of reaching truth through creativity and therefore they viewed a human being as endowed with infinite aspiration towards the limitless good envisioned by the faculty of imagination. The poets of the previous century believed that the highest art consisted in an effort beyond human possibility; therefore it need not be impeccable. The Victorian Period followed the Romantic Period. “The beginning of The Victorian Period is frequently dated 1830, or alternatively 1832 (the passage of the first reform bill), and sometimes 1837 (the accession of Queen Victoria); it extends to the death of Victoria in 1901. The year 1870 is often used to distinguish between what is called ‘early Victorian’ and ‘late Victorian’.” Most of the writing of this period, in prose or in verse reflected the social, religious, intellectual issues and problems of the times. Among these were the industrial revolution and its effects on the economic and social structure; urbanization, class tensions, political and social reforms; beginnings of feminism and the impact on philosophy and religious fundamentalism of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution; as had been discussed earlier. As a cultural movement, this could be called a movement of the middle class; as it was opposed to both the debauchery, which the middle classes associated with the traditional aristocratic behavior, and it was also averse to the squalid ways of life, which the middle class saw in the poor. This movement gave a good deal of emphasis on refinement, propriety, restraint and sexual prudishness. As a literary movement, The Victorian period was an age of immense, diverse, self-critical literary activity. Among the notable poets of the age were Alfred Lord Tennyson, Robert Browning, Elizabeth Barrett browning, Mathew Arnold and Gerald Manley Hopkins. The most prominent essayists were Thomas Carlyle, John Ruskin, Mathew Arnold and the most distinguished of many excellent novelists were Charles dickens, William Makepeace Thackeray, Charlotte and Emily Bronte, Elizabeth Gaskell and George Eliot. Within this era one of the most prominent literary movements was the Pre-Raphaelites. “In 1848, a group of English artists, including D.G. Rossetti, William Holman Hunt, and John Millais, organized the “Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood”. Their aim was to replace the reigning academic style of painting by a return to the truthfulness, simplicity, and a spirit of devotion which these artists attributed to the Italian painting before the time of Raphael (1483-1520) and the high Italian Renaissance.” The ideals of this group of painters were taken over by a literary movement, which included Dante Gabriel Rossetti, his sister Christina Rossetti, William Morris and Algernon Swinburne. The literary movement was followed by that of Aestheticism and Decadence. “Aestheticism or the aesthetic movement was a European phenomenon during the latter 19th century that had its chief headquarters in France. In opposition to the dominance of scientific thinking, and in defiance of the widespread indifference and hostility of the society of their time to any art that was not useful or did not teach moral values, French writers developed the view that a work of art is the supreme value among human products precisely because it is self-sufficient, and has no use or moral aim outside its own being”. The rallying cry of the Aesthetes was the phrase “d’art pour l’art”-art for art’s sake. English writers of 1890’s such as Oscar Wilde, Arthur Symons and Lionel Johnson express the artistic and moral views of Aestheticism. And in the latter 19th century in France, “some proponents of the doctrine of Aestheticism, especially Charles Baudelaire, also espoused views and values which developed into a movement called ‘the Decadence’’ . The literatures of this period “was said to possess the high refinements and subtle beauties of a culture and art which have passed their vigorous prime, but manifest a special, sweet savor of incipient decay….This period is also known as the fin de siecle (end of the century):as the phrase connotes lassitude, satiety and ennui expressed by many writers of the Decadence.” In England writers such as Oscar Wilde and Arthur Symons manifest the ideas, moods and activities of decadence, beginning in the 1860s, in the poems of Algernon Charles Swinburne and in 1890’s. Many of the English decadents of the ‘90 have experimented with drugs, sex and deliberately inverted conventional moral, social and artistic norms. From this brief delineation of the periods of British literature, it is obvious that the rapid changes and movement of ideas in the 19the century England influenced the poets and literary thinkers of this era which is reflected both in the prose and poetry. Novelists like Dickens and essayists like Mill and Newman and a host of other writers such as Mrs. Gaskell and Carlyle show their engagement with theses combating ideas. These Victorian sages spoke as much to the imagination as to the reason. Poetry was also equally deeply influenced by the turmoil of the age. The romantic poets like Wordsworth and Coleridge also changed their political opinions “from enthusiastic support of the French revolution to philosophic conservatism, which was natural in the ideological confusion of the time,” though ironically the French revolution was one of the main inspirations of romanticism. Therefore the writings of those whom we now consider the major 19th century poets cannot be understood without the awareness of the extent to which their distinctive concepts, plots, symbols, figures of speech, diction, imagery and language were shaped by the events in neighboring France and the turmoils and rapid changes in their own homeland .The changing social and philosophical trends are mirrored in a very remarkable manner in the poetry of the age. And my objective is to evaluate the changing responses of theses intelligent and creative minds to theses basic issues, as reflected in their poetic language. Objective: As one can observe, the nineteenth century poetry can be divided into five distinct phases: - 1. The phase of faith and imagination. 2. The phase of ambivalence. 3. The phase of escape. 