MEG 1 list of all poems & quick summary
Name
Poet
Devices/ Poetic Techniques
Published year
Rhyming Scheme
Poetic form – free verse, blank verse
Structure - sections/stanzas/books
Theme
Tone
Era
Special - title, backstory,
Meaning
Summary
Block-1 Orientation For the Study of Poetry & The Medieval Poet Chaucer
- gpt – from my blog –
the portraits of the prioress, the monk, the Friar, and the wife of Bath. - the Prioress (Madame Eglantine) is a worldly nun focused on courtly manners, dogs, and status, contrasting with the Monk, a hunter who ignores cloister rules for pleasure, and the Friar, a smooth-talking beggar who exploits the poor, while the Wife of Bath is a bold, experienced woman of five marriages, who uses her tales to advocate for female authority and marital harmony, challenging male dominance with her lively, complex personality.
The Prioress (Madame Eglantine)
· Appearance & Mannerisms: Dressed elegantly, speaks French (badly), has delicate manners, and wears a brooch saying "Amor vincit omnia" (Love conquers all).
· Worldliness: More concerned with aristocratic airs and secular life (like her lap dogs) than true piety, suggesting religious life as social climbing.
· Key Trait: A contradiction between her gentle appearance and the harsh, anti-Semitic tale she tells.
The Monk
· Appearance & Hobbies: A handsome, robust man with fine horses, hunting gear, and a passion for hunting (venery).
· Worldliness: Ignores monastic rules (like St. Benedict's) that keep monks cloistered and working, preferring the "new world" of pleasure and sport.
· Key Trait: Rejects the text that says monks should stay in their cloisters, seeing study as pointless compared to hunting.
The Friar
· Appearance & Mannerisms: A smooth-talker, charming, and well-dressed, but uses his charisma for personal gain.
· Worldliness: A beggar who excels at manipulating people for money, especially the poor, rather than helping them; avoids the sick.
· Key Trait: A hypocrite who uses his religious role to live a luxurious, worldly life.
The Wife of Bath (Alisoun)
· Appearance & Personality: A bold, experienced, somewhat deaf woman (or pretends to be) who loves sex, marriage, and power.
· Worldliness: Has had five husbands, uses sex and cunning to control them, and is a master of marital dynamics.
· Key Trait: Her extensive experience and strong voice make her a powerful figure who argues for female autonomy and marital equality in her famous Prologue and Tale.
-nuns priest tale - https://www.sparknotes.com/
Block-2 Undertaking A Study of Spenser
Epi & pro –
Epi stanza wise summary - https://www.gradesaver.com/
An epithalamion is a poem celebrating a wedding, and Edmund Spenser's famous 1595 version details his own marriage to Elizabeth Boyle, following the wedding day from dawn's invocation of Muses, through the bride's preparation and church ceremony, blending classical myths with Christian praise, to the hopeful anticipation of consummation and prayers for fertility, creating a hopeful and celebratory vision of marriage and family.
Key Elements of Spenser's "Epithalamion":
· Structure: 24 stanzas, one for each hour of the wedding day, following the progression from morning to night.
· Narrative Flow: Begins with waking the bride, invokes nymphs and gods for adornment, describes the church procession and ceremony, and ends with blessings for the couple's future children.
· Themes: Joy, chastity, love, nature's beauty, fertility, and the sacredness of marriage.
· Style: Blends classical mythology (Greek/Roman gods, nymphs) with Christian language, using figures like Hymen (god of marriage) and prayers for offspring.
· Emotional Tone: Hopeful, joyful, and celebratory, moving from public praise to private anticipation.
In essence:
Spenser's "Epithalamion" is a detailed, lyrical wedding song that elevates a personal event into a universal celebration of love, beauty, and the fruitful union of man and woman, marking the culmination of his Amoretti sonnets.
Pro stanza summary - https://shaiderenglish.
Prothalamion by Edmund Spenser is a pastoral wedding song celebrating the double marriage of two Somerset sisters, set along the River Thames, where nymphs gather flowers and adorn swans, symbolizing the brides, while Spenser praises their beauty, invokes blessings, and hopes for future prosperity for the couples and England, all under the famous refrain, "Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song".
