Victorian Poetry

1. The Poem I chose to read from Lord Tennyson was All Things Will Die. I felt like this poem is about death. He just seems to be talking about how everything seems happy kind of like spring and then everything goes down and dies kind of like winter. 

"Every heart this may morning i joyance is beating

Full merrily;

Yet all things must die.

The stream will cease to flow;

The wind will cease to blow;

The clouds will cease to fleet;

The heart will cease to beat;

For all things must die."

I believe that Victorian influence can be found in this poem in its seriousness. The victorians seemed much more serious about life and it shows in this poem. During the whole poem he's talking about how everything must die but he's talking about it in the most cheerful way. The rhymes are what really makes it seem cheery even though its about death.

2. The poem a read by Robert Browning was Meeting at Night. I think this poem is about Browning meeting some girl at night that lives near a beach. I feel like he write it because on this journey to see his women he notices the beauty of everything around him which happens to be the beach and the little waves ruffling on shore. 

"And the yellow half-moon large and low;

And the startled little waves that leap

In fiery ringlets from their sleep,"

I couldn't really find anything distinctively victorian in this poem. It just seemed like a normal poem about a guy going to see his girlfriend. It talked a lot about the beach and what not but I couldn't really ting of anything victorian.

3. The Poem by Matthew Arnold I chose to read was Growing Old. This poem is exactly what it sounds like. It's a poem about growing old. Arnold basically just talks about the aspects of getting old but puts them in a poetic sense. If you ask me it's not really that interesting. I have thought of these ideas myself and this poem seemed kind of boring compared to my thoughts. I feel like I could make an equally good poem about growing old even though I'm not even 20.

One trait I'm figuring out about Victorian poetry is it's boring. They talk about things that are obvious and make them seem much more important by putting a poetic sense to it. SO I guess this poem is Victorian because it's obvious.

"Is it to feel our strength-

Not our bloom only, but our strength -decay?

Is it to feel each limb

Grow stiffer, every function less exact,

Each nerve more weakly strung?"

This quote pretty much sums up the boringness of this poem and clearly states the obvious that we're all going to get old and these things will happen.

4. The poem I read by Thomas Hardy is The Man He Killed. The Man He Killed is about a guy who killed another guy, but what Hardy is saying in the poem is that if these two men would have met in another setting they probably wouldn't have minded each other. 

"Had he and I but met

By some old ancient inn,

We should have sat us down to wet

Right many a nipperkin!"

While reading the victorian poems I've noticed that they rely more on rhyming. All through their poems they have really nice rhymes and many different rhyme patters. I think that the clever rhyming in this poem is what makes it Victorian.

"I shot him dead because--

Because he was my foe,

Just so: my foe of coarse he was;

That's clear enough, although"

A Journal of the Plague Year

First I would like to start off saying that this text was one of the easiest text to read you have given us all year. It was really nice to read something that made sense to me and I didn't have to read over and over a million times. When reading this I was really captivated by it. It seems like everyone had the plague and was just dying in excruciating manners. The way he talked about how he was just walking down the street seeing people die in horrible pain was really intense and made it a very good read. " In these walks I had many dismal scenes before my eyes, as particularly of persons falling dead in the streets, terrible shrieks and screechings of women, who in their, agonies, would throw open their chamber windows and cry out in dismal, surprising manner." This is a quote describing him walking down the streets seeing the horrors of the plague.

I think what was important for people of this time was to be careful. Don't go anywhere near someone who was infected, and don't trust anyone.  You can tell that was the way people acted through the text when the man trying to get a hotel swears he doesn't have the infection " pretending to be going into Lincolnshire, and assuring them of his being sound and free from the infection." 

I also believe god was more important to people in this time because people were more religious back then, I'm sure they were flocking to the churches and praying to god not to get the horrible infection.

Romantic poetry

1. The first poem I read was from William Blake called The Shepherd. The Shepherd is about a shepherd who lives a quiet life. The shepherd William Blake is talking about is very connected with his lambs and I feel like when reading it that Blake might have been a little jealous of the shepherd because of his slow pace life. 

The romanticism that sticks out in The Shepherd is the individuality of the shepherd. 

"From the morn to the evening he strays; 

He shall follow his sheep all the day,

And his tongue shall be filled with praise.

I think that Blake is sort of jealous of the shepherd because of his peaceful life style. Blake probably wished he could have lived the life of a shepherd.

2. The poem I read by William Wordsworth was To My Sister. I felt like this poem wasn't necessarily about his sister but about bonds that can created between people when you just let things happen, and don't try to put names and labels on everything.

I felt like this poem was romantic because of the rebellion expressed in the poem.

"No Joyless forms shall regulate

Our living calendar:

We from to-day, my friend, will date

The opening of the year."

Here and in other parts of the Poem Wordsworth is expressing that everything doesn't have to be regulated. He saying that it doesn't matter what the date is lets go out and have fun.

"And bring no book: for this one day

We'll give to idleness."

this quote expresses how if you just go out and don't plan for anything sometimes the best connections will be made.

3. The Poem I read by George Gordon was called Remind Me not, Remind Me Not. I believe that this poem is about Gordon not wanting to be reminded of the love he shared with some girl. At the beginning of the poem it seems to be describing Gordon and some other girl right after they've had sex and they're just laying there loving one another. Towards the end of the poem he starts talking about how he dreams of the time they spent and wishes it could continue. 

"dreamt last night our love return'd,

And, sooth to say, that very dream

Was sweeter in its phantasy."

I feel like this poem is romantic because of the love shared between these two people. I know that romanticism isn't exactly the same thing as what we consider romantic but in this poem what we consider romantic is the romanticism in this poem. Wordsworth really loves this women and you and you can tell by reading this poem that him and the girl in the poem just had made really good love and after doing so it was being expressed very strongly through anything that they did. Even breathing.

