Paper 104 - Literature of Victorian
Name: Insiyafatema Alvani
Batch: M.A Sem:1
Roll no: 12
Paper Name: Literature of Victorian
Subject Code: 22395
E-mail: insiyafatemaalvani@gmail.com
Submitted to: Smt S.B Gardi Department of English MKBU
Alfred Lord Tennyson as a Victorian Poet.
-Alfred Lord Tennyson
Born Date: 6 August 1809
Death Date: 6 October 1892
Resting place: Westminster Abbey
Occupation: Poet Laureate (1850-1892)
Alfred, Lord Tennyson was the most renowned poet of the Victorian era. He was born on 6 August 1809, in London. Alfred Lord Tennyson is one of the most well-loved Victorian poets.
Tennyson, the fourth of 12 children, showed an early talent for writing. At the age of twelve he wrote a 6,000-line epic poem. His father tutored his sons in classical and modern languages. Tennyson was Queen Victoria's poet laureate from 1850 until his death in 1892.
Alfred Tennyson is as much a representative poet of the Victorian Age as was Chaucer of the fourteenth century and Alexander Pope was of the eighteenth century. Tennyson as poet represented the true spirit of his age. He is not only a follower but also an interpreter of the age. His truly representative character made him universally popular in his own age.
Notable works:
- In Memoriam
- The Charge of the Light Bridge
- Crossing the Bar
- The Eagle
- Break, Break, Break
The Victorian Age:
Common people cultivated the habit of investing in industrial stock and a few depended entirely on the dividends from industry. The picture did not remain so bright for long. However, Queen Victoria emerged stronger and her policies proved to be a mixture of toughness and liberality.
The presence of such a wise Queen together with long strides in commerce and industry made the Victorian age one of the best ages for the English people. They enjoyed peace at home, their childrens got the best of education and they had a healthy social life.
They were constantly modifying technology for better communication and facilities. And they remained deeply religious. Yet the most serious crisis of the Victorian furies occured in the realm of religion. So far science has not disturbed their faith. But the publication of Charles Lyell‘s 'Principles of Geology', 1830 and of Charles Darwin‘s The Origin of Species, 1859 altered the scene. Charles Lyell only studied the fossils and spoke of the great antiquity of Creation; Darwin accepted it and accounted on its basis for the differentiation of animal species by theory of Natural Selection. This was in direct conflict with the story of creation given in "The Book of Genesis". A storm rose and shook Christianity by its roots. The Victorian intellectuals and writers, poets and novelists could not ignore the scientific basis of the theory of evolution propounded by Darwin.In view of such a spiritual crisis it would not be easy to sum up the Victorian age in a neat phrase. It was an age of prosperity, but also an age of gloomy forebodings; it was an age of imperial expansion, but also an age of colonial uprisings; above all, it was an age of peace. This age is known for its great economic growth, technological discovery, and industrialisation.
Early Life:
Tennyson was born in Somersby, Lincolnshire, England. Tennyson's father was a church rector who earned a decent income, but the size of the family meant expenses had to be closely watched. Therefore, Tennyson only attended Louth Grammar School for a few years. He would be one of his family's 11 surviving children. Tennyson grew up with two older brothers, four younger brothers and four younger sisters. Tennyson and his siblings were raised with a love of books and writing; by the age of 8, Tennyson was penning his first poems. However, Tennyson's home wasn't a happy one. His father was an elder son who had been disinherited in favor of a younger brother, which engendered resentment. Even worse, his father was an alcoholic and drug user who at times physically threatened members of the family.
During the first half of his life Alfred thought that he had inherited epilepsy from his father and that it was responsible for the trances into which he occasionally fell until he was well over 40 years old. It was in part to escape from the unhappy environment of Somersby rectory that Alfred began writing poetry long before he was sent to school, as did most of his talented brothers and sisters. All his life he used writing as a way of taking his mind from his troubles.
Most of Tennyson’s early education was under the direction of his father, although he spent nearly four unhappy years at a nearby grammar school. His departure in 1827 to join his elder brothers at Trinity College, Cambridge, was due more to a desire to escape from Somersby than to a desire to undertake serious academic work. At Trinity he was living for the first time among young men of his own age who knew little of the problems that had beset him for so long; he was delighted to make new friends; he was extraordinarily handsome, intelligent, humorous, and gifted at impersonation; and soon he was at the center of an admiring group of young men interested in poetry and conversation. It was probably the happiest period of his life.
