Unit One: Poetry The History of English Literature Compiled by Mrs. D . Wittmann
Stephen Burt Poetry Critic https://www.ted.com/talks/stephen_burt_why_people_need_poetry?language=en In his influential poetry criticism, Stephen Burt links the contemporary with the classical, pinpoints new poetry movements, and promotes outstanding little-known poets. Why you should listen Stephen Burt is a serious fan of science fiction, indie music and women’s basketball, but what he’s known for is his highly influential poetry criticism. That list of passions, though, hints at Burt’s mission as a critic: he aims not only to describe new movements in the form, but also to champion under-the-radar writers whose work he admires. Burt, a professor of English at Harvard, is passionate about both the classics and the contemporary, and his poetry criticism bridges those two worlds. He is also a poet in his own right, with two full-length books under his belt, and a cross-dresser who mines his feminine persona in his own writing. “I am a literary critic and a writer of verse, a parent and husband and friend, before and after I am a guy in a skirt, or a guy in blue jeans, or a fictional girl,” he has written. His books include The Art of the Sonnet (with David Mikics); Close Calls With Nonsense: Reading New Poetry; and Parallel Play: Poems.
http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/evolvingenglish/accessvers/index.html
The Norton Anthology of English Literature Timeline Old English, 450- 1066 The Middle Ages, 1066 - 1485 The Sixteenth Century, 1485 - 1603 The Early Seventeenth Century, 1603 - 1660 The Restoration and Eighteenth Century, 1660 - 1785 The Romantic Period, 1785 - 1832 The Victorian Age, 1832 - 1901 The Twentieth Century, 1901 - present
Old English - Anglo Saxon Period (Link) The Old English Language also known as Anglo Saxon was the earliest form of English. It was spoken from 450 to 1066. Special studies is needed to read Old English since is completely different from the modern English. Anglo-Saxon literature was in oral form and later in the seventh century, it appeared in the written form. In old English poetry descriptions of sad events and cruel situation are commoner than those of happiness. Poetry The greatest old English poem is Beowulf. This first English epic was written in the seventh century and the name of the author is still unknown. It is a story about the heroic adventures of a hero, Beowulf, in about 3000 lines. The story takes place in Denmark. Beowulf was a young warrior form southern Sweden who went to Denmark to help King Hrothgar. Hrothgar’s great hall, Heorot, was troubled by a lake monster called Grendel. Beowulf fought with Grendel bare handed and killed it. Grendel’s mother came to take revenge, but Beowulf killed her in her home in a lake. Later, Beowulf became the king and ruled his country peacefully for fifty years. In the end, he died of wounds that he had received while fighting against a dragon.
Before he was a fantasy author, JRR Tolkien was an incredibly gifted linguist (how else do you think he kept track of so many different Elvish dialects?) with a focus on early Old English and Norse. Now, we’ll get to see more of his translation work first hand,because his version of the 10th century epic poem Beowulf is now available. Beowulf tells of the adventures of a Scandinavian hero, Beowulf, who saves the Danes from the seemingly invincible monster Grendel, then from Grendel's mother. Beowulf finally returns to his own country, where he perishes in a vivid fight against a dragon. Tolkien infused The Lord of the Rings with the physical and spiritual conflict evident in Beowulf, “It was almost certainly an oral poem that existed first … but at some point it was written down and copied, and then copies of that copy were made.” (Today only one ancient copy of the poem survives as part of a medieval manuscript housed at the British Library in London.)
The Middle Ages, 1066 - 1485 The word "medieval" comes from the Latin medium(middle) and aevum(age). There are two trends in scholarship concerning the Middle Ages: some scholars view the Middle Ages as the beginning of ideas that continued developing well into the sixteenth century; others feel the Middle Ages were "created" by sixteenth-century writers who wanted to emphasize the originality of their contributions to literary culture. Old English was spoken by the Germanic invaders of Britain; Old French or Anglo-Norman was spoken in Britain after the Norman Conquest of 1066; and Middle English, which appeared in the twelfth century, displaced French as Britain's official language by the end of the fourteenth century. Monasteries and other religious houses were the major producers of books until they were dissolved by King Henry VIII in the 1530s (at which point the king assured the nobility's loyalty to himself by giving them much of the former monastic houses' lands and assets); commercial book-making enterprises began around the fourteenth century. Religious houses were the major consumers of books during the Middle Ages. Nobles began purchasing and commissioning books during the Anglo-Norman period; later, in the fourteenth century, wealthy urbanites also entered the book market. The most vivid legacy of the Middle Ages is the cast of characters it has contributed to world literature: Roland, Charlemagne, Sir Gawain, Beowulf, the pilgrims in The Canterbury Tales, and the lost souls of the Inferno.
