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University of Madras
Syllabus with effect from 2020-2021
B.A English
Literature
[2nd
Year, 3rd Semester]
Background to
English Literature-III
UNIT 1: Literary Forms
1.1 POETRY:
IDYLLS:
The
origin of Idyllic form of poetry dates back to many centuries and there is apparently
no other genre of poetry has had such a wide ranging influence on readers as
this form has fascinated the general public. Words like ‘Idyllic’, ‘Pastoral’,
‘Arcadian’ can be used synonymously as they all have the same meaning.
They envelope the reader with an
atmosphere of fascination, they encourage relaxed moment and they take us back
in time to those fresh and untainted feelings. However, Pastoral or Idyllic
form of poetry has not received much appreciation by the critics and readers.
They consider it as a form of poetry which is recognized for its dull creations
and unreal feelings. However, scholars have not been able to differentiate
between Pastoral, Idyll or Bucolic forms of poetry. There seems to be a basic
difficulty of differentiation between the form with subject matter and shape
with substance. With the passage of time, however, Idyll has turned out to be
most earnest form of pastoral poetry. Being the most ancient form of pastoral
poetry, it provides a more comprehensive and complete sequence of study in
comparison to the later changes that took place in pastoral poetry.
The pastoral as a form of poetry was
developed by the Greek poet, Theocritus. In the third century B.C. he used to
write poems expressing the life of the shepherds of Sicily. The word pastor in
Latin language stands for ‘shepherd’. Theocritus was later imitated by Virgil
in his Latin Eclogues. By this, traditional pastoral found a solid base and got
strongly established. The model of the pastoral Idyll came to be formed as an
intentionally conservative piece of poetry communicating a town composer’s sentimental
remembrance of the tranquility and plainness of the shepherds’ life and that of
other pastoral people in a perfect natural background. The literary customs
that most of the poets followed in the years that followed were based on
Virgil’s replications of Theocritus.
A shepherd stretching out beneath a
sprawling beech tree and contemplating the pastoral thought, or just puffing
away the pipe without an iota of worry of ever getting old, or participating in
a pleasant singing competition, or just speaking about his good or bad luck in
his love life, or mourning the demise of a companion shepherd. The last type of
expression mentioned here, gave rise to the pastoral elegy, which carried on
much longer than the other traditional forms.
As has been mentioned above, the other
terms repeatedly used in place of pastoral are idyll, from the title of
pastorals written by Theocritus; eclogue (which exactly means, ‘a selection’),
from the title of pastorals written by Virgil; and bucolic poetry, from the
Greek translation of the word, ‘herdsman’. Traditional poets have generally
defined the idyllic existence having characteristics of the mythological golden
era.
Christian pastoralists joined the golden
era of pagan legend with the Garden of Eden of the Bible. Besides that they
even made use (or ill use) of the religious representation of ‘shepherd’ (as in
connection with the priestly or village pastor, and to Christ as the Good
Shepherd) in order to provide a lot of pastoral pieces of poetry a Christian
array of allusion. During the Renaissance period, the conventional pastoral was
also changed to varied humorous and metaphorical practices. Shepherd’s Calendar
written by Edmund Spenser in 1579 propagated the style in world of English
poetry. This piece of work comprised mostly all ranges of poetry written in
current pastoral form of that era.
The
pastoral vision created by the writers of this form was so attractive that the
Renaissance poets integrated it into numerous other forms of literary
creations. For example, Arcadia written by Sir Philip Sidney between 1581 and
1584 was a lengthy idyllic romance carved out in an intricately artful style.
(Arcadia was a hilly area in Greece which was substituted by Virgil for Sicily
used by Theocritus as his romanticized idyllic setting.)
The
pastoral lyric, The Passionate Shepherd to His Love written by Christopher
Marlowe, and The Faithful Shepherdess, the idyllic drama written by John
Fletcher are other worthy examples of this last type. Other examples of pastoral
love themes are: As You Like It, by William Shakespeare, founded on the contemporary
idyllic romance. Thomas Lodge’s Rosalynde, which is set in the woodland area of
Arden, the place is a green sanctuary which provides seclusion from the worries
and difficulties of normal life where all hostilities are resolved, all complications
smoothened, and the course of true love is the only song that can be heard in
the air of the atmosphere.
