Victorian Poetry

Victorian Poetry 1832-1901 Victorian era is the historical period of Queen Victoria’s reign from 1837-1901. Victorian era witnessed a set of substantial historical, cultural, and social changes which influenced the viewpoints of the Victorian people on the whole world, religion, and life itself. Some of these changes were: Technological progress and industrial prosperity The Rise of England as a Great Empire which controlled more than half of the world. The era when the sun never set on the Great British Empire. Deteriorating role of religion resulted from conflict between religion and science (skeptical mentality) Poverty, misery, tyranny, and abuse of man and wealth. Nevertheless, the upper classes of Britain felt their society was the epitome of prosperity, progress, and virtue.

Conflict over Technology and Industry Victorian Period 1832-1901 Victorian era is a time of contrasts and conflicts. Charles Dickens described this age as “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” Major Conflicts Conflict of Morality London and other British cities had countless gaming halls which provided venues not just for gambling but also opium dens and prostitution. Is it moral? Upper-class people doubled their wealth at the expense of desperate working class and the breach between the two enormously expanded. Is it moral?! Conflict over Technology and Industry The technological advances relegated the position of man and it was only good for the upper-class people who exploited the need of the working class to increase their wealth. Working conditions in factories were deplorable. With no safety regulations and no laws limiting either the number of hours people could be required to work or the age of factory workers. Some factory owners were willing to sacrifice the well-being of their employees for greater profit. Children as young as five worked in factories and mines.

Conflict over Faith and Religion Victorian Period 1832-1901 Conflict over Faith and Religion In 1859, Charles Darwin published his book “On the Origin of Species” in which he claimed that humankind descended from apes, and hereby he denied the existence of a divine being that controls the world and cares for all creatures, among which human beings. Also, lack of concern for appalling human conditions among the lower classes, led some to doubt the presence of a divine being in the world and others to question the value of Christianity. The majority of people reconsidered religion and many were dissuaded from the Christian doctrine

Conflicts over Imperialism Victorian Period 1832-1901 Conflicts over Imperialism A desire to expand industrial wealth and to have access to inexpensive raw materials led to the British occupation of countries around the globe. Along with their desire for material gains, many British saw the expansion of the British Empire as what Rudyard Kipling referred to as, “the white man’s burden”. it is the responsibility of the British to bring their civilization and their way of life to what many considered inferior cultures. The result of this type of reasoning was often the destruction of local cultures and the oppression of local populations. Also, British people sustained severe losses, bloodshed, massacres, and atrocities. So, many questioned all this bloodshed is for why!!! Other conflicts: Women’s Rights

Characteristics of Victorian Poetry The romanticized version of life was superseded with another version of realism and naturalism. Sensory language, replete with imagery appealing to the five senses, to convey the growing conflict between religion an science, and to depict the appalling conditions of humans. Sentimentality and exaggerated feelings of sadness and nostalgia Sense of humor and comic language to indicate the contrasts and paradoxes of the time. References to medieval literature and mythical stories to satirize the ironic and paradoxical conditions of Great Britain Focus on reforming the present rather that celebrating the past for its perfectness. Regular and refined meter

The Oxen Thomas Hardy

The Oxen (1915) By Thomas Hardy Christmas Eve, and twelve of the clock. ‘Now they are all on their knees,’ An elder said as we sat in a flock By the embers in hearthside ease. We pictured the meek mild creatures where They dwelt in their strawy pen, Nor did it occur to one of us there To doubt they were kneeling then. So fair a fancy few would weave In these years! Yet, I feel, If someone said on Christmas Eve, ‘Come; see the oxen kneel, ‘In the lonely barton by yonder coomb Our childhood used to know,’ I should go with him in the gloom, Hoping it might be so.