Tennyson as a Victorian Poet:
Alfred, Lord Tennyson was the most highly regarded poet of his period and the most widely read of all English poets. The quality of his work varied greatly for he included in his poetry themes and subjects that were of intense interest to the Victorians. Tennyson actually breathed the spirit of his age in his poetry. This is why his poems are a reflection of his age. Various characteristics of the Victorian age could be seen in the work of Tennyson.
The age was an age of democratic spirit and common people were fighting for their equal rights and political freedom. Tennyson himself belonged to the upper middle class and could not go beyond the limitations of his middle class. He favoured a peaceful and slow revolution rather than any kind of struggle or revolution.
One of the major features of the Victorian age was the rise of scientific spirit. Tennyson's attitude towards scientific progress was skeptical. He always swung between two extremes of science and religion. Being a true Victorian poet Tennyson played the role of a moral teacher. He understood people's expectations and thus he admirably played the role of a philosopher.
According to Tennyson "The poet's function was not to delight only but teach to masses, the statesman and even the intellectuals. In hours of confusion the statesman turned to time for light and wisdom. He taught people to be moderate, patient and tolerant. His message of action is truly represented in his poems "Ulysses".
Tennyson as a poet:
Tennyson was a great poetic artist. From the beginning of his poetic career he practiced to attain perfection in poetic art. As an artist he shows unity of impression and construction in his poems. He always selected suitable words and appropriate pharshology to convey his ideas. This uniqueness can be seen in when Tennyson writes in his poem "Ulysses".
The Victorian people were intensely patriotic. They look Pride in their Queen and national glories. Tennyson shared these feelings of his countryman. In his poetry the sense of national Pride and glory is well sounded. He represents English life and manners with utmost sincerity. Tennyson's praise for his own country is the expression of a Victorian patriot who considered his country superior to all other countries of the world. He says;
"There is no land like England
Where'er the light of day be"
In 1827, Tennyson had his first poetry published in Poems by Two Brothers That same year, Tennyson began to study at Trinity College at Trinity College, Cambridge, where his two older brothers were also students. It was at university that Tennyson met Arthur Hallam, who became a close friend, and joined a group of students who called themselves the Apostles. In 1830, Tennyson published his first solo collection: Poems, Chiefly Lyrical.
Tennyson’s father died in 1831. His death meant straitened circumstances for the family, and Tennyson did not complete his degree. As a younger son, Tennyson was encouraged to find a profession, such as entering the church like his father. However, the young man was determined to focus on poetry. At the end of 1832, he published another volume of poetry: 'Poems by Alfred Tennyson'.
'The Princess', a long narrative poem, was Tennyson’s next notable work. He is most famous for ' In Memoriam' the elegiac creation. Tennyson's poems are thoroughly enjoyable. In The Princess Tennyson undertakes to grapple with one of the major questions of the day-the education of women and place of women in the fast changing Society. His other work Maud, a monodrama deals with the story of a lover who passes from horror to ecstasy and then anger and murder. 'In Memoriam' is his famous work in which he expresses Universal doubt- as Soul’s Instinct for immortality. The death of his close friend Arthur Hallam, inspired him to write this poem.
Poet Laureate:
Wordsworth, who had been poet laureate for seven years, had died in the spring of 1850. By the time Tennyson returned from his honeymoon, it must have seemed to many a foregone conclusion that he would be nominated as Wordsworth’s successor, and early the following year he was presented to the queen as her poet laureate. He held the position until his own death in 1892, by far the longest tenure of any laureate before or since.
Tennyson fulfilled the requirements of this position by turning out appropriate but often uninspired verse, such as a poem of greeting to Princess Alexandra of Denmark when she arrived in Britain to marry the future King Edward VII. In 1855, Tennyson produced one of his best known works, "The Charge of the Light Brigade", a dramatic tribute to the British cavalrymen involved in an ill-advised charge on 25 October 1854,during the Crimean war. Other esteemed works written in the post of Poet Laureate include Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington and Ode Sung at the Opening of the International Exhibition.
Major themes of his Poetry:
As has been mentioned above Tennyson had a special aptitude for Victorian England and its special attributes which finds an echo in almost all of his poems. These are the major themes of his poems, Death, Nature, Grief, Artistic Isolation, Spirituality, Time, Courage etc..