The
last significant writing of customary pastorals and a fitting example of the form’s
intended and elegant display of extraordinary artifice was Pastorals, written
by Alexander Pope in 1709. In 1714, in the pastoral masterpiece, Shepherd’s
Week by John Gay, the poet wrote a satire of the type by using its graceful
principles to the rusticity of genuine countryside ways and language. And in so
doing, the author unintentionally presented to the poets of the following
times, the real technique to the extremely realistic dealing of pastoral life.
In
recent times the term ‘pastoral’ has been given many new dimensions. William
Empson, in his work, Some Versions of Pastoral, acknowledged any kind of work
as idyllic which opposed humble to difficult or problematic life, to the benefit
of the previous: the humble life could be exemplified as that of the shepherd, the
kid, or the man toiling to earn a living. In Empson’s opinion, this literary
approach works as a diagonal way to condemn the morals and hierarchical class
structure prevalent in the society during that time.
Empson
therefore, relates the ‘pastoral’ or idyllic’ to the literary creations starting
from Andrew Marvell’s seventeenth-century poem The Garden and to Lewis
Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. However, the term ‘pastoral’ or ‘idyllic’ has
been applied by various scholars and they consider it as a variety of work which
characterizes a kind of pulling away to a distant place that is near the fundamental
beats of nature. A kind of a place; where the central character accomplishes a
new viewpoint towards the complications, frustrations and struggles of the
social world.
Forms of Idylls
Idyll
as a form of poetry can be broadly categorized in two forms that are pastoral idyll
and proper idyll. These forms have been discussed as follows:
Idyll
(Pastoral) : The beginning of the pastoral idyll can be dated back to the joy
experienced by human beings in the outside world and in their love for lyrics
from the beginning of time. When humans had a wandering life, their main
employment was tending to and moving about with the herds that they depended
upon for livelihood. Thus, the people of those times protected their herds
where these animals grazed on the green pastures along hillsides. In order to
enthrall their redundancy and loneliness, they often resorted to songs which,
out of requirement, were related with the pleasures and happenings of their
unrestricted existence.
The
first instances of such life are included in the Bible, for instance the Song
of Songs, which is an urge for love. Its substantial imagery and the vivid appearance
is a true example of the pastoral idyll. The first pastorals are said to have
emerged in the East from where they moved and found place in all lands and became
a part of the literature of almost every existing language. As mentioned earlier,
Theocritus is known to be the first pastoral poet in English literature. He carefully
worked on the customs and features of pastoral tradition, and gave attention to
and enjoyed the shepherds’ songs in Sicilian pastures. He thus, provided a
concrete shape and its lasting exquisiteness to pastoral idyll. Theocritus was born
in Syracuse, in 300 B.C., in an era of sophistication. He was taught by contemporary
teachers. Despite the fact, Theocritus, however, was drawn by the attractiveness
of Sicilian lands and responded with a new and straight poetic might.
The
extensive line of copiers, interpreters, and criticizers stand testimony to his
artistic genius and poetic prowess. Theocritus setup the idyll as a form art
displaying the appeal of the countryside with an ability unparalleled by anyone
for ages to follow.
Theocritus’
idylls are based on a range of subjects; some of these showcase the life of
grass cutters and fishermen; some of them are mythical stories revolving around
people and arms. These idylls are loaded with charms and attractions. Besides
this, they comprise depictions of the ones who are duty bound to lead and guard
the pasturing flocks. These beautifully written idylls revolve around the cheerful
pleasure of the herdsmen’s lives. The best work of Theocritus’ idylls are related
to life of herdsmen known as ‘pastores’. This is primarily the cause for the confusion
between an idyll (pure) and a pastoral idyll.
Normally
the terms ‘pastoral’ and ‘idyll’ are used in place of each other. In views of
the critics, who are not much concerned about the differences between both the
types of pastoral generally means anything that stands for something which is
rustic and not very commonplace. An idyll in the notion of the critics means a
demonstration of a humble, silent, and tranquil life. The reason behind this is
that it follows standard law in a dominion away from style and from affluence; such
a life is exposed to all the inspirations from nature. Under such circumstances
of faulty interpretation, identification of pastoral with idyll is highly
possible.
However,
an expert will never agree with such loose comparisons of terms which are
mandatorily different in their basic nature. On close scrutiny of the vital
variances between both it can be seen that the pastoral has been displayed in
the world of literature with too sharp a definiteness. Its presence is so
intense and so strong, that there is no chance of confusing one concept with
the other.
