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The Romantic Period: 1798-1837

The Romantic Period (sandwiched between the French Revolution & the beginning of Queens Victoria’s reign) was characterized largely by a belief in the primacy of the imagination. A reliance and emphasis upon nature was the cornerstone of the writers and artists from this brief, but rich time period in English literature. No figure stood out as greatly from this time period than William Blake (1757-1827), who is considered as being the first of the Romantics. Spontaneity and human impulse were considered to be good by him, as long they belonged to the individual and weren’t anyone else’s---conformity to social norms was condemned by the Romantics. Reason only existed on the periphery of energy, which was the heart of his philosophy, and characterized this literary period. This is best exemplified in Blake’s “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell,” in which a synthesis between energy (representative of “Hell”) and reason is created, with sensual desire and impulses serving as the driving force in this noteworthy work, with reason (the “heavenly” metaphor) existing only as a secondary factor.

William Wordsworth and Samuel Coleridge must be mentioned as being “first generation” Romantics, along with Blake, with their 1798 collaborative work, “Lyrical Ballads” being a beacon and benchmark for this era. Wordsworth’s “Lines Composed a Few Miles from Tintern Abbey,” “Intimations on Mortality,” “The Prelude” & Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” are all examples of essential works contained in this volume, which many point to as being the actual start of the Romantic period itself. The best way to categorize the collaborative contributions Wordsworth & Coleridge is to remember that Wordsworth made the natural seem supernatural and that Coleridge portrayed the supernatural as being natural truths.

A movement such as this was driven by certain political and social milestones that were occurring as well, such as: (1) the French Revolution & (2) the rise of Industrialism. These factors served as the driving forces behind writers such as Thomas Paine’s “Rights of Man” (written in 1791 as a response to infamous pro-establishment politician Edmund Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France) the Mary Wollstonecraft’s “A Vindication of the Rights of Women,” in terms of relating this spirit of imagination and reaffirmation between nature and the soul, expressed via the newfound freedom and thinking of the masses over the gentry classes that gave rise to the French Revolution, just across the French Channel, in the first place.

The group of poets who came to be known as the second generation of Romantics included the following George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1822), Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822), and John Keats (1795-1821). They all wrote sonnets, odes, and epics dealing with nature. Byron’s epic, Don Juan, and his autobiographical Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, both were exemplary of his melancholic state, along with his witty and irreverent style exemplifying his contempt for others from this time period, such as Coleridge and Wordsworth themselves. Shelley’s sonnets and odes, such as “Ode to the West Wind”, were characterized by their sensory imagery, emphasizing natural beauty. Keats’ poetry, unlike Byron’s, was not inspired by depressive states, rather it was focused on intensity—regardless of the emotional form that it came in, (love, pain, or otherwise). Keats’ “Ode to a Nightingale,” “Ode on a Grecian Urn,” and “Ode on Melancholy” are exemplary of this style of writing. What must be noted is that all of these “second generation” Romantics all died tragically young, with the “first generation” Romantics—Coleridge and Wordsworth outliving them. What these figures all had in common was that they highlighted the imperfections of man, via an emphasis upon human emotion and natural themes. They all sought to bring their ideas to the literary forefront, because these ideas—to them—were hidden in the background previous to the 1800s, for far, too long without being completely explored.

Works Cited:

Burke, Edmund. “Reflections on the Revolution in France.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 8th ed., Vol. 2. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt & M.H. Abrams. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2006. pp. 152-158.

Lombardi, Esther. “Romantic Period: Where Did it All Begin?” http://classiclit.about.com/od/britishromantics/a/aa_britromantic.htm (Retrieved 24 February, 2007).

Philp, Mark. “Revolution.” The Romantic Age: British Culture 1776-1832, Ed. Iain McCalman (Oxford UP, 1999), pp.17-26.

Wollstonecraft, Mary. “A Letter to the Right Honorable Edmund Burke.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 8th ed., Vol. 2. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt & M.H. Abrams. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2006. pp. 158-163.

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Victorian Poetry: 1837-1901

The Victorian Age (1837-1901), the sixty-four year period in which Queen Victoria ascended to the throne of England, was characterized by a belief in logic and hard work. The characteristics of earnestness, moral responsibility, and domestic propriety (Abrams 980) have put it at odds with the Modern period (1901-the second half of the twentieth century), since it is a period of literary history that defines itself in terms with its break from the Victorians. Succinctly stated, Victorian thought tended to emphasize the rational as being part and parcel of what was considered to be important during that poetic era. As a result, we are given an idea of what poets from the Victorian period tended to concentrate on, subjectwise and thematically. The moral standards of the Victorian era poets did not fluctuate with historical experience, whereas those of the Modern period did. Jeffrey Folks, a modernist literary critic, characterized Victorians as “representing the product of a historical ‘process’ that has led to a dissociation of mind and feeling, an alienation of artist and community, and isolation of the present from a past of myth and tradition (Folks 55).” Folks has an axe to grind with the Victorians because of their rigid social stance, which is plain to see, but this comparison between Modernist and Victorian values helps to put a spotlight onto the Victorian poet’s imaginative lens.