Key Elements of the Poem:
· Occasion: A "preliminary nuptial song" for the weddings of Elizabeth and Katherine Somerset in 1596.
· Setting: The calm, beautiful banks of the River Thames, a symbol of English prosperity.
· Characters: The poet (Spenser), nymphs (nature spirits), two brides, and their bridegrooms.
· Imagery: Nymphs gathering flowers (violets, lilies, roses) for crowns, two white swans (representing the brides) adorned with garlands, and classical allusions (Jove, Leda).
· Themes: Celebration of marriage, nature's harmony, beauty, purity, and the hope for national prosperity linked to these unions.
· Structure: A conventional marriage song with a recurring refrain.
Summary of Events:
1. Setting the Scene: Spenser describes a beautiful, calm day on the Thames.
2. Nymphs & Flowers: He sees nymphs collecting flowers to make bridal garlands.
3. The Swans: Two beautiful white swans appear, representing the brides, and are adorned with flowers.
4. Blessings: The nymphs lead the swans to their awaiting grooms, and Spenser offers blessings for love and happiness, invoking gods like Cupid and Venus.
5. London & Essex: The scene moves to London, praising the Earl of Essex (whose home is nearby) and connecting the weddings to England's glory.
6. Conclusion: The poet finishes his song, hoping the Thames flows gently until his praise is complete.
Diff & similarity in epi & pro – my notes
Sonnet 34,67,77 –summary – my notes + Spenser's Amoretti Sonnets 34, 67, and 77 depict phases in his courtship: Sonnet 34 shows the beloved's broken promise (a cloudy, disappointing day), Sonnet 67 uses a hunting metaphor (the poet as hunter, the lady as deer, leading to surrender), and Sonnet 77 celebrates the consummation of love, treating it like a delicious, tangible feast for the senses. These sonnets, part of the Amoretti cycle, chronicle the poet's journey from frustration and pursuit to joyful union with his beloved, Elizabeth Boyle, using rich natural and allegorical imagery.
· Theme: Disappointment and betrayal after a beautiful promise.
· Imagery: Compares the beloved to a glorious sun promising a bright day, but clouds (her absence/denial) obscure it, leaving the poet lost and dismayed.
· Key Idea: The poet feels led astray, wandering in darkness despite the expected joy, highlighting the pain of unmet expectations in love.
· Theme: The chase and eventual yielding in love.
· Imagery: A huntsman (poet) pursuing a deer (beloved) through woods, eventually leading to the deer's gentle surrender to the hunter.
· Key Idea: Explores the shift from resistance to willing consent, where the beloved transforms from prey into a gracious companion, symbolizing the power of love and trust.
· Theme: The consummation and sensory experience of fulfilled love.
· Imagery: Love is depicted as a feast, something to be tasted, seen, and enjoyed, transforming abstract feelings into tangible delights.
· Key Idea: The poet elevates love beyond mere feeling, making it a delightful, palpable experience, a joyful reward after the trials of the courtship.
Context within Amoretti
· These sonnets illustrate the progression of Spenser's courtship, moving from the initial tension (34), through the complex dynamics of pursuit (67), to the ultimate joy and fulfillment of love (77).
Block-3 The Metaphysical Poets: Donne, Herbert
· JOHN DONNE: THE MAN AND THE POET N+V
· The Flea
· A VALEDICTION : FORBIDDING MOURNING
· A Nocturnal upon St. Lucies day
· BATTER MY HEART, THREE PERSON'D GOD
· Affection? – from this block
Herbert – notes + videos
The Pulley ,
Redemption
Love III
Andrew Marwel- N+V
The Garden
Horation ode
To his coy misstress
Andrew Marvell's "Horatian Ode" offers a complex, stanza-by-stanza look at Cromwell's return, moving from praising his decisive action in Ireland (subduing the Irish, changing the nation's 'Mold') to reflecting on the execution of Charles I (the 'Royal Actor'), contrasting the fierce conqueror with a tamed, humble figure, and ultimately contemplating the precarious balance of power, warning against ambition while acknowledging Cromwell's powerful, almost divine role in forging a new English state, all framed by Horatian classicism and subtle irony about absolute power.