The
pastoral form of poetry proposes certain imagery, it brings to the mind portraits
of those joyful protectors of the flock whose duty offers them ease and relaxation
for song, who adopt the kind of livelihood which leads to musing on the attractiveness
of the world all-around and which can be seen, and arouses the poetic spirit.
Idyll
(proper): Having understood the constraint of the pastoral idyll, let us try to
understand the features of the proper idyll (or idyll). Theocritus’ poems did
not come to be known as idyll on their own. The term, however, was awarded by
some scholars and it perfectly fits the image of the heroes such as Hercules
and of the Dioscuri, as well as the herdsmen such as Daphnis and Menalcas. In
traditional form there was no confusion between the terms ‘idyll’ and
‘pastoral’.
The odes of Pindar were called idylls, while in case of Ausonius’ the idylls have no pastoral constituent. The usage of idyll became varied only during the modern times. The French literary laureates considered the idyll as particularly pastoral; amongst the Spanish literary circles the idyll does not convey an idea of any sort of pastoral poetry. The Italians however seem to maintaining an intermediate opinion, allowing the idyll to spread its wings without confining it to just pastoral.
EPISTLE:
An
epistle is a letter in the form of prose or poetry to a particular person or
group. It can also be a story or a religious sermon similar to the New
Testament letters written by Paul, Peter, and John to their church congregation
or a small group of believers. Traditionally, an epistle was written to express
love, philosophy, religion, and morality.
However, the roots of epistle composition date back to ancient Roman
poetic form and The Bible. Most of the
epistles are written in free verse without following any strict meter or
rhyme. In this sense, the writers are
free to write in whatever narration, or character they select to write.
Etymologically, epistle refers to a letter or written communication.
Epistle
(pronounced e-PISS-ul) is a poetic form that dates back to ancient Rome and to
the Bible. It is a poem written in the form of a letter. The term epistle comes
from the Latin word epistola, which means letter. Epistle was used to express
love, philosophy, religion, and morality. In many cases, the epistle would go
on at great length. Many older epistles were thousands of words long.
It
was traditionally written to express something like love or speak on an
important philosophical or religious topic. The themes of these works are often
lofty. They often deal with important subject matter but all writers have a
different way of utilizing the form.
Types of Epistles:
There
are two larger brackets into which epistles fall:
Horace’s
Epistles: The tradition of Horace’s epistle deals with moral and philosophical
themes and has been the most popular form since the Renaissance. Also called as
Moral/Philosophical epistles. This form of epistle was popularized by Horace
and has been in use since the Renaissance. These epistles deal with complex and
important subject matter such as the nature of life and the meaning of death.
Ovid’s
Epistle: The tradition based on Ovid’s epistle includes romanticism and other
sentimental subjects. These epistles gained popularity in Europe during the
Middle Ages. The best example of Ovid’s epistle is the letter of Paul the Apostle
that illustrates the spread of Christianity in the world. These letters became
popular in the middle ages. Also called as Romantic/Sentimental epistles.
CONFESSIONAL POETRY
Confessional
poetry is the poetry of the personal or “I.” In Confessional Poetry, the poet
describes himself, his good and bad experiences, his physche, the truama which
he has suffered and undergone and the way he lives or sees the world and the
people around.
The
school of "Confessional Poetry" was associated with several poets who
redefined American poetry emerged in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including
Robert Lowell, Sylvia Plath, John Berryman, Anne Sexton, Allen Ginsberg, and W.
D. Snodgrass.
In
1959 M. L. Rosenthal first used the term "confessional" in a review
of Robert Lowell's Life Studies entitled "Poetry as Confession". Robert
Lowell‘s Life Studies was the first book referred to as “confessional” poetry.
His poems “Waking in the Blue” and “Home After Three Months Away” both deal
with issues of mental illness. This book was a highly personal account of his
life and familial ties and had a significant impact on American poetry.
Plath
and Sexton were both students of Lowell and noted that his work influenced
their own writing.
The
confessional poetry of the mid-twentieth century dealt with subject matter that
previously had not been openly discussed in American poetry. Private experiences
with and feelings about death, trauma, depression and relationships were
addressed in this type of poetry, often in an autobiographical manner.
Sexton
in particular was interested in the psychological aspect of poetry, having started
writing at the suggestion of her therapist.
