Exploring Modernist Poetry and Its Characteristics
Modernist poetry emerged mainly in Europe and North America between 1890 and 1950, marked by experimentation in form and themes. Modernist poets like T.S. Eliot focused on intellect over emotion, alienation, and isolation. The term "modern" in poetry encompasses various trends like stream of consciousness and free verse. Modernist elements include new modes of expression, complexity, and open-ended themes.
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MODERNIST POETRY: MODERNIST POETRY MODERNIST POETRYREFERS TOPOETRYWRITTEN, MAINLY IN EUROPE AND NORTH AMERICA, BETWEEN 1890 AND 1950 IN THE TRADITION OFMODERNIST LITERATURE, BUT THE DATES OF THE TERM DEPEND UPON A NUMBER OF FACTORS, INCLUDING THE NATION OF ORIGIN, THE PARTICULAR SCHOOL IN QUESTION, AND THE BIASES OF THE CRITIC SETTING THE DATES.
CHARACTERISTICS OF MODERN POETRY: WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF MODERN POETRY? NOT ALL CONTEMPORARY POETRY IS CONSIDERED "MODERN" IN THE SENSE OF THE MODERNIST LITERARY MOVEMENT. THE MODERNIST POETS, SUCH AS T.S. ELIOT, TENDED TO FAVOR INTELLECT OVER EMOTION, AND VALUED THEMES OF ALIENATION AND ISOLATION AS REACTIONS TO THE ROMANTICISM OF THE PREVIOUS ERA OF LITERATURE. FOR CONTEMPORARY POETRY, COMMON TRENDS INCLUDE STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS, FREE VERSE, AND THE PREFERENCE FOR SUGGESTION OR AMBIGUITY OF IDEAS.
THE WORD 'MODERN' AND EVEN 'MODERNISM' ARE VERY VAGUE TERMS WHOSE PRECISE MEANINGS ARE HARD TO PIN DOWN. IN LITERARY CRITICISM, THE 'TREND' CALLED MODERNISM IS ASSOCIATED WITH SEVERAL FEATURES SEEN IN THE LITERATURE OF THE EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY, AFTER THE FIRST WORLD WAR, AND ESPECIALLY AFTER THE PUBLICATION OF ELIOT'S "THE WASTE LAND" IN 1922, UNTILL THE BEGINNING OF ANOTHER EQUALLY VERSATILE MOVEMENT CALLED POST-MODERNISM.
MODERN POETRY IN POETRY, WE CAN DISCUSS THE MODERNIST ELEMENTS IN TERMS OF FOUR MAJOR SUBHEADINGS: MODERN OR NEW EXPERIMENTS IN FORM AND STYLE, NEW THEMES AND WORD-GAMES, NEW MODES OF EXPRESSION, AND COMPLEX AND OPEN-ENDED NATURE OF THEIR THEMES AND MEANING. THE MOST STRIKING ELEMENT OF MODERNIST POETRY IS THE INVENTION AND EXPERIMENTATION OF NEW MODES OF EXPRESSION. MODERNISM INCLUDES THE MANY -ISMS AND THEREFORE MANY DIFFERENT WAYS TO EXPRESS IDEAS AND FEELINGS.
THE DIFFERENT WAYS OF EXPRESSING INCLUDE THE IMAGIST WAY OF PRESENTING JUST CONCRETE IMAGES FOR THE READERS TO UNDERSTAND THE IDEA AND EXPERIENCE THEFEELINGS THEMSELVES; THE SYMBOLIST WAY OF PRESENTING THINGS IN TERMS OF DEEPLY SIGNIFICANT SYMBOLS OF IDEAS AND FEELINGS FOR READERS TO INTERPRET THEM INTELLECTUALLY; THE REALIST WAY OF TRULY REFLECTING THE REALITY OF THE WORLD; THE NATURALIST WAY OF GOING TO THE EXTREME OF REALISM BY SHOWING THE PRIVATE, PSYCHOLOGICAL, FANTASTIC AND THE NEUROTIC; THE IMPRESSIONISTIC WAY OF PRESENTING UNREFINED FIRST IMPRESSION OF EVERYTHING BY THE OBSERVER.