Here's a stanza-wise breakdown:
· Stanzas 1-2 (The Call to Action): The speaker addresses a "forward youth" (perhaps Cromwell himself) telling them to abandon poetic ease for action, linking ambition to national good, setting the stage for Cromwell's necessary violence.
· Stanzas 3-4 (Cromwell's Power): Describes Cromwell's formidable nature, comparing him to a lightning bolt that splits its own path, showing his power to change the kingdom's "Mold," but hinting at the destructive force needed.
· Stanzas 5-6 (The Irish Campaign): Focuses on the swift, decisive conquest of Ireland, where the tamed Irish confess Cromwell's justice, though the "bloody hands" of soldiers and subtle irony suggest the harshness of war.
· Stanzas 7-8 (The Royal Actor): Shifts to the execution of Charles I, the "Royal Actor" removed from the stage, portraying the tragic removal of the old order.
· Stanzas 9-10 (The Gardener & The Falcon): Cromwell, having finished his work, is shown like a gardener pruning a wild vine (Ireland) or a falconer, still powerful but now resting, presenting his spoils humbly to Parliament, not a king.
· Stanzas 11-12 (The Tamed Republic): Praises Cromwell's modesty and obedience to Parliament, presenting his power for the Republic, yet the "restless" energy remains, hinting at future ambition.
· Stanzas 13-14 (The Caledonian Deer): Looks to the future war with Scotland, the "Caledonian deer," a symbol of the next challenge, where Cromwell's valor will continue to shape destiny.
· Stanzas 15-16 (Ambivalence & Power): Explores the ambiguity of power – is Cromwell guided by fate or driving it? – and compares him to Caesar, acknowledging his creation of a new state but questioning the immense power required and its potential for tyranny.
· Stanzas 17-18 (The Final Paradox): Concludes with Cromwell as a complex figure, both destroyer and preserver, embodying the turbulent transition of England, a force that both acts and knows, forever changing the nation's course.
·
Block-4 Studying Milton
ON THE MORNING OF CHRIST'S NATIVITY – stanza wise summary -https://poemanalysis.com/
John Milton's "On the Morning of Christ's Nativity" is an ode celebrating Christ's birth as a moment of profound cosmic and spiritual transformation, where the infant Christ's divine light eclipses the sun, forcing the shameful pagan gods (Apollo, Pan, etc.) to retreat and ushering in a new era of peace, vanquishing Satan's influence, and uniting Heaven and Earth in worship of the newborn King.
Here's a summary of the poem's key themes and events:
· Introduction: The poem begins by calling upon the muse to sing of the miraculous birth, acknowledging the difficulty of capturing such divine mystery, and setting the scene as Heaven prepares for the arrival of the Messiah.
· Cosmic Reaction: The natural world reacts with awe: the sun feels ashamed of its lesser light, Nature hides her "guilty front" with snow, and the stars remain fixed in wonder, while Peace descends to bring calm.
· Overthrow of Paganism: The arrival of Christ silences and banishes pagan deities like Apollo, Pan, and Moloch, whose temples fall silent as the "Sun of righteousness" rises, signifying a new, true order.
· The Incarnation: Milton depicts the divine Son of God descending from Heaven to become human, taking on mortal flesh to redeem humanity from sin, a humbling act of immense power.
· Return to the Manger: The poem concludes by returning to the humble nativity scene, showing the Virgin Mary with the infant Jesus in the manger, surrounded by shepherds, as the cosmic drama settles into a moment of profound peace and worship.
L’Allegro Tone
.......The tone of the poem is joyful and exuberant.
Figures of Speech – Alliteration Apostrophe Metaphor Onomatopoeia Paradox Personification stanza wise- https://www.enotes.com/topics/
Il Penseroso - https://people.umass.edu/eng2/
· Rejection of Mirth: The poem opens with the speaker banishing "vain deluding Joys," preferring deep thought over lightheartedness.
· Invocation of Melancholy: He invites the goddess Melancholy, daughter of Vesta and Saturn, to be his muse, viewing her not as depression but as a source of profound inspiration.
· Solitary Pleasures: The speaker enjoys solitary activities like late-night study, exploring twilight groves, listening to music, and contemplating epic and tragic poetry.
