Alfred Lord Tennyson was not called a romantic poet in his homeland of England, but his work contained aspects of romantic literature. Highlighting these aspects of romanticism in Tennyson’s work is difficult without first defining romanticism and identifying its underlying principles.
According to Webster’s Dictionary romanticism is “a literary, artistic, and philosophical movement originating in the 18th century, characterized chiefly by a reaction against neoclassicism and an emphasis on the imagination and emotions.” Neoclassicism was the artistic form used prior to the romantic period that focused on an acceptance of the established forms of religion and an emphasis on style similar to the ancient Greek and Roman poetry. Religion was not the only establishment upheld in classical or neoclassical writing; social and gender roles acceptable to their time era were also upheld. Romanticism, rather than blindly accept these establishments, questioned them through deep emotions and great imagination.
Webster’s dictionary goes on to say romanticism used “…autobiographical material, an exaltation of the primitive and the common man, an appreciation of external nature, an interest in the remote, a predilection for melancholy…” Romantic poetry often focused on nature with great description, especially the lonely, hidden aspects of nature. Whether in nature or in a more urban environment the characters of romantic poetry are seen having great emotional swings, with death as a reoccurring theme.
Tennyson’s poem The Lady of Shalott, poses an interesting picture of breaking away from social norms. The Lady is confined to a tower to weave shadows of a life she cannot live and begins to feel discontent in her role. “What a seclud...
... middle of paper ...
... the expected, exploring new ideas, ultimately ending in death or disappointment. He also uses a lot of natural description allowing one to see vivid pictures with in the mind. Identifying romanticism and its underlying principles helps to highlight Tennyson’s poems, and better understand there meaning. To better see the conflict and the beauty hidden within Tennyson’s work.
Works Cited
Christ T. Carlo, Robson Catherine, The Norton Anthology of English Literature, 8th edition, The Victorian Age. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2006.
Buckley Hamilton Jerome, Tennyson The Growth of a Poet. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1961.
Brook A. Stopford, Tennyson: His Art and Relation to Modern Life. London: Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons, Ltd., 1916.
Kincaid R. James, Tennyson’s Major Poems The Comic and Ironic Patterns. London: Yale University press, 1975.
In many poems, the use of imagery and sound causes the reader to consider them to be "good" or "bad". Repetition, alliteration, the use of metaphors and images together with rhymes and the text itself work together to create that special feeling or message the poet wants to share. The Romantics believed that poetry should express the poet's feelings or state of mind and should not be worked with or thought through too much, since the original feeling thus would be lost, but in order to share your feelings or ideas to the public, I believe it is important to present them in as good a form as possible.
Romanticism was a period when people encouraged artists freely expressing their emotions and feelings. Art was to be derived from the artist's imagination with little interference from other outside forces. Artists were considered geniuses. To be considered a genius, you were someone who was able to produce art from nothing. This was the key to romanticism. Romantics had a strong connection with nature. They had very little trust with the human world. Having a good connection with nature was a key concept to being mentally and morally healthy. The romanticism period initiated an interest in the supernatural. Looking into the afterlife and what the different religions believe happen.
Tennyson, Alfred Lord. “Maud; A Monodrama.” Tennyson’s Poetry. Ed. Robert W. Hill New York: W. W. Norton, 1971. 214-215.
Blunden, Edmund and Heinemann, Eds. “Tennyson.” Selected Poems. London: Heinemann Educational Books, 1960. p.1. print.
Romanticism is a revolt against rationalism. The poets and authors of this time wrote about God, religion, and Beauty in nature. The romantics held a conviction that imagination and emotion are superior to reason. One such author is William Cullen Bryant, he wrote the poem Inscription for the Entrance to a Wood. This poem uses many literary devices, and has a strong message to portray to the reader.
When many hear “Romanticism” they think of love, but Romanticism isn’t mainly about love. Yes, it may have some love, but it’s also about reasoning, nature, imaginations, and individualism. Like American Romanticism, that occurred from 1830 – 1865. It was actually caused by Washington Irving and James Fenimore Cooper. For Americans, “it was a time of excitement over human possibilities, and of individual ego. American writers didn’t know what “America” could possibly mean in terms of literature, which was American and not British. It questioned their identity and place in society, creatively” (Woodlief). It was characterized by an interest in nature, and the significance of the individual’s expression on emotion and imagination; good literature should have heart, not rules. Some of the most famous authors who wrote during American Romanticism were Nathaniel Hawthorne, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Henry David Thoreau, and Ralph Waldo Emerson. American Romanticism is important because it was the “historical period of literature in which modern readers most began to see their selves and their own conflicts and desires”. Romanticism was a literary revolution.