Poets of this age who are known far and wide to this day for their works include Alfred Lord Tennyson, who wrote "Idylls of the King", twelve narrative poems about Arthurian legend, and Robert Browning who wrote "A Grammarian’s Funeral". In it, Browning celebrates a man who pursued knowledge and learning, echoing the Victorian theme of social betterment over useless living, which would be a waste of any person’s existence. This epitomizes the theme of not wasting one’s time that was popular during this age. Browning’s wife, Elizabeth, also was played a significant role in this era. She wrote, "Aurora Leigh", an epic feminist poem as well—a precursor for feminist poetry.

Gerard Manley Hopkins, was a Catholic priest whose passion for his religion overtook and inspired him to write "God’s Grandeur", "As Kingfishers Catch Fire", & "That Nature is a Heraclitean Fire and of the comfort of the Resurrection". These poems, whose diction and imagery were inspired by Hopkins’ profound faith still resonates within people to this day. Other examples of poetry from this era include works by Rudyard Kipling. Kipling’s rightist, pro-English, pro-establishment, and pro-military stances were at work in three of his other more famous poems titled "Danny Deever", "Recessional", and "The White Man’s Burden". They reflected the haughty attitude that the British, as well as other Europeans had towards the lands they conquered and the people that they subjugated—which Kipling viewed ultimately as “a favor” and “honor” that the British were bestowing upon them, also in keeping with the concept of Victorian social betterment. The stoic tone used by Kipling in these poems, as well as his others, are typical of the end of the nineteenth century. Stoicism, also characteristic of the poetry of William Ernest Henley ("Invictus"—Latin for “unconquered”) and A.E. Houseman ("To an Athlete Dying Young"), was the primary tone of this time because it embodied the Victorian ideals of conformity and resignation to one’s fate and social duties.

Thomas Hardy was a Victorian era poet who believed in chance as the overriding determiner of people’s lives. This attitude was a sort of pre-cursor to the experimental attitude that Modernists had towards life, except that he did not go all the way through the reflective process, in the same manner that the Modernists did. Hardy’s belief in historical determinism implied that free will of any kind did not exist. The fatalistic attitude that Modernists would have taken regarding the matter of will is that mankind makes its own destiny, rather than having it decided for them. This fatalistic attitude of Hardy’s was at work in his poem titled "Hap", in which he points out through his poetry that some force, more powerful than him, has made him suffer the way that the narrator is in this poem, with chance once again producing unhappiness here, leaving him out of the equation of determining his own fate.

Oscar Wilde, whose famous who was put on trial for and convicted of “gross indecency” was a lightning rod for this age. Some of his famous poems include Portia, The Harlot’s House, and Flower of Love. His works symbolized the Romantic Movement, which preceded the Victorian Age being put on trial, even though this review is about Victorian poetry and themes based around steadfastness of character and adherence to the social codes and mores of the day. Wilde’s personality as reflected by his literature and poetry were radical departures from the honored precepts of this age. It is his focus on the self and his bisexuality that ultimately doomed him and characterized the Victorian attitude towards this sexuality, behavior, and thinking—which he symbolized to the Victorians.

Works Cited:

Abrams, M.H., et al., eds “The Victorian Age: 1830-1901.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 8th ed., Vol. 2. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2006. pp. 979-1001.

Cobb, James C. Rev. of William Faulkner: The Making of a Modernist,
by Daniel J. Singal. The Journal of Southern History, Vol. 64, No. 4.
(Nov., 1998): 777-778.

Folks, Jeffrey J. “Allen Tate and the Victorians.” South Atlantic Review, Vol. 50, No. 2.
(May, 1985): 55-66.

Grantham, Dewey W. Rev. of The War Within: From Victorian to Modernist Thought in the South, 1919-1945, by Daniel Joseph Singal. The Journal of Southern History, Vol. 49, No. 3. (Aug., 1983): 472-473.

In preparation for the upcoming practice poetry portion of the Honors Exam we're taking this week I think that one of the more important poetic elements to focus upon should be rhythm. Last week during class, our group worked on the poem byW.H. Auden (the poem's name escapes me now) that we chose from the 4 available choices on the ditto sheet. We analyzed how its rhythm seemed to be stronger at first--giving the reader the impression of a fast procession. Yet, as the poem went on, we noticed how the rhythm of the poem slowed down, much in the same way a funeral procession would. This seemed to be a crucial aspect of this particular poem that we felt could relate to any other poem, depending upon the effect that the poet is trying to create. In order for it to resonate, the poet must use some sort of poetic effect--such as this one--to grab the audience's attention. If we keep our eye's open for this particular poetic element, I think we can effectively enough break down how the poem creates a feeling of resonance within the reader.