· Nature's Serenity: He finds beauty in the quiet, somber aspects of nature, such as a rainy evening or a dark, ancient wood, rather than bright, cheerful scenes.
· Pursuit of Wisdom: Through this melancholic contemplation, the speaker aims to achieve a "prophetic strain," seeking deeper truths and heavenly insight.
· Companion to L'Allegro: It presents the contrasting, contemplative lifestyle to the "mirthful man" in L'Allegro, showing two different, equally valid paths to poetic and intellectual fulfillment.
· .The tone of the poem is sober and tranquil.
· Figures of Speech Apostrophe Metaphor Hyperbole Onomatopoeia Irony and Paradox
· https://cummingsstudyguides.
+comparison
Sonnet 19 & 23
Lycidas
Lycidas is John Milton's 1637 pastoral elegy mourning his Cambridge friend, Edward King, who drowned at sea, blending classical pastoral traditions with Christian themes to explore grief, fame, and immortality, ultimately finding hope in resurrection and divine justice, even as it critiques corrupt clergy. The poem uses the shepherd-figure Lycidas to lament King's untimely death, questioning fate before St. Peter appears to condemn unworthy "shepherds" (clergy), leading to a conclusion where Lycidas's soul is received by saints in heaven, promising new life.
Key Aspects of Lycidas
· Pastoral Elegy: Written in the style of classical elegies (like Virgil's), it uses idealized rural settings (shepherds, flowers, streams) to mourn the dead.
· Mourning & Grief: The speaker (Milton) expresses deep sorrow and confusion over the tragic loss of his promising friend.
· Allegory & Symbolism: Lycidas (King), shepherds (poets/clergy), the sea (death), flowers (mourning/resurrection), and the "two-handed engine" (divine judgment) are all symbolic.
· Religious Commentary: St. Peter's appearance introduces a critique of corrupt Church of England clergy, who neglect their flock, contrasting with true Christian faith.
· Immortality & Hope: Despite the tragedy, the poem concludes with a powerful Christian affirmation that Lycidas is not truly dead but reborn in eternal life in heaven.
· Poetry & Fame: Milton reflects on the purpose and power of poetry, suggesting true poetic fame comes from God, not earthly success.
Narrative Flow
1. Grief & Loss: The poem opens with a lament for the dead shepherd Lycidas (King) and the untimely end of his potential as a clergyman.
2. Search for Cause: The speaker questions nature and ancient figures, seeking someone to blame for the tragedy.
3. St. Peter's Sermon: St. Peter arrives to condemn corrupt clergy ("blind mouths") who fail their congregations.
4. Return to Pastoral: The speaker asks nature to provide flowers for Lycidas's "coffin," though he knows he's at sea.
5. Transfiguration: The poem shifts to a vision of Lycidas's immortal soul, entertained by saints in heaven.
6. Hopeful Conclusion: The poem ends with the famous line, "Tomorrow to fresh woods, and pastures new," signifying new beginnings after loss
Block-5 The Neoclassical Poets: Dryden and Pope n+v
Mac Flecknoe”
‘An Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot’
Alexander’s feast/Power of music
Block-6 The Romantic Poets: Blake, Wordsworth & Coleridge
The prelude N, https://www.gradesaver.com/
The Prelude, Book 1 ("Introduction: Childhood and School-Time") introduces William Wordsworth's epic journey of self-discovery, focusing on his formative years in the Lake District, exploring how childhood memories, imaginative play (like skating and stealing a boat), and a deep connection with nature shaped him into the poet he became, contrasting nature's profound influence with the disappointing world of society.
Key Themes & Events in Book 1:
· The Poet's Purpose: Wordsworth sets out to write a poem about the growth of his own mind, seeing life as a journey and reflecting on experiences that forged his poetic identity.
· Childhood in Nature: He vividly recalls idyllic childhood activities—skating on frozen lakes, playing cards, kite flying—all set within the beautiful, powerful landscape of the Lake District.
· The Stolen Boat Incident: A central, formative memory involves him stealing a boat at night; a towering mountain appears, overwhelming him with its presence, instilling fear, and leaving a lasting impression of nature's immense power.