The
confessional poets were not merely recording their emotions on paper; craft and
construction were extremely important to their work. While their treatment of
the poetic self may have been groundbreaking and shocking to some readers, these
poets maintained a high level of craftsmanship through their careful attention
to and use of prosody.
One
of the most well-known poems by a confessional poet is "Daddy" by
Plath. Addressed to her father, the poem contains references to the Holocaust
but uses a sing-song rhythm that echoes the nursery rhymes of childhood.
Another
confessional poet of this generation was John Berryman. His major work was The
Dream Songs, which consists of 385 poems about a character named Henry and his
friend Mr. Bones. Many of the poems contain elements of Berryman’s own life and
traumas, such as his father’s suicide.
The confessional poets of the 1950s and 1960s pioneered a type of writing that forever changed the landscape of American poetry. The tradition of confessional poetry has been a major influence on generations of writers and continues to this day; Marie Howe and Sharon Olds are two contemporary poets whose writing largely draws upon their personal experience.
HAIKU
Haikus
or haiku are typically written on the subject of nature. The word haiku
(pronounced hahy-koo) is derived from the Japanese word hokku meaning “starting
verse.”
A
haiku is a specific type of Japanese lyric verse that encapsulates a single
impression of a natural object or scene, within a particular season, in
seventeen syllables arranged in three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five
syllables.
Haiku
became popular as tanka poems in Japan during the 9th and 12th centuries.
Initially, it was called “hokku” and Basho, Buson, and Issa were the first
three masters of the haiku genre.
Haiku
poetry is also full of metaphors and personifications. However, this has often
been argued against, since haikus are supposed to be written on objective
experiences, rather than subjective ones.
Traditionally,
haikus were only written about nature and the seasons. This is known as a
“kigo,” a reference to the seasons. They tapped, lightly, into emotions. The
first writer to become well-known for his haikus was Bashō whose poems appealed
to all of Japanese society.
Arising in the 16th century, it flourished in the hands of Basho, (1644-94) and Buson (1715-83). At first an opening stanza of a longer sequence, it became a separate form in the modern period under the influence of Masaoka Shiki (1867-1902).
Features of Haiku
·
It
contains three lines.
·
It
has five moras (syllables) in the first line, seven in the second, and five in
the last line.
·
It
contains 17 syllables in total.
·
A
Haiku poem does not rhyme.
·
Haiku
poems frequently have a kigo, or seasonal reference.
·
Haiku
poems are usually about nature or natural phenomena.
·
The
poem has two juxtaposed subjects that are divided into two contrasting parts.
· In English, this division between two parts can be shown by a colon or a dash.
GEORGIAN WAR POEM:
Georgian
Poets or Poetry refers to a series of poetical collections showcasing the work
of a school of British poetry that established itself during the early years of
the reign of King George V of the United Kingdom.
The
Georgian poets form a third distinct group. The term Georgian was for the first
time used by Edmund Marsh who, between 1912 and 1922 edited five collection of
poetry entitled Georgian Poetry. Today the term Georgian may refer to the poets
published in these collections, to the poets of the decade in general or to a
particular group among them.
Georgian
poetry was portrayed as being intellectual inexperienced and weakly escapist.
It was also considered to be technically slack and emotionally uninspired.
While these weaknesses are certainly present in some poets, it must not be
forgotten that Wilfred Owen and Edward Thomas must also be reckoned among the
Georgians.
Sir
Edward Marsh published the first collection of Georgian poetry and proclaimed
that ‘English poetry is putting on a new strength and beauty’. The poetry was
new in the sense that the poets certainly rejected Victorianism.
The most characteristic feature of Georgian poetry is its habit of expressing itself through images of rural England. The attractive terms in which nature is painted makes of poetry also vulnerable to charges of escapism. The Georgian response to nature as beautiful and consoling was derivative.
In
the portrayal of human life too, Georgian poetry tended to ignore certain areas
of human activity. Its poetic realism was confined to an anti-intellectual
attitude. The style of Georgian poetry is traditional and popular, the tone
cautiously colloquial as in the casual, chatty poems of
Rupert Brooke. It avoids the obscurity,
disagreement and shock effects of high modernist poetry.
Some
of the notable Georgian poets are Hilaire Belloc, Edmund Blunden, Rupert Brooke,
William Davies, Sir Edward Marsh, John Drinkwater, James Flecker, Wilfred Gibson,
Robert Graves, Walter de la Mare, Harold Monro and Edward Thomas.