CHARACTERISTICS: ANOTHER IMPORTANT ELEMENT OF MODERNIST POETRY IS THE USE OF NEW AND WIDE RANGE OF SUBJECTS, THEMES AND ISSUES. TRADITIONAL POETRY HAD TO BE LIMITED TO SUBJECTS OF UNIVERSAL SIGNIFICANCE, GENERAL HUMAN APPEAL, AND SO ON, EVEN WHEN THE POEMS WERE ROMANTICALLY PERSONAL ON THEIR SURFACE. BUT IN MODERNIST POETRY, WE READ POEMS ABOUT JUST ANY TOPIC AND THEME. WE FIND POEMS ABOUT NATURE AS WELL AS EATING PLUMS, MYTH AS WELL AS SATIRE OF AN OLD CHRISTIAN WOMAN, SINGLE CHARACTERS AS WELL AS POOR PEOPLE, MEANING OF ART AS WELL AS EROTIC MEMORIES OF A WOMAN, SPIRITUAL CRISIS AS WELL AS GUILT OFABORTION, FEMINIST MOVEMENT AS WELL AS NEUROTIC DESPISE OF A FATHER, ALLEGORY OF LIFE-JOURNEY AS WELL AS THE IRONY OF DEATH, AND SO ON.
EXAMPLES: BESIDES BEING WRITTEN ON A LARGE RANGE OF SUBJECTS AND THEMES, MODERNIST POEMS TEND TO BE MULTIPLE IN THEMES. IT MEANS THAT SOME SINGLE POEMS ARE ABOUT MANY THINGS AT THE SAME TIME. FOR INSTANCE, DYLAN THOMAS S POEM THIS BREAD I BREAK IS AT THESAME TIME ABOUT NATURE, ABOUT SPIRITUALITY, AND ALSO ABOUT ART. THE POEM JELLYFISH IS ALSO ABOUT THE FISH ITSELF, THE NATURE OF HUMAN EMOTIONS AND DESIRES, THE NATURE OF WOMEN, AS WELL AS POETIC EXPRESSION. THE POET NEVER FULLY SAYS, AS IN TRADITIONAL POEMS, WHAT THE ONEAND PRECISE MEANING OF THE POEM IS. THAT IS WHY THE READER HAS TO WORK WITH MANY POSSIBLE THEMES AND MEANINGS IN THE SAME POEM.
MODERN POETS AND THEIR WORKS THE WASTE LAND THE WASTE LAND POET: T.S.ELIOT DATE PUBLISHED: DECEMBER 1922 SIGNIFICANT POEMS: THE WASTE LAND THIS LONG POEM BY AMERICAN BORN BUT BRITISH BASED POET ELIOT WASDEDICATED TO EZRA POUND, WHO CHAMPIONED YOUNG WRITERS AND THEIR MODERN INNOVATIONS OF THE TIME. THE WASTE LAND GIVES A SENSE OF CONFUSION AND DESOLATION, MANY SEEING IT AS A KIND OF BAROMETER OF THE CULTURAL AND SOCIAL CRISES ARISING AFTER THE FIRST WORLD WAR. IT'S NOT AN EASY READ. ELIOT USES MYTHOLOGICAL AND LITERARY FIGURES THROUGHOUT THE FIVE PARTS OF THE POEM AND EVEN RECOMMENDS THE READER TO STUDY TWO BOOKS BEFORE ATTEMPTING TO UNDERSTAND THE POEM AS A WHOLE!
READING THROUGH IT IS A BIT LIKE EXPERIENCING A DREAM OR A NIGHTMARE. THERE ARE VISIONARY ELEMENTS, BIBLICAL AND HINDU REFERENCES, LONDON PUB SCENES, ITALIAN, FRENCH, LATIN REFRAINS, GERMAN QUOTES AND RELIGIOUS UNDERTONES. THE FREE VERSE LENGTHENS AND NARROWS, TWISTS AND TURNS, LIKE A RIVER. THE WASTE LAND IS A JOURNEY INTO THE HUMAN SOUL, BUT BE SURE TO TAKE YOUR STUDY BOOKS WITH YOU! APRIL IS THE CRUELLESTMONTH,BREEDING LILACS OUT OF THE DEAD LAND,MIXING MEMORY AND DESIRE, STIRRING DULL ROOTS WITH SPRING RAIN. THE WASTE LAND
ANOTHER TIME: POET: W.H. AUDEN DATE PUBLISHED: 1940 SIGNIFICANT POEMS: REFUGEE BLUES, MUSEEDES BEAUX ARTS, FUNERAL BLUES, THE UNKNOWN CITIZEN, SEPTEMBER 1, 1939. ANOTHER TIME WAS PUBLISHED DURING WORLD WAR II, A TIME OF ENORMOUS TENSION AND DISRUPTION. AUDEN HAD ALREADY EXPERIENCED THE HORRORS OF WAR WHEN OBSERVING THE CIVIL WAR IN SPAIN IN 1936 AND SOME OF HIS POEMS IN THIS VOLUME REFLECT THE ANXIETY AND TURMOIL CAUSED BY SUCH ACTIONS. REACTION TO POLITICAL CHANGE AND THE HUMAN CONDITION ARE MAJOR THEMES FOR AUDEN.