· Nature's Education: The book emphasizes how the natural environment provided a crucial, moral, and spiritual education, contrasting with the artificiality of civilization.
· Poetic Inspiration: Wordsworth considers various grand themes for his poetry but ultimately decides that the everyday experiences and natural beauty of his homeland offer the purest source for his art.
Dejection an ode
Kubla Khan
Songs of Innocence and the Songs of Experience N+V
Block-7 The Second Generation Romantic Poets: Shelley & Keats
- Triumph Of Life https://poemanalysis.com/
percy-bysshe-shelley/the- triumph-of-life/ - in end about emotions section wise summary - https://www.supersummary.com/ the-triumph-of-life/summary/
The Triumph of Life is Percy Bysshe Shelley's unfinished, pessimistic dream-vision poem where Life, personified as a powerful, corrupting force, rides in a triumphal chariot, dragging humanity captive, including historical figures like Dante and Rousseau, who represent corrupted ideals, illustrating how earthly existence ultimately overwhelms spiritual truth and individuality, despite humanity's quest for enlightenment. The narrator, experiencing this vision after encountering a mysterious woman who dispenses forgetfulness, witnesses a procession of figures (like Caesar and Napoleon) losing their essence as Life's overwhelming power sweeps them along, leaving few 'sacred few' to resist.
Key Elements & Summary:
- Dream-Vision Structure: The poem begins with the poet falling into a trance and experiencing a vivid, allegorical dream, similar to Dante's Divine Comedy, notes this analysis.
- The Chariot of Life: A colossal, shadowy chariot, driven by a four-faced figure (representing Time/Change), carries the veiled, indistinct figure of Life, who scatters a drug of forgetfulness, making captives lose their true selves.
- Captives & Figures: Major historical and literary figures (Dante, Rousseau, Caesar, Napoleon) are depicted as prisoners, their worldly achievements rendered meaningless as they are subsumed by Life's procession, highlighting the futility of fame and power, say eNotes.
- Rousseau's Tale: The narrator encounters a tormented Rousseau, who recounts his own vision of Life's chariot, detailing how his philosophical awakening and love for nature were ultimately swept into the overwhelming tide of existence, explains CORE.
- Pessimistic Theme: Life, not love or reason, becomes the ultimate conqueror, obscuring spirit and truth, leading to a tragic vision where individuality dissolves, ending in darkness and decay, write Wikipedia and this analysis.
- Unfinished Work: Shelley died before completing the poem, leaving its profound exploration of existence, truth, and corruption unresolved, notes this Medium article.
Hyperion - http://armytage.net/updata/
John Keats's Hyperion is an unfinished epic poem about the fall of the elder Titans (like Hyperion, god of the sun) to the younger Olympian gods, symbolizing the shift from older, elemental power to a more human, knowledgeable, and beautiful rule (Apollo). It's a lament for lost power, exploring themes of change, loss, decay, and the painful, necessary transition to a higher form of beauty and understanding, framed in myth but reflecting Keats's own struggles with mortality and ideal beauty.
Plot Summary (Fragmentary)
· Book I: Opens with the fallen Titans (like Saturn) in despair, sensing their dethronement. Hyperion, the sun god, is the last hope, but he's also set to fall.
· Book II: A council of Titans gathers; some (like Oceanus) argue for acceptance, while others resist.
· Book III (Incomplete): Focuses on the new god, Apollo, gaining his powers through a transformative encounter with Mnemosyne (Memory), signifying the emergence of poetry and higher consciousness.
Key Themes & Ideas
· Evolution & Progress: The Titans' fall represents a natural, inevitable progression where higher, more beautiful forms (Olympian gods) replace older, lesser ones.
· Loss & Grief: Deeply explores the sorrow of fallen power and the melancholy of change, a reflection of Keats's personal battles with illness (tuberculosis) and mortality.
· Beauty & Knowledge: The poem suggests true beauty and understanding (embodied by Apollo) are born from pain, suffering, and experience, a complex idea Keats revisits in The Fall of Hyperion.
· Unfinished Nature: Keats abandoned it, feeling it had "too many Miltonic inversions," but the themes of loss and the quest for truth resonate powerfully.
https://www.online-literature.