I had another dream recently about being shot. I haven;t had one of these dreams in a while---I think it was triggered about a dream aI read about recently on these blogs. In the dream, I was at work, and I woke up to see someone at the door who had a gun with him. He pointed it at me and I froze. I immediately felt the pain of the bullet entering me and I had to struggle to wake up , but as soon as I woke up it felt as if the dream was beginnning to fragment. Right then and there I tried to recall what happened and write it down, before I lost track of what happened. I guess I can attribute this dream to the fact that the door at my job is always left open and that I often leave it that way because so many people are always coming in and out of the office. From now on, I think I'll go back to locking it, like I did before, because I'm not going to take any chances with people taking me by surprise (That already happened witha drunk one time, but that's another story...). Now, I'll be twice as paranoid as I am now--which is hard for me to fathom consider I'm Obsessive Compulsive when it comes to locking doors since I've been a little boy....(Calling Dr. Jung!)

One of the more difficult aspects of today's exam, in my opinion, was matching the period to the author. Many of us knew the authors, but were a little blaise when it came to fitting them into a specific time period (REMEMBER to say the "seventeenth century" for instance, and NOT the 1600s). I think that the idea suggested by Prof. Tougaw, regarding printing out the study guide sheets and arranging them into chronoilogical order, as indicated on the assignment sheet that was emailed to the class, will be very beneficial to us all.

Firstly, the process of actually physically doing this will allow us to become familair with the material by default before even actually beginning to process the information, unless we've done so already. Secondly we'll have an ordered sequence to refer to as we begin to review authors and their specific time periods--something that was problematic with our small group of students in the day section.

My biggest concern for the practice exam today was that I would draw a blank. Thankfully, my recognition of some characteristics of the periods as evidenced in the passages and excerpts saved me in some cases and allowed to me to recoup some points by virtue of my interpretation of the readings. Hopefully I'll be more familair with the time periods and authors than I was today through the useage of the study guides. Now I understand why they're as significant a part of our grades as they are. I'm sure that they'll be our biggest help in terms of prepapring for this LENGTHY exam---something which I'm sure we're unanimous in agreeing upon--my swollen finger is proof of this!

A few years ago my brother had a dream about a situation I would deal with in the future. Mr. Nostradamus, as I should refer to him as (not as funny as the "Negrodamus" character played hilariously by Paul Mooney on "The Chappelle Show"), decided to rattle off some of his residual dream chatter off the top of his head one day to me, in front of a common friend of ours. He told me I'd have some blond or a waitress or some combination thereof wanting to tempt me by "givin' me some," as he said, at some point in the future, and that I should watch out for her---but wait, this gets even more surreal!

I actualy ran into a chick that fit this description who was checking me out in a sports bar while I was watching a Giants-Redskins game on TV. I was not concentrating on this drunk floozy at all at this point. Now mind you, I don't make it a habit to hang out in these places. The only reason I was there was to watch the football game because we still didn't get the satellite dish installed out here in Suffolk County, where I live, after we moved out there. One thing leads to another and this drunk Italian chick---who happened to be a waitress/bartender, as she told me---was starting to throw some serious game at me. Now I started thinking about what my brother told me and this chick was practically all over me without my even trying! Now things didn't get that far for the pervs out there---I wouldn't let it. This was right after I met my long time ex-finacee, some years ago, so I wanted to stay loyal to her. (Yes ladies, some guys actually ARE loyal, believe it or not.)

Now, I thought about this for a while now, but the coincidence factor seemed too surreal for me to dismiss so easily. The odd thing about this was that I'm not a "man whore", neither am I promiscuous: I was with only one girl, and that was for 6 plus years (minus some break ups). Fortunately, things didn't go too far and I left that place with a clear conscience. I will say this though: I was actually thinking about what my brother said and the weird smirk on his face while he relayed this dream of his to me---as if the bastard knew it was going to happen or something. I'm glad nothing happened in hindsight because I wouldn't be able to live with the guilt of having cheated (don't laugh dudes). On the bright side, if anyone needs their palm read or has any tea leaves or left-over coffee grinds ready to be examined, I can get you a discount! Miss Cleo ain't got nothin' on my brother!

I found this one to be a little more difficult. From reading what other people wrote, I have come to the simple conclusion that our success on this exam, in terms of identifying the passages, will rely on the luck of the draw, more so than our skill level. Let's face it: there's too much to cover in such a short period of time for us to know them all. The best idea may be to just identify common literary stylistic aspects of the works we're studying and listing them and compiling them, in order to walk into the exam with an added sense of security.