Tennyson, Alfred, Lord. "The Lady of Shalott." The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed. M.H. Abrams. 6th ed. Vol. 2. New York: Norton, 1993. 1059-1063.
In the world of literature, there are many types of writing that an author can take to express his ideas. Their topics can be explained through life experiences, biographies, poetry, or other forms of literature. One of the forms that authors use is Romanticism. There are many qualities that define the different viewpoints of Romanticism. Rip Van Winkle, “Thanatopsis,” and “The Cross of Snow” are all examples of writing from the period of Romanticism.
...the imagination, whereby ordinary things are presented to the mind in an unusual way" (Wolfson and Manning, 2003, p. 356). Finally, in the course of contrasting his own childhood with the upbringing he imagines for his child, the speaker makes a typically Romantic connection between the natural and the supernatural worlds. This is perhaps the key concern of the poem as it is explored and related to the Romantic belief that nature is the best teacher. On this point Abrams's elemental understanding of Romantic poetry seems insufficient. However, this is perhaps significant in highlighting the difficulties involved in defining Romanticism as a coherent literary movement.
Alfred Tennyson gifted the Victorian Era, and the literary world with two iconic poems. The author explored the themes of personal development and culture clash in one of his most famous poems, “Ulysses”. Tennyson also discovered and analyzed the themes of love and death through his renowned and eminent poem, “Tears Idle, Tears”. The poet was born in Somersby, Lincolnshire in 1809 in the East Lindy district of England. Tennyson experienced numerous amounts of difficulties in his childhood and growing adolescent phases that spilled into his adult life. These trials and tribulations became a foundation and source of inspiration for Tennyson, who used them as a stimulus and catalyst to aide his literary progress and ideas. Two of the most prominent poems that Tennyson wrote were “Ulysses “and “Tears Idle, Tears”. These poems defined the peak of his literary endeavor and symbolized the struggles that Tennyson had experienced in his life. Throughout time readers have been able to distinguish a direct correlation between his life journey and the poems he crafted.
First, let’s give a little bit of overview about the British and American romance definitions. The British defined Romanticism as “a fascination with youth and innocence as well as a questioning of authority.” Also, “changing tradition for idealistic purposes and an adaptation to change.” p. The American poets defined Romanticism as “a school of thought that valued feelings and intuition over reason.” p. 143. “A Journey away from the corruption of civilization and the limits of rational thought and toward the integrity of nature and the freedom of imagination.” p. 142. American romance also showed a great respect to youth and innocence, just like that of the British. One of the very active British poets of this time, William Blake, wrote a very good poem called “The Chimney Sweeper from Songs of Innocence”, and the following is a quote from the poem, “Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy and warm,
Alfred, Lord Tennyson was one of the most famous poets of the Victorian era, some of his most famous poems include Ulysses, In Memoriam or Lady of Shalott. This paper will focus on his poem published in 1830 entitled Mariana. Mariana is Tennyson's well known poem, inspired by the charactre of the same name in shakespear's play Measure for Measure. T.S Eliot heard in Mariana 'something new happening in English verse”, and critics such as Carol Christ or Dwight Culler have “commented preceptively on its use of atomistic detail to create a landscape of strangeness appropriate to this sick-spirited maiden”. Mariana is a complex poem it is both a lyrical poem and a pathetic fallacy.
Tennyson's poetry has stood the test of time because it successfully paints a time and place and reflects the feelings of the people in it. His ability to capture the feelings of uncertainty and loss that were characteristic of this time period, through his use of descriptions, diction, and pathetic fallacy made his poetry not only pleasing to the ear, but also historically important. He surpassed Wordsworth and other poets of his generation as Poet Laureate because his poems capture the important social issues of the Victorian Age such as the shift in religious belief as a result of science, the confusion surrounding women's roles in society, and the isolation that came as a result of the rapid social and economical changes that occurred.
Memoriam, The Mutable Locus Amoenus and Consolation in Tennyson's In. "Robert Bernard Hass." Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900 (1998): 669-687.
...infinite. Mainly they cared about the individual, intuition, and imagination. English Romantic poets had a strong connection with medievalism and mythology. Romanticism witnessed a loosening of the rules of artistic expression that were prevalent during earlier times. (Rhan, 1)