Victorian Poetry

Introduction

Victorian poetry refers to the poems composed during the reign of Queen Victoria in English (1837-1901). This period was marked by tremendous cultural change.

There were a drastic change and development in the form of literature, art and music. Although Victorian Poetry was quite different from that of the preceding era, yet there were some similarities that existed between the two periods.

Characteristics

Realism

The Victorian Poetry was quite realistic in nature and quite less idealised as compared to the Romanic Poets who were idealists and believed in Art for art sake Nature, that was everything for the Romantics lost that idealised position in the Victorian era and became just a source of leisure and inspiration for the poets.

Focus on Masses

Romantic Poetry mainly focused on rural and rustic life. It is no way related to city life. On the other hand, Victorian poets used language as well as themes common to city life and thus wrote about the masses and for the masses.

Pessimism

As already discussed, Victorians were quite realistic and thus were more concerned about the reality rather than the ideal world. Due to the industrial revolution and advancement in science and technology, there was a drastic increase in the city population that gave rise to slums, poverty, unemployment, corruption diseases, deaths etc.

Thus, Victorian Poetry which focused on the pains and sufferings of commoners had a note of pessimism.

Science and Technology

The advancement in science and inventions was welcomed by the Victorian poets. It made them believe that a man can find all solutions to his problems and sufferings. They made their readers believe that they should use science for their betterment.

Questioning to God

It was an important feature of Victorian poetry. The development of empirical science, rationalism and radicalism led the people to give up religious thoughts and be more sceptic. Moreover, corruption in the Church, defining the morality of Priests, etc also led the people to question the religious institutions.

Sense of Responsibility

The Romantics believed in “return in nature”. A number of the Romantics did not like the city life and instead of giving voice to the victims of industrialisation, they left the city life. On the other hand, Victoria poets took the responsibility of social reform and gave voice to the commoners by living with them.

Morality

Though morality saw a steep decline in the Victorian Era, a number of poets tried to retain it by encouraging the people to be honest and noble.

Interest in Medieval Myths & Folklore

The Victoriansshowed great favour towards Medieval Literature. They loved mythical and chivalrous anecdotes of Medieval Knights, Courtly Love etc. This interest is on contrary to the of Romantics as the latter loved classical myths and legends.

Use of Sensory Devices & Imagery

The poets of the preceding era used imagery vividly. However, the Victorians also used sensory devices to describe the abstract scenes of chaos between Religion and Science.

Sentimentality

The Victorians wrote about artistic creations thus giving way to deeper imaginations.

Humour

A number of poets wrote humorous and whimsical verses. e.g. Bad Ballads.

Dramatic Monologue

A dramatic monologue is a long speech by a single person. It differs from soliquay which means the expression of ideas by a character in a play. On the other hand, dramatic monologue is a kind of lyric which was used and improved by Robert Browning.

Early Victorian Poets

The Early Victorian Poetry or the High School Poetry does not have the topic “The Love and Worship of Nature” as the Romantics had in their poetry. It is because the Romantics loved nature and it was shown through their poems adoring and blessing nature as if it were God. Early Victorian Poets are as follows:

• Robert Browning: He was the lover of music. He was the first to write Dramatic Monologue. He was an undying optimist. His important works are My Last Duchess, A Death to the Desert, Men and Women, The Last Ride Together etc.
• Lord Alfred Tennyson: Tennyson stood as the summit of poetry in England. For nearly half a century, he was not only a man and a poet but also the voice of people, expressing their doubt and faith, grief and triumph in his works. His important poems are The Princess, The May Queen, Crossing the Bar etc.
• Mathew Arnold: He was a poet as well as a critic. His important works are Rugby Chapel, Thyrsis, Scholar Gypsy, Dover Bitch, Soharab and Rustom, Shakespeare (A Sonnet) etc.
• Arthur Hugh Clough: He is famous for his poem The City of Dreadful Night.
• Edward Fitzgerald: He is mainly famous for his verse translation of Persian work Rubaiyat of Umar Khayyam. His pessimism was inherent in his acceptance of life’s purposelessness.

Later Victorian Poets

The Pre-Rephaelite was a movement. It began in 1848 A.D. by three painters including D.B. Rossetti. It aimed at a return to older principles in painting, but as Rossetti and other followers like William Morris and Swinburne were also gifted writers, they aimed to bring a change in a literary manner as well.

Female Poets

One of the important features of Victorian Period is the interest of female poets in Literature. Although there were few female poets before, yet males were the major composers of this genre. Important Victorian Poets include Elizabeth Browning (wife of Robert Browing), Christina Rossetti, and the Bronte sisters etc