The Sixteenth Century, 1485-1603 The crowning of King Henry VII in 1485 marks the start of the Tudor dynasty and this literary period. During this period, English evolved from a language that did not enjoy international prestige into a language enriched by writers including Shakespeare, Marlowe, and translators of the Bible. Henry VII died of tuberculosis on 21 April 1509 and was buried at Westminster Abbey. He left a safe throne, a solvent government and a prosperous and reasonably united country. Henry VII was succeeded by his second son, Henry VIII. By 1600, though English remained somewhat peripheral on the continent, it had been transformed into an immensely powerful expressive medium, as employed by Shakespeare, Marlowe, and the translators of the Bible. The development of the English language is linked to the consolidation and strengthening of the English state. Rather than the flowering of visual arts and architecture that had occurred in Italy, the Renaissance emerged in Britain through an intellectual orientation to humanism. The Protestant Reformation, with its emphasis on the authority of scripture (sola scriptura) and salvation by faith alone (sola fide), came to England as a result of Henry VIII’s insistence on divorcing his wife, Catherine of Aragon, against the wishes of the Pope. A female monarch in a male world, Elizabeth ruled through a combination of adroit political maneuvering and imperious command, enhancing her authority by means of an extraordinary cult of love. Renaissance literature is the product of a rhetorical culture, a culture steeped in the arts of persuasion and trained to process complex verbal signals. Around 1590, an extraordinary change came over English drama, pioneered by Marlowe’s mastery of unrhymed iambic pentameter, or blank verse.
Elizabethan Poetry Elizabethan age was a great age of English literature. During this time the writing of poetry was the part of education among the educated people. That is why many books of poetry by different writers appeared during this age. The proper Elizabethan literary age began in 1579, but before that year, Sir Thomas Wyatt and Earl of Surrey made their poetic contributions. Sir Wyatt brought the sonnet form Italy and made it popular in England. He followed the tradition of the Petrarchan sonnet with octave and sestet. There was later changed into English sonnet style by Shakespeare, who divided the sonnet into three quatrains summed up by a couplet. The Earl of Surrey wrote the first blank verse in English. The Elizabethan age produced many beautiful lyrics. William Shakespeare as Poet Edmund Spencer Sir Philip Sidney Christopher Marlowe
Early Seventeenth Century, 1603-1660 The death of Queen Elizabeth I in 1603 marks the beginning of this literary period. Elizabeth I, also known as the Virgin Queen, was childless. Her relation, James Stuart, succeeded her on England's throne as King James I (in Scotland, his title was King James VI). Elizabeth I's reign (1558-1603) is known as the Elizabethan period. James I's reign (1603-1625) is known as the Jacobean period, from the Latin for James,Jacobus. Charles I's reign (1625-1640) is known as the Caroline period, from the Latin for Charles,Carolus. James I was an authoritarian who believed kings derived their powers from God, not from the people. This belief caused political tension between the king, the Parliament, and the common people—tension that intensified throughout James I's reign, and culminated in the beheading of his son, Charles I, in 1649. Between 1642 and 1649, Royalist and pro-parliamentary forces fought a bloody series of civil wars on English soil. Following the execution of the king and the end of the English civil wars in 1649, the general of the parliamentary forces, Oliver Cromwell, ruled England as a commonwealth (a democratic state governed without a monarch). Cromwell was known as the "Lord Protector" of England. After Oliver Cromwell's death in 1658, his son Richard ruled briefly and ineffectually. In 1660, Parliament invited King Charles I's eldest son to return from exile in Europe to rule England as King Charles II. King Charles II's restoration to power and England's restoration of monarchical rule give the period that followed the name the "Restoration. "
The Restoration and the Eighteenth Century, 1660-1785 The Restoration period begins in 1660, the year in which King Charles II (the exiled Stuart king) was restored to the English throne. England, Scotland, and Wales were united as Great Britain by the 1707 Act of Union. The period is one of increasing commercial prosperity and global trade for Britain. Literacy expanded to include the middle classes and even some of the poor. Emerging social ideas included politeness―a behavioral standard to which anyone might aspire―and new rhetoric of liberty and rights, sentiment and sympathy. 1660-1700 (death of John Dryden): emphasis on "decorum," or critical principles based on what is elegant, fit, and right. 1700-1745 (deaths of Jonathan Swift, Alexander Pope in 1744): emphasis on satire and on a wider public readership. 1745-1784 (death of Samuel Johnson): emphasis on revolutionary ideas.