In
reaction to Victorian didacticism their verse avoided “all formally religious,
philosophic or in proving themes”, and in reaction to the decadent or
Aesthetics of the nineties, they avoided all subjects that smacked of sadness,
weakness and café-table.”
The
Georgian poets are neither impressionistic nor pantheistic but “as simple as a
child’s reading book”. Their themes are “nature, love, leisure, old age,
childhood, animals, sleep, bulls and other domestic or wild animals. It is
poetry for the many and not for the scholarly few alone. It can be enjoyed even
by the learned.
Georgian poetry has been subjected to severe criticism by critics like T.S. Eliot. It has been said that the Georgian poetry is meant for nice people and that they were too inclined to indulge in mutual praise and that it is a poetry lacking in depth and originality, and so unfit for the thoughtful readers in the modern complex age. John Masefield, Walter De La Mare, W.H. Dories Drinkwater etc are some of the leading poets of the Georgian era.
WAR POEM:
A
War poet is a poet who participates in a war and writes about their experiences
or non-combatants who writes poems about war. These war poets are also called
trench poets.
The
term war poetry chiefly denotes the poetry written under the direct impact of
World War I. It is also called anti-romantic. Earlier also we had war poets but
after World War I these kinds of poet and poetry comes under the genre called
‘War Poetry‘.
These
poets are known as Anti-War poets because the soldier cum poets not show the
brevity of war but the futility of war. War poetry is nothing but the shadow of
brutal life among the soldiers during the First World War.
The
War Poets wrote their poetry to raise the question either life or death;
National Pride or own existence; duty or guilt; courage or cowardness.
Rupard Brooke, Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, Robert Graves, Ivor Gurney, Isaac Rosenberg are the most prominent Anti-War Poets. They are all involved directly into the War and eye witness to see the brutality in the name of National Pride at the battlefield.
The theme of War Poetry
·
The
loss of innocence
·
Brotherhood
and Relationship
·
The
Horror of war
·
Disillusionment
with religion
·
Nature
·
Irrationality
of war
·
Emotional
and feelings
Purpose of War Poetry
·
Poetry
is the best way to express someone’s emotion and expression during the war.
· Another
main reason for writing war poetry is to show the true picture of war.
·
It
also helps to spend time
·
It
creates a sense of honor
Characteristics of War Poetry
·
It
used gruesome and showing imagery
·
It
signed a break off from the contemporary poetic tradition.
·
It
uses the actual language of the men engaged in war.
· Realistic documentation of war with all its brutality.
Wilfred Owen: (1893-1918)
He
was one of the most prominent Anti-War Poets during the First World War as well
as a soldier. He wrote many poems about war but only five poems were published
in his lifetime but most important poems are published posthumously.
Futility, Strange Meeting, Insensibility, Dulce et Decorum est are the important poems. In his poem, he showed the terror of trenches, the pitiful shadow of soldiers' lives.
Siegfried Sassoon:(1886-1967)
War
poetry is not complete without the work of Siegfried Sassoon,who was awarded
the Queen's Medal for poetry in 1957. He was not only a poet but also a
soldier. He shook the literary world to write his angry and compassionate poems
about World War I. Sassoon wrote of the horror and brutality of trench warfare
and ironically criticized those men who were the blind supporters of the brutal
war.
The Hero, Counter-attack, The Death Bed, Attack, Memorial Tablet are the most important poems written by him. He wrote in his poem Trench Duty the extreme situation of the soldiers.
SPOKEN WORD POEM:
Spoken
Word is poetry intended for onstage performance, rather than exclusively
designed for the page.
It
refers to poetry that is read aloud; it may contain elements of theater,
stand-up comedy, storytelling, rhetoric, jazz, hip hop, or other forms.
We could go deeper with this, in terms of the difference between “recitation” and “performance,” or the difference between creating work that is meant to be performed vs. work that is about the page first and then happens to be performed (and how each approach impacts the writing itself), but I think this is a good starting point. You could also potentially use the term “performance poetry.”
SLAM POETRY:
Slam
Poetry is poetry performed at a competition at which poets read or recite
original work. These performances are then judged on a numeric scale by
previously selected members of the audience.
Slam
poetry/spoken word often deals with controversial topics/issues. We all have
different perspectives on these topics/issues, so please understand that while
watching example videos, you should keep in mind that this genre is a medium
for people to have their voices heard.
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