INTRODUCTION TO HYPERION.
This poem deals with the overthrow of the primaeval order of Gods by Jupiter, son of Saturn the old king. There are many versions of the fable in Greek mythology, and there are many sources from which it may have come to Keats. At school he is said to have known the classical dictionary by heart, but his inspiration is more likely to have been due to his later reading of the Elizabethan poets, and their translations of classic story. One thing is certain, that he did not confine himself to any one authority, nor did he consider it necessary to be circumscribed by authorities at all. He used, rather than followed, the Greek fable, dealing freely with it and giving it his own interpretation.
The situation when the poem opens is as follows:--Saturn, king of the gods, has been driven from Olympus down into a deep dell, by his son Jupiter, who has seized and used his father's weapon, the thunderbolt. A similar fate has overtaken nearly all his brethren, who are called by Keats Titans and Giants indiscriminately, though in Greek mythology the two races are quite distinct. These Titans are the children of Tellus and Coelus, the earth and sky, thus representing, as it were, the first birth of form and personality from formless nature. Before the separation of earth and sky, Chaos, a confusion of the elements of all things, had reigned supreme. One only of the Titans, Hyperion the sun-god, still keeps his kingdom, and he is about to be superseded by young Apollo, the god of light and song.
In the second book we hear Oceanus and Clymene his daughter tell how both were defeated not by battle or violence, but by the irresistible beauty of their dispossessors; and from this Oceanus deduces 'the eternal law, that first in beauty should be first in might'. He recalls the fact that Saturn himself was not the first ruler, but received his kingdom from his parents, the earth and sky, and he prophesies that progress will continue in the overthrow of Jove by a yet brighter and better order. Enceladus is, however, furious at what he considers a cowardly acceptance of their fate, and urges his brethren to resist.
In Book I we saw Hyperion, though still a god, distressed by portents, and now in Book III we see the rise to divinity of his successor, the young Apollo. The poem breaks off short at the moment of Apollo's metamorphosis, and how Keats intended to complete it we can never know.
It is certain that he originally meant to write an epic in ten books, and the publisher's remark[245:1] at the beginning of the 1820 volume would lead us to think that he was in the same mind when he wrote the poem. This statement, however, must be altogether discounted, as Keats, in his copy of the poems, crossed it right out and wrote above, 'I had no part in this; I was ill at the time.'
Moreover, the last sentence (from 'but' to 'proceeding') he bracketed, writing below, 'This is a lie.'
This, together with other evidence external and internal, has led Dr. de S�lincourt to the conclusion that Keats had modified his plan and, when he was writing the poem, intended to conclude it in four books. Of the probable contents of the one-and-half unwritten books Mr. de S�lincourt writes: 'I conceive that Apollo, now conscious of his divinity, would have gone to Olympus, heard from the lips of Jove of his newly-acquired supremacy, and been called upon by the rebel three to secure the kingdom that awaited him. He would have gone forth to meet Hyperion, who, struck by the power of supreme beauty, would have found resistance impossible. Critics have inclined to take for granted the supposition that an actual battle was contemplated by Keats, but I do not believe that such was, at least, his final intention. In the first place, he had the example of Milton, whom he was studying very closely, to warn him of its dangers; in the second, if Hyperion had been meant to fight he would hardly be represented as already, before the battle, shorn of much of his strength; thus making the victory of Apollo depend upon his enemy's unnatural weakness and not upon his own strength. One may add that a combat would have been completely alien to the whole idea of the poem as Keats conceived it, and as, in fact, it is universally interpreted from the speech of Oceanus in the second book. The resistance of Enceladus and the Giants, themselves rebels against an order already established, would have been dealt with summarily, and the poem would have closed with a description of the new age which had been inaugurated by the triumph of the Olympians, and, in particular, of Apollo the god of light and song.'
The central idea, then, of the poem is that the new age triumphs over the old by virtue of its acknowledged superiority--that intellectual supremacy makes physical force feel its power and yield. Dignity and moral conquest lies, for the conquered, in the capacity to recognize the truth and look upon the inevitable undismayed.