Summary The speaker recalls an experience he lived in the past where people were certain about the scene of Nativity before they turned completely skeptical. On the anniversary of Jesus Birth, he sat by a fireplace, when he was a kid, listening to an elder man who told them that the oxen at the Christmas Eve were kneeling in reverence for the Christ, exactly as they did in the stable of Bethlehem hundreds of years ago. When the speaker looked at the near oxen, while listening to the old man, neither he nor his company saw them kneeling, but people were certain about this. At his adulthood, on the contrary, the majority of people no longer believe in this ‘myth’ as they have turned out more skeptical, yet if he is invited to contemplate the oxen kneeling in homage to the infant Christ on Christmas Eve, he would go in hope the scene would be real.

Themes Skeptical mentality of the Victorian man Deteriorating role of religion Rhythm (meter): Trochaic tetrameter (with many deviations and substitutions) Figures of speech: Symbolism ‘The Oxen’ ‘our childhood’ Allusion ‘Now they are all on their knees,’ intertextuality ‘meek mild creatures’ Alliteration ‘So fair a fancy few would weave’

The legend about the cattle keeling to Jesus. IT IS A MYTH The birth of Jesus Christ was presided over by a flock of cattle: oxen, donkeys, and descendants of others beasts at Bethlehem. They knelt together at the stable of Bethlehem in reverence as soon as the infant Christ was delivered.

Nativity Scene (The Birth of Jesus Christ)

Questions What are the techniques the poet uses in the first and two stanzas to indicate the certainty of the past? What is the significance of alluding to the scene of Nativity in the first stanza? How does the speaker juxtapose the past with the present? What is the difference between the childhood and adulthood of the speaker? To what extent do you think that Thomas Hardy represents the Victorian man with reference to The Oxen. In what sense does Hardy represent a conformist poet?

Questions The poem ‘The Oxen’ reflects the skepticism and uncertainty of the Victorian age. Comment in an academic paragraph. How can you related the poem with World War I and its ramifications? What semantic significance does the alliteration of the fricative sound achieve in this line ‘So fair a fancy few would weave’? Does the poem seem optimistic or pessimistic? Explain.

Futility Wilfred Owen

Futility By Wilfred Owen Move him into the sun— Gently its touch awoke him once, At home, whispering of fields half-sown. Always it woke him, even in France, Until this morning and this snow. If anything might rouse him now The kind old sun will know. Think how it wakes the seeds— Woke once the clays of a cold star. Are limbs, so dear-achieved, are sides Full-nerved, still warm, too hard to stir? Was it for this the clay grew tall? —O what made fatuous sunbeams toil To break earth's sleep at all?

Summary The setting is in a battlefield where a commander orders a group of soldiers to move the dead body of their fellow solider into the sun, which symbolizes life itself or the creator of this world, in hope it would be able to wake him up exactly as it used to do at home or in France, the place where he slept over the trenches. As this day is snowy and the sun is absent, he could not be woken up this time. Nevertheless, as the soldiers will bury the dead corpse exactly like seeds, the commander assumes the corpse will be resuscitated after death when the sunlight touches the ground. Abruptly, the commander starts to question the sun’s ability to give life, thus denying that the clay of Adam was given life by a divine entity. Themes Skepticism of the Victorian man Uncertainty of the age Deteriorating role of religion The atrocities of the War and losing faith

Figures of speech 1. Juxtaposition of life and death in two lines. Always it woke him, even in France, Until this morning and this snow. 2. Symbolism Sun is symbol of life, divine entity or creator Snow is a symbol of death 3. Allusion to Adam’s creation ‘Woke once the clays of a cold star’ 4. Personification ‘Gently its touch awoke him once,’

Questions What is Victorian in these lines? ‘—O what made fatuous sunbeams toil To break earth's sleep at all?’ How can you relate this poem to the predominant social conditions during World War I? Explain the analogy in this line ‘Think how it wakes the seeds’. Explain the thematic significance of these lines ‘Full-nerved, still warm, too hard to stir? Was it for this the clay grew tall?’

Questions In an academic essay, explain the possible themes that Wilfred Owen may have intended to highlight in the ‘Futility’. Give examples from the poem and highlight salient stylistic features. How can you juxtapose the beginning of the poem with its end? Define pararhyme and illustrate its significance in this poem.