Features of Victorian Poetry

 

On Wordsworth’s death in 1850 Alfred Tennyson was made Poet Laureate. As a representative of the Victorian age (1850-1901) he well exhibited his poetic sensibility in general and Victorian temper in particular. The poetry of this age was in a way a succession of the romantic poetry with certain extension. The prominent figures of Victorian poetry were Alfred Tennyson, Robert Browning, Matthew Arnold, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Oscar Wilde, Christine Rossetti, Emily Bronte and Thomas Hardy etc. The Victorian Poetry exhibited the spirit of the age, some characteristics of the age were the conflict between science and religion and the economic changes.  

 

Following are the main characteristics of Victorian Poetry

 

Realism

The Victorian Poets were quite realistic and less imaginative in contrast to Romanic Poets. They were the followers of mindset Art for the Art’s Sake. Victorian poetry lost its idealize position accorded in the Romantic Age. 

 

Conflict Between Science & Religion

The most remarkable characteristics of Victorian poetry is its conflict between religion and science. It was a by-product of the intellectual developments of this age. The leading poets of this age reacted to this religious skepticism through their works. Robert Browning attempted to criticize religion in his poems like ‘Fra Lippo Lippi’. He also questioned the demands of the church that go against human nature.

Similarly, When Tennyson wrote ‘In Memoriam’, he raised many questions on life and death. The scientific approach to nature and human became a central theme in Victorian Poetry. Arnold’s poem ‘Dover Beach’ (1867), also addresses the decaying religious faith of the time. Thus, the advancement of science over religion became a topic of discussion in the age and the Victorian poets reflected such sensibility in their writing.

 

Use of Sensual images and perceptions

Romantic poets in general and John Keats in particular were well versed in the use of visual imageries to evoke sensory perceptions. They used the imagery vividly. However, Victorian poets also used imagery and senses to convey the chaos or struggle between Religion and Science, and ideas about Nature and Romance. Lord Alfred Tennyson, Christina Rossetti and Robert Browning prominently used the sensory and Imagery elements in their poems.

 

Tone of Pessimism

Victorian poets realized the tragic side of industrial modernity. Thus, Victorian poetry also highlighted the need of urban life and the loss of purity. The people turned to be much more materialistic. Hence, the poets wrote on isolation, despair, doubt and general pessimism that were prevalent in the era.

On the surface, Victorians seemed to enjoy the wealth and prosperity but the feelings of uncertainty, Cynicism and self-doubt very much reflects in the poems of this age. The issue of psychological isolation is common in almost all the great poems of the Victorian Era.

Tennyson’s poem, ‘Locksley Hall’ (1842) is about the restless of the young generation in England. Mathew Arnold explored the “strange disease of modern life” and the loneliness of modern-age men in his poem ‘The Scholar-Gipsy’ (1853). In ‘The City of Dreadful Night’, Arthur Hugh Clough deals with the note of Insomnia, unsettlement and Pessimism.

 

Interest in Medieval Myths and Legends

Just like the younger romantic poet John Keats the sense of medievalism went through the veins of Victorian poets. One can clearly mark Victorian Poetry with medieval Myths, legends and fables. Just as the Pre-Raphaelites attempted to restore the essence of medieval art in their poems, poets like Tennyson, William Morris and Swinburne wrote poetry on Arthurian legends of the Medieval Age.

Tennyson’s ‘Idylls of King Arthur’  was a series of four books that were based on King Arthur and the Round Table. In his other works such as ‘Sir Launcelot and Queen Guinevere’, ‘Sir Galahad’, and ‘Morte d’ Arthur’, Tennyson explored the vision of Medieval quests and tales.

 

Sentimentality

The Victorian poet focused the mind and slightly tried to express its complexity and sentiments. Browning significantly focused the dark shades of human mind or the sentiments. In addition poets like Alfred Tennyson, Emily Bronte prominently used the element of sentimentality in their poems.

 

Development of Dramatic Monologue

The dramatic monologue flourished in the Victorian age in the field of poetry. The works such as Alfred Tennyson’s “Ulysses’ (1842), ‘St Simeon Stylites’ (1842) and Mathew Arnold’s ‘Dover Beach’ are written in the form of the monologues.

Robert Browning popularized dramatic monologue in most of his works such as ‘My Last Duchess’, ‘Porphyria’s Lover’, ‘Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister’, ‘Men and Women’ and such others. These poems were published in Browning’s ‘Dramatic Lyrics’ in 1842.

Apart from the famous dramatic monologue, the Victorian poets also explored Sonnets, Epics, Elegies and Ballads. In this way, the Victorian poetry is the direct outcome of the Prevailing socio-economic, political and literary activities of the time.

 

A Radical Stream Within Victorian Poetry

When we talk about Victorian Poetry, it is about the broader stream of poetry in Victorian era. However, you somewhere ignore mentioning a group of poets in the very same era who were radical in their poetic approach. They advocated art and mysticism of pre-Raphael era (1428- 1848) and, narrowed their subject down to beauty, nature and art.

The radical Victorian poetry aimed unifying medieval art and poetry and sought promoting pre-Raphael era glory. Verses of this special stream is called as the pre-Raphaelite Poetry. Experts also label this stream of Poetry as Version 2 of the Romantic Poetry as they immensely harped on nature, beauty and emotions.

The Victorian Poets wrote on multiple themes and subjects. Precisely, the pre-Raphaelites poets are a subgroup within broader Victorian Age Poets. And, they focused on beauty, art, loveliness and mysticism alone.Tennyson, Browning and Arnold led the Victorian Poetry whereas, Rossetti (s), Morris and Swinburne led the Pre-Raphaelite poetry as pioneers.