Romantic poetry started during the Victorian period and was characterized by a more plain language than previously, though still more formal and flowery than in twentieth century poetry. It was more conversational and emphasized high ideals. The poetry choose country over city and tried to reconcile animals and humans. It usually contained some spiritual element, but did not necessarily preach. (Longenbach 1997 pp. 3-22) The form generally used a regular rhyme and meter pattern, though some of Hopkins’ work was rejected, because he used new and innovative forms, such as Spring Rhythm, which he, himself, described as scanning by accents or stresses alone. (Hopkins 2007) He was contemporary with the so-named Romantic Poets, but his style varied and was quite innovative, considered unacceptable for his time. Publishers refused much of his work. However, Hopkins could, and did, write in the Keatsian romantic style. He was deeply religious, but felt isolated and shunned by God, and much of his small body of work reflects his despair of ever being united with God.
Keats was a major romantic poet, though life was cut short by tuberculosis. He was born into the middle class, as his father was a barman. He was apprenticed as an apothecary, but eventually turned to poetry. Like Hopkins, he was never accepted during his life, but he was a tremendous influence on poets of his day. Keats was fond of the long narrative poem and often stayed with Homeric topics of ancient Romans and Greeks. Endymion is a long poem of an idyllic love story, and was badly received by critics. (Coven 2010)
In the twentieth century poetry underwent massive changes. New poets experimented with rhyme and meter, often eliminating these entirely, and they looked to anything for inspiration. Poets like Eliot made much more use of concrete imagery and wrote about some of the most mundane topics. While romantic poetry concentrated upon the topics of love, especially godly love, religious faith, the sublime and the beauties of nature, twentieth century poetry was often concerned with the state of man and society, even politics.
I am constantly confused by the labels attached to periods and types of poets, but I have defined romanticism as the period within the Victorian era when poets moved from the extremely formal and religious to more informal and somewhat “protestant” subjects. The labels sometimes call the romantics modernist, but William Butler Yeats was actually both a romantic and a modernist poet. He began with using the usual conventions of romantic verse, familiar rhyme schemes, metric patterns, and structures. His poetry then evolved as he became interested in mysticism and the occult. He used his poetry to examine spiritually and philosophy, both very complex subjects. He concentrated upon Irish subjects and became closely connected to nationalist politics. So his focus changed from myth and folklore to contemporary politics, and he even began to experiment with some of the styles and conventions of the modernist poets. He always worked to perfect his style. (Ellman 1948 p. 141) He did not limit his writing to the sublime and the beautiful, but played with form and allowed subjects to be no necessarily “uplifting”, but often dark and morose. Though none of these alone would classify Yeats as a modernist poet, and he did retain much of his earlier verse style, Yeats bridged the gap between romantic and modern.
Dylan Thomas was born solidly into the twentieth century and his poetry reflects the modern style. His most well-known poem, “Do Not Go Gently into That Good Night”, is one of the many poems in which he disciplined himself to a very formal style, in this case, the villanelle. However, the content is anything but romantic. He is vexing his anger and despair that his father does not fight for life after a long illness. Thomas, like many poets, did not have a “happy” life. In fact, he is reputed to have drank himself to death in New York. (Dylan Thomas 2008) It is sad that he did not write more, because he was gifted with a poet’s ability to touch below the surface and find a response in the reader.
Thomas uses a very difficult and demanding form while urging his subject to break with expectation and rage at the dying of the light (death). This poem is very personal and yet quite universal in its appeal, since losing loved ones to death is inescapable. Earlier poetry had content which communicated feelings, but not with this kind of power. The poem has moved from music to dance, passive to active, harmony to percussion. Thomas consistently used this kind of communication with the reader, painting an emotional picture and then letting the image carry the message. His words are sparse, just as most of the other poets of the same period. They are compacted by using imagery to carry the greater part of the emotional load. Many of the poems communicate on such a level as to defy total analysis, because words alone cannot communicate as well.
Thomas’s subjects were anything but romantic in style as he wrote about death, biology and human frailty. However, his use of imagery makes him definitely a modern poet of the twentieth century, and concrete imagery is a mark of the new style. T.S. Eliot in many ways is the absolute symbol of modern twentieth century poetry. He broke with traditional subjects and wrote with concrete images which were loaded with symbolism. The Hollow Men is, for me, the most memorable. At every reading there is something new in the beautifully woven tapestry of symbols.
The poetry of the romantic period is, for most, more difficult to read, and a little less satisfying, because it just does not have the power of modern poetry. It is well thought out, carefully patterned and the message is delivered with wonderfully descriptive words, but concrete images are few. I think the freedom of form and the use of concrete imagery are what really separates romance from modern poetry. It is the difference between a description of how the narrator felt when bruised and a slap. Modern poetry has lost none of the beauty of romantic poetry, but it sings to a wider audience. It is no longer addressed to the elite, but to the common man who often can read as well as the educated rich. However, the words chosen are more direct, more often found in every day speech and the arrangement is left up to the poet. I remember hearing that content dictates form, and I believe it does. Poetry was becoming more popular, accessible to everyone and the poet recognized that his audience had expanded considerably. Reading poetry was not the privilege of the leisure class, but the entertainment during leisure of the middle working class.
Another interesting poem from this period is Eliot’s The LoveSong of J. Alfred Prufrock. I have read this poem many times and never fail to enjoy it, but it has mysteries which amaze. How Eliot uses imagery here is just wonderful, even though a little macabre. It is the stream of consciousness of a rather displaced ego. Eliot’s hero is invisible in the world, or maybe his exploits were. Whatever the case, we are peering within the mind of a man who felt totally ineffectual, totally without control or power in this life, an observer. This is most modern in its style, since the words are not the primary method of communication. It is the reaction to the images created by the words which affects the audience. The words are used like paintbrushes, and we simply bathe in them emotionally and understand.
From the descriptions and my reactions I believe I prefer modern poetry. I find it more pleasing and it creates more of an experience for me. Romantic poetry, even beautifully written, is much more intellectual and just does not produce the very satisfying thrill of the “ah” moment for me. Yet, modern poetry not only produces that moment, but it does so over and over again. So it is more like living a poem with the poet and enjoying the ride than listening to the poet tell me about what he or she feels or what I should feel. I think modern poetry is the true maturation of this art and brings it as close to visual art and music as is possible. Romantic poets are nice for study and intellectually pleasing, but modern poetry is an emotional experience. Just the very thought of some lines, such as the beginning lines of “Do Not Go Gently Into the Good Night”, or the ending of “The Hollow Men” will actually evoke a response as if I were listening to the entire work over again.
Works Cited
Coven, Sydney. 2010. John Keats, His Life, Poetry, His Friends, Critics and After-Fame. 1917. English History Net on line. Web.
“Dylan Thomas.” The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. Web.
Ellman, Richard. 1948. Yeats: the Man and the Masks. p 141
Hopkins, Gerard Manly. 2007. Spring Rhythm. Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry and Drama. ed. DiYanni, Robert. McGraw-Hill. New York. New York. p 2205.
Longenbach, James. Modern Poetry after Modernism. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. Pp 3-22.