Modernist Movement in Poetry - Research Paper Example

Vicky Shyr E. Smith Eng 251 4/25 Modernist Movement in Poetry Introduction Modernism is a movement which started sometime in the 1800s and got stronger after the First World War (Ramazani, Ellmann, and OClair 17). This movement went on until after the Second World War, and can be felt in several fields of art and literature such as architecture, painting, fiction, music, drama, and even poetry (Ramazani, Ellmann, and OClair 19). However, just like any other movement, it is hard to truly pinpoint the exact start and end of this movements influence (Park 22). Furthermore, what makes the modernist movement, particularly in poetry, harder for students to understand is that the speaker shows uncertainty in his or her own purpose in life, world, and even in expressing his or her own thoughts. In modernist poetry, the speaker struggles with the core question of the “self,” with feelings of estrangement and disconnection from the surroundings, or even from the world in general (Park 23-4). It is then no owner why a reader might feel lost in reading modernist poetry, since the speaker itself seems to feel lost in the poem. Such feelings of estrangement and disconnection are manifested in poems by modernist poets such as T.S. Elliot, T.E. Hulme, and others. For the purpose of a narrower discourse, two modernist poems by these two poets will be mainly explored in this paper --- T.S. Elliots “The Hollow Men” and T.E. Hulmes “Autumn.” This paper will discuss how these two modernist poems embody the characteristics of modernist poetry --- characteristics that arose due to the crucial economic, cultural, social, and historical changes that happened during the 1800s until after the Second World War (Park 32). The great technological advances in engineering, architecture, and transportation; the burst in population that spawned chaos and even massive crowds in public spaces; and even the increase in capitalism and the surge of mass markets that sort of affected each persons sense of individuality all merged together to breed feelings of estrangement and disconnection between the individual and the world he or she lives in (Ramazani, Ellmann, and OClair 23-4). More or less, the modernist movement in general is a reaction to the sense of loss and destruction that an individual has due to the radical changes in the society and the wars (Kuhn 4 & Park 26). It is a form of rebellion against the Victorian era which ideals are more towards pleasing the audience. Modernists poets aim to express their thoughts, good or bad, about the real world (Kuhn 4). Why Elliot and Hulme? Aside from being a form of rebellion towards anything traditional, the modernist movement is also aimed at social change. This may be linked to the idea that “the elements that form the society are what led to the World Wars” (Kuhn 11). It is said that modernism shows how people lost confidence in progress, optimism, and beauty (Ramazani, Ellmann, and OClair 20). In this regard, it is good to explore the works of Elliot and Hulme --- two of the most important names in the modernist movement. They changed Anglo-American poetry due to the belief that traditional themes and forms of poetry can no longer express the realities of the modern world (Donoghue 171 & Kuhn 7). Furthermore, these two poets are among those who are, for the most part, responsible for giving shape and definite character to the modernism that people know today. In their poems and literary criticisms, they are able to link this movement to the issues that are now associated with it, such as “reality versus the abstract, original versus the traditional, democracy versus the elitist, and political involvement versus indifference” (Donoghue 171-2). By analyzing the two poems mentioned above, and contrasting the aesthetic and thematic elements with sociological and historical events, the whole concept of the evolution of poetry from previous movements to modernist can be easily demonstrated. T.S. Elliots “The Hollow Men” This poem, written in 1925, is an eerie recollection of the European wasteland that was caused by the First World War. It also serves as a foreshadowing to the next World War, mass killings, and the spiritual void in man (Hart 175). In the first part of the poem, Elliot presents men as void of humanity, morality, individuality, and even faith. He writes: We are the hollow men... Leaning together Headpiece filled with straw. Alas! Our dried voices, when We whisper together Are quiet and meaningless... Remember us -- if at all -- not as lost Violent souls, but only As the hollow men The stuffed men. (quoted in Donoghue 168) Elliot also presents a sense of exhaustion in the short, somewhat clipped lines as seen above. Yet in some longer lines such as: “Paralysed force, gesture without motion;” (quoted in Donoghue 168), Elliot seems to provide the readers the feelings of a tired man , who, in the midst of exhaustion pushes the remaining bits of energy in him to express even a dim hope of deliverance from his current situation. The poem also takes place in a world of badly disfigured men, making one imagine walking corpses and men lost in such emptiness and sense of alienation. Elliot writes: “Shape without form, shade without colour,” (quoted in Donoghue 168) --- words that somewhat present the concept of detachment from reality and vacuity of the mind. The play of words that depict quiet and meaningless whispers and trying to huddle together all portray feelings of detachment, disillusionment, sadness, and death of the human soul. In the last part of the poem, Elliot compares rituals to useless and demented vacuity. With the general feeling that the poem presents the readers, the nursery rhyme used seems to be perturbing and ominous. One can see how Elliot changed the well-known “mulberry bush” to “prickly pear” as he writes: Here we go round the prickly pear Prickly pear prickly pear Here we go round the prickly pear At five oclock in the morning. (quoted in Donoghue 169) With this play with words, the nursery rhyme suddenly appears to be a primal incantation