Restoration Literature, 1600-1700 Dryden was the most influential writer of the Restoration, for he wrote in every form important to the period―occasional verse, comedy, tragedy, heroic plays, odes, satires, translations of classical works—and produced influential critical essays concerning how one ought to write these forms. Restoration prose style grew more like witty, urbane conversation and less like the intricate, rhetorical style of previous writers like John Milton and John Donne. Simultaneously, Restoration literature continued to appeal to heroic ideals of love and honor, particularly on stage, in heroic tragedy. The other major dramatic genre was the Restoration comedy of manners, which emphasizes sexual intrigue and satirizes the elite's social behavior with witty dialogue. Eighteenth-Century Literature, 1700-1745 The Augustan era of writers like Swift, Defoe, Pope, Addison, and Steele was rich in satire and new prose forms that blended fact and fiction, such as news, criminal biographies, travelogues, political allegories, and romantic tales. Early eighteenth-century drama saw the development of "sentimental comedy" in which goodness and high moral sentiments are emphasized, and the audience is moved not only to laughter, but also to sympathetic tears. The theatre business boomed; celebrity performers flourished; less important were the authors of the plays. James Thomson's poems on the seasons, beginning with "Winter" (1726), carried on the earlier poetic tradition of pastoral retreat and began a new trend of poetry focused on natural description.
The Romantic Period 1785–1832 The Romantic period is short, relative to other literary periods, but is still quite complex. The beginning and ending dates of the Romantic period are identified differently by various scholars, though these dates always coincide with major literary, cultural, political, or social events. The beginning and ending dates of the Romantic period are identified differently by various scholars, though these dates always coincide with major literary, cultural, political, or social events. While study of the Romantic Period for many years focused on “the big six”— Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley, and Keats—scholars have more recently expanded their focus to include many diverse authors and genres of writing from the period. The New Poetries: Theory and Practice "The Romantics” did not actually identify themselves as such. It was later Victorian critics who first used the term to describe the previous generation of writers. Among all literary genres during the Romantic period, poetry was considered the most important. New modes of production and distribution made the written word available to more people in more places than had previously been the case in England. In fact, some authors even worried about the problem of “overproduction” of written works. Just as there were many different, and sometimes conflicting, “schools” of poetry during the Romantic period, there were many competing visions for what good poetry should be and what its aims should be. Other Literary Forms Although the Romantic period centered primarily on poetry, many other literary forms flourished as well, including political pamphlets, reviews, drama, and novels. The Romantic Period saw the emergence of the professional literary critic who came to have considerable influence in shaping national literary tastes. Drama during the Romantic period tended to focus on visual spectacle rather than literary value. Theatergoers went to see something (which might include dancers, pantomime, and musicians), rather than hear great literature spoken to them. The novel as a genre grew in importance throughout the Romantic period and it, like poetry, saw increasing efforts on the part of authors to experiment with form, style, and content.