I felt a little more apprehensive this time around because I hesitated more at the beginning while identifying each excerpt. I'd be better off, I think, identifying the 9 excerpts I want first, and THEN outlining them very briefly by mentioning the literary period and approximate century. If I know the author I'll go into depth about the aspects I know about. For instance, when I discuss STYLE, I'll mention that James Joyce and Virginia Woolf, for example, are known for their experimental writing styles, which typify the twentieth century Modern literary period ("Stream of consciousness"). I think that this would work better for me if I employed this strategy on the actual exam, rather than just tackling a question without surveying the test as a whole to start off. I didn't do that this time around, which has made me rethink my approach for the actual exam. I hope it works.

I could have reviewed more, but fell asleep due to sheer exhaustion from Parent-Teacher conference night at Francis Lewis High School, the night before the exam. I managed to get 5 hours of sleep and made it to the exam about 20 minutes early. I felt while I was taking the identification part of the exam that I was going to do well after immediately identifying the pasages of Sir Gawain and Beowulf. I then proceeded to find passages from "To the Lighthouse," by VIrginia Woolf and then one from James Joyce's "The Dead." These 4 got me even moe excited when I spotted the Whitman excerpt from "Song of Myself." I think I got one with Transcendental aspects to it, that I attributed to Thoreau. The good news ended there though for me. I misidentified the poem by Andrew Marvell titled, "To His Coy Mistress" as being by Kipling! Woops! I saw the Ganges river line and thought of the amount of time that Kipling spent in India, which completely threw me off. I also mistook the Sylvia Plath poem at the beginning as being by Phyllis Whatley, which also completely threw me off. I think there was a Donne poem in there too, which I might have messed up on, but I can't remember at this point anymore.

On Part II, with the essay, I think I did relatively well. I used the 3rd and 4th poems, respectively. The 3rd poem was by Emily Dickinson and the 4th was Coleridge's "Kubla Khan." I concentrated on how both poems focused on nature and emotion. I contrasted them by stating that the first poem used nature to diminish emotional sensation, whereas Coleridge's "Kubla Khan" used nature to heighten emotional sensation. I wrote about the depressed mood of the Dickinson poem and contrasted it with the vibrant tone of the Coleridge poem. I hope that this made up for the mistakes on the first part of the exam, but I'll just assume that my work was in the C+/B- range for now. I tend to undergrade myself, so I hope the pattern continues,hopefully meaning that I did better than I think I did.

Have you ever had a dream in which you were someplace else and upon waking were astonished to be in your own bed? I was thinking about this and can recall experiencing this feeling several times over the years, but have never spoken about it to anyone else (SEE, this class is good for something after all! just kidding Professor!).

Most often the dream would work like this: I'd be dreaming as if I were in waking life and would be doing routine things and then would wake up all of a sudden and be shocked to be at home and in bed. I've never really thought about this much, until now, but this could have been a great topic for someone to have investigated in their research paper. I guess it could be termed as being "spatial displacement sensation upon waking syndrome" or something along those convoluted lines. All kidding aside though, has anyone else ever experienced this kind of dream before?

I remember having dreams when I was a little kid that were related to attending funerals. When I was little I remember seeing some Judd Hirsch movie on channel 7, on late at night, in which he gets shot and killed or something. I then remember having this morbid scene being re-enacted in my dreams of being in attendance at a funeral and seeing all the crying going on around me and feeling as upset as the rest of the people at the funeral. I don't know what to attribute this to. Fortunately, I haven't attended many funerals of close relatives, so I'm not able to relate to this experience as well as others may be able to. To quote Mr. Spock from Star Trek: fascinating....Discuss my compadres...

Continuing with the theme of recurring dreams dating from my childhood, in this blog I'll recall the dreams that I had in which I was falling from the sky. Much like the dreams in which I was shot, I woke immediately upon experiencing this sensation. This primal fear may be just a manifestation of the racial dreams that Carl Jeung theorized and wrote about that all human beings have. I would almost always experience this sensation while I'm at the highpoint (no pun intended) of my dream. This is proabably one of the more common dreams that people have had, I'd venture to guess, because of the universal terror that all human beings associate with falling from the sky--unless you're a sky diver, but I think they're afraid too--why else would they carry parachutes then (the pussies)?

I would have these dreams more often as I was in tense moods and would almost always wake up in a cold sweat--even if it was the dead of winter. The good thing is that I almost always forgot about them moments after awakening, but the terror would still remain. I guess that this lends credence to the theory about what those who know me say about me: I AM a tight ass. It's times like these that I wish I was as laid back as Willy Nelson and Snoop, if you knowm' sayin'...

P.S. Any one got any "Maui Wowie" aroun' here? If so please contact me usin' my...*..umm-umm..*..blog alias. Much obliged!! (check out the 1:12 mark below)