"And lips, though silent, breathing love."

4. The poem I read by Percy Bysshe Shelley was To The Moon . I really liked this poem by Shelley because it was easy to comprehend and I didn't have to read it five times. This poem is about the moon being lonely. Shelley asks the moon "Art though pale from weariness." You can tell reading this poem that Shelley probably spent many nights looking up at the stars and wondering why the moon was all by itself.

I think that this poem is romantic because Shelley feels the loneliness of the moon. He looks at the moon like a person and feels sorry for it because it has no one to connect with. He feels sorry for it because there are all the stars in the galaxy and they all have each other but the moon is all by itself. 

"Wandering companionless

Among he stars that have a different birth,-

And ever changing, like a joyless eye

That finds no object worth its constancy?

5. The Poem I read by John Keats was Dedication. To Leigh Hunt,Esq. I feel like this poem is about a girl that he has gone away, but he doesn't mind. In the poem he talks about how things are leaving and going and I think that expresses how some girl left him. 

"GLORY and loveliness have passes away;

For if we wander out in early morn,

No wreathed incense do we see upborne

Into the east, to meet the smiling day"

I believe that this poem is romantic because of the fact that she is leaving him but he doesn't care. This really represents romanticism.

"Pan is no longer sought, I feel a free

A leafy luxury, seeing I could please

With these poor offerings, a man like thee."

As you can tell when he says he pan is no longer sought he saying that he doesn't want to be with her anymore. And when He says " Seeing I could please with these poor offerings, a man like these" he saying he's happy with himself and doesn't need her.

Step Three- The Victorian Period

The first historical event I will look at is the industrial revolution. Though the industrial revolution started in the romantic period it was still going in the victorian era and the effects were being shown. The industrial revolution caused for a rapid change in the way people thought and lived. I think because of this rapid change forward people began to think more highly of life and take things more seriously. 

Imperialism is the next historical event I would like to discuss. I feel like imperialism played a role in the victorian thought because just like the industrial revolution it was this big system of greatness that man (the british in the case) created.  Because of all this sense of greatness and fullness I believe people during this time felt much more importance to life and felt the need to improve their lives.

I think the normal people of the victorian era were a more serious and focused group of people than in any other time before. Because of all the rapid changes around them and the expansion of everyday life people had to become more serious and work harder at things. This being a direct cause of the industrial revolution.

I believe the difference between the romantic period and the victorian period is the same as the difference in a young man and an old man. The romantic period is more rebellious and free flowing. The victorian period is more serious and obvious. The romantic period was at the start of the industrial revolution and right after the enlightenment making a mix of new ideas and a lot of new stuff. The victorian period was more during the time of the industrial revolution when people were feeling the effects (e.g. child labor).I really like the romantic period more because I more rebellious. Maybe if I was an old man I might like the Victorian period more, but until then I would rather read romantic literature.

I think that victorian poets were expressing seriousness and the obvious in their poems, but like to cheer them up using rhyme. You can see the seriousness when you look at Lord Tennyson's poem All Things Will Die. This is obviously a touchy subject but in his poem he \ talks about it cheerfully and uses rhymes to make it seem not that bad. You can see how they commonly stated the obvious when looking at Matthew Arnold's Growing Old. This poem just talks about getting old. It gets really poetic and rhymes well, but really it's just states the obvious and makes it look poetic. I really didn't like the victorian poetry that much because it was kind of boring. The only thing I really liked about it was the use of good rhyming. Other than that I can't really get into it. 

Step one: The Romantic Period

The first historical event leading up to romanticism I want to talk about is the enlightenment. Even though Romantics hated and opposed the enlightenment they were very similar and also heavily influenced by it. The enlightenment was a time of reason. People were starting to think more logically and relying less on the church for reasoning. The romantics, the next generation, were almost the same but with a twist. The romantics strived more on individuality and expressing themselves. They too disagreed with the church, but hated the aristocrat. I believe that the romantics were to force that eventually led to the rise of the middle-class of the industrial revolution.

The second historical event I want to look at is the french revolution and the napoleonic era. The french revolution occurred right at the beginning of the romantic period and I believe was started from the romantic mood at that time. People were starting to gain national pride, or nationalism, in their country and culture. People were also starting to hate the aristocratic government and feeling the need to do something about it. I think that the romantics feelings of expression is what caused the french revolution. The napoleonic era also help fuel the romantic period because countries were so frustrated with France's nationalism that they also began to have pride in their countries and feel need to express themselves and culture.

I feel like normal people in this time were becoming more aware of themselves and the things around them. People didn't want to be held down by the church or some straight edged logic. They wanted to express themselves and become more individual. This shows through the romantics wanting to have pride and expression of their cultures. I also believe that the romantics might have been a little on the ass-hole side. After reading about them they seem like smart people who think way too highly about themselves (or in this case culture).

I believe that the romantics were mainly expressing rebellion and individuality in their poems. You can see the rebellion when you look at Wordsworth poem To My Sister When he's saying that things don't have to be regulated and the best way for two people to get to know each other is through pure improvisation of time. The individuality is expressed in poems like The Shepherd by William Blake. In this poem Blake is so jealous of the individuality of the shepherd and how he lives such a nice peaceful lives caring for his sheep and his sheep caring for him. I really like Romantic poetry in comparisons to other poetries. I think this is because I like rebellion and individuality.

A modest proposal

When I was reading a modest proposal I saw a lot of dark comedy. Swift expressed how kids are molded by other people throughout their lives speaking of them like meat that is prepped, bought, sold, and eaten. I think that his analogy of being raised kind of like meat is very true and I agree. A Modest Proposal is a good example of a satire because his comparison of children as meat is a use of dark comedy poking fun of something that is actually sad.