Romantic Poets (Link) Romantic poets are also called the early nineteenth- century poets. These poets revolted against the poetic tradition of the eighteenth century. They turned to the nature. They disliked the set rules and orders of the neo-classical poets. Instead, they gave too much focus on emotion, imagination, originality and freedom in their poetry. Simple and commonly used natural language was chosen for their poetry. The publication of the first edition of the Lyrical Ballad marks the beginning of the romantic period in English literature. It was combined work produced together by Wordsworth and Coleridge. Poetry was defined in a new light in this work. Much emphasis was given on simple language, imagination, originality and poetic freedom. Nature was thought to be a proper subject matter for poetry. It was a work of great change and experimentation in terms of poetry. Its publication gave a shock to the traditional poets and critics of the eighteenth century. They considered the language too simple. William Wordsworth S.T. Coleridge Lord Byron P. B. Shelley John Keats
The Victorian Age, 1830-1901 During the Victorian Age, England changed as much and as dramatically as it had in all of its previous history. It was in the nineteenth century that England reached its height as a world imperial power. Between 1837 (when Victoria ascended the throne) and 1901 (when she died) the population of London grew from about 2 million to well over 6 million―an unparalleled population boom. Changes in industrial production techniques had a profound impact an almost all aspects of life for every class of citizen. Unregulated industrialization created great prosperity for a lucky few but great misery for the masses. Victorian era writers were mixed in their reactions to industrialization. Some celebrated the new age of promise, progress, and triumph, while others challenged the so-called benefits of industrial growth when so many were being affected so negatively. http://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians
Victorian Poets (Link) Victorian poets are also known as later nineteenth-century poets. Most of the writing of this period reflects current social, economic, and intellectual problems. The poetry of this period shows the crisis of religion and philosophy because of the development of science. Alfred Lord Tennyson Robert Browning Mathew Arnold Dante Gabriel Rossetti Elizabeth Barrett Browning Algernon Charles Swinburne
Charlotte Bronte; William Makepeace Thackeray; George Eliot; Robert Browning; Elizabeth Barrett Browning; Tom Hood; Charles Dickens; Alfred Lord Tennyson; Robert Louis Stevenson
Short Fiction and the Novel Short fiction thrived during the Victorian period, thanks in part to the robust periodical culture of the time. The novel was perhaps the most prevalent genre of the time period; it was especially well suited to authors who wanted to capture the wide diversity of industrial life and the class conflict and divisions that industrialism created. A common theme among Victorian novelists involves a protagonist who is trying to define him- or herself relative to class and social systems. Poetry While prose fiction was the most widely circulated kind of writing in the Victorian period, poetry retained its iconic status as "high literature." Most readers continued to expect poetry to teach a moral lesson, even though many writers were uncomfortable with that aim. As some Victorians would argue, it was through the writing and study of poetry in particular that individuals could cultivate their greatest human potential. Poets of the period ranged widely in their subject matter: some sought to revive mythic themes (Arthurian legend, for example) while others turned a critical eye on the industrial abuses of the present (such as the problem of child labor). Prose Nonfiction prose writing gained wide readership during the Victorian period (due again to the vibrant periodical culture). No less, authors were attracted to nonfiction prose as the best vehicle for addressing―in a direct and specific way―the problems of industrial England and, in some cases, for proposing solutions to these problems. Nonfiction prose authors (who were often writers of fiction and poetry as well) tackled subjects that were as diverse as the age itself, including politics, religion, art, economics, and education. Much Victorian nonfiction prose is marked by a sense of urgency, which reflects the pace of change of the age: many authors felt that society would, at some point, be overwhelmed by change and descend into some form of what Matthew Arnold called simply "anarchy."
The Twentieth Century and After The Modern period, beginning around the turn of the twentieth century, has its roots in the late Victorian transition from widespread belief in art as a vehicle for pleasure andinstruction towards a belief (at least on the part of artists) in "art for art's sake." The sense of alienation—i.e., the distance between the serious artist and a general public—that marked the early twentieth century grew out of this sense of art for art's sake; or, put another way, a sense of art was no longer beholden to some general, public purpose. Mass literacy became a reality towards the end of 1800s, in large part owing to passage of the Education Act of 1870 that mandated compulsory elementary schooling. Universal education, even if just in basic reading and writing, produced a general reading public that in turn generated demand for popular fiction. A widening gulf emerged between so-called serious (or highbrow) art and popular (or lowbrow) art. Seemingly, the more generic and "mass-produced" popular literature became the more experimental, challenging, and avant garde some modern artists became, as though reacting against a literature that tried to appeal to a lowest common denominator. Already by the last decades of the Victorian period (the 1880s and 1890s) authors were turning away from the optimism and triumphalism that had marked the early- and mid-Victorian periods. Many authors were satirizing, even attacking, middle-class Victorian values and were reflecting a greater degree of skepticism in their work, especially of the long-held Victorian belief in national exceptionalism―i.e., that England was special in history and thus had a duty to spread its version of civilization across the globe. At the dawn of the twentieth century, many people (artists included) had lost their faith in institutional, cultural, or social foundations that could provide stability in the world. W. B. Yeats would express this sense of dissolution and instability most definitively in his 1919 poem, "The Second Coming": "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold"
Twentieth Century Poetry The most striking thing in twentieth-century English literature is the revolution in poetic taste and practice. Various movements and changes had a greater influence upon modern poetry. Though poets are often influenced by each other and sometimes, share a common outlook, their style and the ways of writing differ from each other. Modern poetry is essentially a private art form and it contains very much a story of individual poets. T. S. Eliot W. B. Yeats Thomas Hardy W. H. Auden Dylan Thomas Ted Hughes Wilfred Owen