Keats broke the poem off because it was too 'Miltonic', and it is easy to see what he meant. Not only does the treatment of the subject recall that of Paradise Lost, the council of the fallen gods bearing special resemblance to that of the fallen angels in Book II of Milton's epic, but in its style and syntax the influence of Milton is everywhere apparent. It is to be seen in the restraint and concentration of the language, which is in marked contrast to the wordiness of Keats's early work, as well as in the constant use of classical constructions,[247:1] Miltonic inversions[247:2] and repetitions,[247:3] and in occasional reminiscences of actual lines and phrases in Paradise Lost.[247:4]
In Hyperion we see, too, the influence of the study of Greek sculpture upon Keats's mind and art. This study had taught him that the highest beauty is not incompatible with definiteness of form and clearness of detail. To his romantic appreciation of mystery was now added an equal sense of the importance of simplicity, form, and proportion, these being, from its nature, inevitable characteristics of the art of sculpture. So we see that again and again the figures described in Hyperion are like great statues--clear-cut, massive, and motionless. Such are the pictures of Saturn and Thea in Book I, and of each of the group of Titans at the opening of Book II.
Striking too is Keats's very Greek identification of the gods with the powers of Nature which they represent. It is this attitude of mind which has led some people--Shelley and Landor among them--to declare Keats, in spite of his ignorance of the language, the most truly Greek of all English poets. Very beautiful instances of this are the sunset and sunrise in Book I, when the departure of the sun-god and his return to earth are so described that the pictures we see are of an evening and morning sky, an angry sunset, and a grey and misty dawn.
But neither Miltonic nor Greek is Keats's marvellous treatment of nature as he feels, and makes us feel, the magic of its mystery in such a picture as that of the
Block-8 The Victorian Poets: Browning, D.G. and Christina Rossetti & Oscar Wilde V
The blessed damozel
Goblin market
The ballad of the reading gaol
Sordello at mantua – yt video by englsih classroom, wikipedia Key Themes & Plot Points:
· Identity Crisis: Sordello, a gifted poet from near Mantua, is torn between creating beautiful art and engaging in the brutal world of politics, symbolizing the poet's role in society.
· Dante's Influence: The poem mirrors Dante Alighieri's encounter with Sordello in Purgatorio, where Dante's patriotism for Mantua sparks a famous denunciation of Italy's political chaos.
· Political Turmoil: The narrative is set against the real historical struggle between the Pope-aligned Guelfs and the Emperor-aligned Ghibellines, featuring historical figures like Ecelin da Romano.
· Psychology of Genius: Browning delves into Sordello's deep introspection, exploring how genius can become paralyzed by doubt, leading him to fail to seize crucial moments for good.
· Poet vs. Politician: Sordello constantly debates whether his poetic gifts should serve direct political ends or remain pure, a conflict often symbolized by his love for the noble Palma.
The Core Conflict:
Sordello, orphaned and raised in isolation near Mantua, dreams of greatness but struggles to act decisively, often lost in "epistemological and ontological doubts". He desires to be a great leader but hesitates, ultimately becoming a figure of missed potential, a "god he never could become". Browning uses this historical figure to comment on the need for decisive action and purpose, both in art and life, challenging his Victorian audience.
Block-9 The Modernist Poets N+V
Sailing to Byzantium’.
Easter 1916
lapis lazuli
The Waste Land
Adam’s curse
'No Second Troy'.
Do all past years questions from question papers, blockwise.
Block-10 Some Modernist and Postmodernist Poets: Dylan Thomas, Philip Larkin & Sylvia Plath n+V
Sylvia –
The colossus,
Daddy,
Lady Lazarus,
Purdah,
Ariel,
Pursuit,
The Applicant,
Fever 103
Larkin-
I REMEMBER I REMEMBER
Toads-
Toads Revisited
Mr Bleany
Church Going
The Whitsun Weddings
DYLAN THOMAS
THE FORCE THAT THROUGH THE GREEN FUSE DRIVES THE FLOWER
'AND DEATH SHALL HAVE NO DOMINION'
Poem in October
Fern Hill
A REFUSAL TO MOURN THE DEATH, BY FIRE, OF A CHILD IN LONDON
Blockwise question attempt from old papers
List of all poets and poems – easy to remember
No comments:
Post a Comment