Spirituality:
Though in many of his poems Tennyson’s devout faith in Christianity is clearly manifested, it is at its supreme in the poem In Memoriam and hence only that is mentioned here. Though he mourns for the irreparable loss of his friend in the beginning of the poem, slowly the poet’s adherence to Christian faith comes to his rescue and in the end of the poem the sad and the hopeless tone of the beginning is transformed to one of great optimism. Here it is seen that Tennyson’s lapses in faith are reconciled and from the dim path of doubt the brightness of acceptance dawns before him. Leaving all his doubts, complaints and desolations quite strongly he realizes and accepts that God almighty has a clear plan for every human being created by him.
Time:
Detailed analysis of the different poems of Tennyson reveals that many of his poems reflect the poet’s working through the implications of time. The general assumption reflected in these poems can be summed up as life is very short and fleeting fast, generally it is seen that many people simply sit and groan, blame others for one’s own shortcomings and make a hell on earth and forgetting and neglecting all the beauty and blessings bestowed on them by God. The poet strongly opines that such a life is a mere wastage and he exhorts one and live life happily and meaningfully.
Nature:
Tennyson handles nature in his poems, but he does not deal with nature as a main element of his poetry as Wordsworth and Keats do. Wordsworth explores the meaning of spirituality in nature while treating Keats of nature as purely sensual but Tennyson has drawn and bandaged the naturaleza-fotos with the conscious pictorial care of the artist. Tennyson creates with Coleridge to interpret the mood of nature according to our mood, and whether nature is happy or not.
Tennyson's beliefs often inspire him to portray and develop a human being in terms of natural phenomena. Tennyson's preoccupation with nature in his poetry and its employment as a projector of mood and symbolism, the interrelation of landscape with depth of feeling and narrative or even simple picturesqueness make him the unique spokesman of the true reality of women during his time. He is considered the best exemplar of the nineteenth century.
T. S. Eliot acclaimed his poetic greatness because of his "abundance, variety, and complete competence" .
Ulysses:
'Ulysses’ was written in the aftermath of Alfred Lord Tennyson’s close friend’s death. In this poem, Tennyson attempted to come to terms with the loss. Taking one of the most famous characters from one of the oldest stories ever told – Ulysses from Homer’s epics, the Iliad, and the Odyssey – and repurposing the story to fit certain themes. Ulysses is also known as Odysseus.
It is a wonderful poem in which Tennyson makes a historical speaker touch upon issues of contemporary life. It is a fact that Ulysses was a legendary wanderer, an adventurous, fearless person who was forced by circumstances to go to strange places and meet strange people. Tennyson therefore sees in him the prototype of the modern researcher or explorer. The scientific developments of his time were a thing of serious interest to him, and in his poetry he has paid tribute to the spirit of scientists and researchers who were expanding the area of human knowledge. In Ulysses, Tennyson sees such a figure that is willing to devote the whole of his life to exploration.
The poem has a dramatic structure the development of the speech of Ulysses is entirely guided by the progress of his thoughts in the course of his journey to Ithaca. The first point is the coming of the landmarks of Ithaca into his sight which stirs his memory; the second point is the rise of a conflict in his mind between his kingly duties and his appetite for knowledge which he acquired in the course of his wanderings; the third forms his decision in the fulfillment of which he seeks cooperation from his mariners. As far as possible Tennyson tries to recapture the Homeric idiom–simple similes, a vigorous narrative style with appropriate pauses and shifts of mood and characterization through a long speech. A lot of associations are there in the poem with the ship and the voyages –shore, scudding drifts, vessel, sail, dark broad seas, sounding furrows, gulfs. They form the register of an accomplished voyager, ringing with authenticity of experience. The command of blank verse is an important feature of the poem. It helps Tennyson follow every movement of the feelings and thoughts of Ulysses in a dramatic manner.
Break Break Break:
Alfred, Lord Tennyson composed "Break, Break, Break" in 1835, two years after the death of his close friend and fellow poet, Arthur Hallam. Break, Break, Break" is a short, sad, lyric poem in which the speaker mourns the loss of a friend or lover, and imagines that everyone has someone to love but him. Well, Tennyson really did lose a friend, and a lot of his sad poetry is about coming to terms with his grief.
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