of death and sterility. Since the “prickly pear” is an American plant, this substitution can be alluded to Elliots own experience in growing up in a society with impaired religious morals and values (Hart 177-8). The poem is generally about internal emptiness in man. This is an emptiness brought about by the specific conditions of the world during Elliots era. In the poem, Elliot seems to be saying that many are afflicted with this emptiness because of the actions of man that are geared towards selfishness, causing them to fail to morally choose good over evil. However, one must also understand that in this poem, a reader must not be horrified by the condition of these emptied souls, but by those that caused it. The heroes in this poem are not those who fail to see the horrifying effects of mans actions, and definitely not those who fail to act against it. The heroes in Elliots poem are those who see the horror in the worlds condition and accept the realities that go with it. In this poem, there is no grandeur specific to the Victorian period. There is also no indifference to what is really happening around. In fact, Elliot effectively presents the gruesome realities of the world without the pompous trimmings that characterize the previous poetry movements. T.E. Hulmes “Autumn” A touch of cold in the Autumn night— I walked abroad, And saw the ruddy moon lean over a hedge Like a red-faced farmer. I did not stop to speak, but nodded, And round about were the wistful stars With white faces like town children. (quoted in Kuhn 14) Hulmes poetry is definitely a striking difference from the traditional. He quotes another English writer, Chestrton, as saying: “the old dealt with the Siege of Troy, the new attempts to express the emotions of a boy fishing” (Kuhn 7). This particular poem begins with the phrase “a touch of,” with an unavoidable interaction that conveys both fallibility and limitation. Hulmes poem does not have any grand characteristic. He writes about the moon as nothing but a highlight to his imperfections. The third line seems to show how he labors fully, with only little time for rest, that he barely has time to “speak with the moon,” thus only nodded to it. Furthermore, there seems to be no good returns for his labor and suffering, because in the last two lines of the poem, Hulme writes that all about him are just the stars. There are no references to beautiful landscapes where on could roll about, no sparkling bodies of water, and no delightful sounds of animals to enjoy (Hart 183). There is even no room for reflection, as the stillness and muteness of the things around him do not communicate with each other, or to him --- something that could have opened an avenue for wisdom. The whole poem seems to say that if there is any goodness left in this place at all, it will be through his toiling on earth. Labor seems to be all there is in the poem (Kuhn 18-9). There is also no grandeur attached to the labor. Actually, the clipped words seems to portray the poets attempt to hold back from imagining things other than presented to him before his eyes. He does not seeks for the comforts of what the “heavens could offer,” but instead allows himself to be satisfied with the earth in his hands (Hart 183-4). It seems that he allows himself to be satisfied with what he has, instead of allowing himself to wonder what other things can b offered “beyond” his current situation. He satisfies himself with the sense of security from the dead weight of his condition instead of going after his romantic inner self. This security, it seems, ensures him that he will not go crazy if he goes after what he wants and fails. This, apparently, is the tragedy of the journey of earthly life (Ramazani, Ellmann, and OClair 36). Conclusion It is said that modern poetry is such that it does not have to transport the audience into an imaginary realm only to return the audience back to the real world, nothing like what is presented in poetry, once the poem ends. Modernist poets like Elliot and Hulme obviously believes that poetry should make the audience feel that they can talk in poetry as well (OHara 523-4). This is what Elliot and Hulme do. They strip away the grandeur of illusion and present the audience of what is real. Realism is one characteristic of the modernist movement in poetry that distinguishes it from all the other movements. This realism allows one to be involved, to be democratic, and to be original (Park 37-8). Involved because it makes one put his or her feet firmly on the ground and not disillusioned by fancy imaginings. Democratic and original because it opens the path for others to see things through their own, realistic eyes, and not just follow what has been traditionally presented to them. The rise of these sentiments is pushed by the drastic changes that occurred during that period. People, more or less, did not like what has become of their world, and has shown rebellion by straying away from the traditional guidelines of poetry (OHara 521). Through the explication of Elliots and Hulmes poems, one can now readily see the differences between the modernist movements and all the previous movements in poetry. And despite the rebellion felt in each piece of poetry, tolerance towards what is original and real was made possible during this period. Works Cited Donoghue, D. “T.S. Eliot and Modernism.” Southern Review Baton Rouge. 37 (2001): 168-173. Print. Hart, Matthew. “Visible Poet: T. S. Eliot and Modernist Studies.” American Literary History. 19.1 (2007): 174-189. Print. Kuhn, Elizabeth. "Toward an Anti-Humanism of Life: the Modernism of Nietzsche, Hulme and Yeats." Journal of Modern Literature. 34.4 (2011): 1-20. Print. OHara, Daniel T. “Recent Yeats Studies.” Journal of Modern Literature. 24 (2001): 518-524. Print. Park, Stephen M. “Mesoamerican Modernism: William Carlos Williams and the Archaeological Imagination.” Journal of Modern Literature. 34.4 (2011): 21-47. Print. Ramazani, Jahan, Richard Ellmann, and Robert OClair. The Norton Anthology of Modern and Contemporary Poetry. New York: W.W. Norton, 2003. Print. (OHara 518-524) Read More