4. The phase of skepticism. The last phase is followed by a fragmented era, where the search for the enduring ideas takes various forms as in the works of Hopkins, T.S..Eliot and W.B.Yeats. Each phase characterizes the prominent changing trends, thoughts and concerns of the 19th century, which were reflected in the poetry of the age. For the purpose of this research, I have identified two or three representative poets hose poems capture the spirit of the various phases of the age, respectively. In the first phase, Coleridge and Wordsworth stand out conspicuously as they were not just the high priests of Romanticism, but also because they created a kind of emotional and imaginative literature which escaped from the constraining forces of sheer reason. The intellectual symbiosis of Coleridge and Wordsworth has scarcely ant parallel in literary history, because though they had temperamental differences, both of them were important each in his own right, and also dependent on each other during their richest intellectual years. They were influenced by the social and moral surroundings, by the great upheaval caused by the transformation of industry, by the religious awakening of Methodism and Evangelicalism and more than anything else their poetic idealism took its roots in the French revolution. One can even say that Wordsworth’s creative originality among the English poets remains closely linked to his contact with the revolutionary faith. Being a friend of Coleridge, he was influenced by the latter’s idealism and philosophical interests. The two composed and published ‘The Lyrical Ballads’, in 1798, which has been considered by many as the definite turning point of English literature, for it set the stage for the triumph of romanticism. In it Wordsworth clearly expresses his belief “that poetry ought to be written in the simplest language of the common people, that even metre is an accident of it, and that the poetic essence consists wholly in fixing the result of an impassioned spiritual experience.” His poems have a character of pure spirituality, as he places us before the simple incidents of rural life. The artificiality of language was abandoned and therefore his style was of a simple quality, just as it is ever racy and spontaneous. Thus, one cannot deny the fact that any study of 19th century poetry cannot omit Wordsworth because, “he had broken the spell of an antiquated tradition, and his wok inaugurated the reign of liberty. England awoke to this fact, not indeed at once, but by degrees, and in the course of a generation. All the English poets of the 19th century are indirectly his heirs”. Wordsworth’s friend Coleridge possessed the vigorous mind among the English romanticists of the first generation, and in some of his poetic works, he was their most exquisite poet. But his work, his life, and even his thoughts were marked by an unhappy fate, which prevented him from reaching complete self-fulfillment. He was addicted to opium, so he was unable to carry through hardly any of his ambitious undertakings. Coleridge, like Wordsworth, also went through a phase of revolutionary ardour, and then gradually his amazing originality shows up in his poems, which also reflect how his social zeal and hopes for mankind get metamorphosed into a spiritual idealism. Coleridge goes directly to the supernatural. “The very centre of Coleridge’s art lies in his faculty of evoking the mystery of things, and making it actual, widespread and obsessing. Even better than Wordsworth, because his is the powerful imagination, and with him the haunting sense of the inexpressible is keener, less subservient to a strong moral purpose, he knows how to handle that species f the supernatural whose essence is entirely psychological.” The Ancient Mariner and Christabel are Coleridge’s only great productions of any bulk. Yet, in theses poems all elements of poetry such as diction, meter, imagery and suggestion are present in intense degree, with novel and original forms. Therefore, “ it is scarcely too much to say that in these best poems of Coleridge the poetry of the 19th century is almost wholly suggested , and is to a very great extent, continued after that fashion of the oak in the acorn”. The next phase which followed is one of ambivalence, as this as a period of search for balance i.e. (1832-1875). From 1830, onwards, a literary transition was gradually developing. The year 1832 was one of great reform that laid the solid foundation of political democracy. This was also the year which coincided with the long reign of queen Victoria, and the decade from 1830 to 1840 may be traced to the beginning of a new age in literature and society. Romanticism was not dead, but its influence was gradually reducing and writers moved to other sources of inspiration. As in all rhythms of life, the history of English literature also follows the law of alternate sequences. After the rule of emotions, dreams and imagination in the previous phase, there comes a time when the need of an order born of reason begins to assert itself. Therefore, the keynote of the new era was a pronounced call for rationality in all things. Romanticism championed the claims of passion, whereas this phase claimed self-control and morality. However, “the spirit of romanticism continues to influence the innermost consciousness of the age which sees a Tennyson, a Thackeray, a browning and an Arnold: it permeates almost every thought, just as it colours almost every mode of expression.” And not only did romanticism continue to live through these poets and novelists, but the confusion of ideas, i.e. of reason vs. imagination lead to an awakening of an instinctive longing for balance in all spheres. If the poets of The Victorian era had to be grouped around two central figures, one of these would be Tennyson and the other is Browning. Tennyson’s poetry was more influenced by his Romantic predecessors, as compared to his contemporary Browning. But, on the other hand, he followed the evolution of the century, adapting himself to the principal changes it brought with it. He deliberately emphasized the importance of discipline in form. His poems have “a rich blending of romantic subjectivism with an objective interest in the changes wrought by time among men and ideas, a blend which represents the ...