William Ernest Henley's Exclusion from the Literary Canon - Research Paper Example

William Ernest Henleys exclusion from the Literary Canon William Ernest Henley (1849-1903) is one of the distinguished poets and critics of later part of nineteenth century, who has left indelible imprints of his literary talent on English Literature through his dexterous critical analysis and wonderful creative writing. His remarkable poem Invictus is considered to be one of the masterpieces of his era. He also created several other poetic works, which endorse the mastery of his diction and command over expressing his imaginative ideas in a powerful manner. Somehow, Henley is aptly viewed as rebel of the traditions and norms being observed by his contemporaries while writing the poesy. The critics do not include Henley him in the literary period to which he belongs to due to the very reality that he does not appear to be following the mannerism and literary canons prevailing during the later half of nineteenth century. One of the most prominent literary canons of Henley’s time included the length of the poems. Nineteenth century poetry, particularly during so called ‘Naughty 1890s’ the poets created comparatively long poems. Robert Browning, Alfred Tennyson and others created very long poems on one single topic, reading of which required plenty of time. On the contrary, Henley’s poems are far shorter in length and precise in diction, where the poet describes his feelings in few lines only. Browning’s famous dramatic monologues including Fra Lippo Lippi, Priest orders his Tomb, My Last Duchess and others serve as short story, in which the entire scenario and natural and social environment is portrayed along with highlighting the emotions, sentiments and feelings of the speaker and listeners. Similarly, Tennyson’s poems Break, break, break, In Memoriam and others consist of several lines and stanzas. However, Henley confines his poetry to few lines only, and concentrates upon delivering his message within few lines. The same literary trait was followed by the American poets of modern and post modern literary eras. The first thing that might surprise us about the history of American literary canon is the fact that it is comparatively short, as Richard Ruland and Malcolm Bradbury stress, the pre-existence of America as a speculative terra incognita in the European imagination. (1997 [1991]: 20). Similarly, the poetry and prose created during that era frequently points out towards the social evils existing in the social environment of the contemporary poets and writers. It is therefore D. H. Lawrence, Oscar Wilde, Francis Thompson, Amy Levi, Mathew Arnold and many other authors detected and censured these evils all around them. The poetry created by Arnold depicts the state of emotional isolation the poet underwent under the industrial society of England. Similarly, the works produced by John Ruskin were Gothic in nature; while Oscar Wilde penned down social problems faced by the people of that era, and D. H. Lawrence contributed to the romanticism while producing his work. On the other hand, Henley remained either confined to elaborating the thoughtfulness that may provide the message of bravery and courage at the moment when morale is at its lowest ebb, or he expressed his spiritual imagination through his literary talent. This significant characteristic of his poetry can be defined in his illustrious Invictus and other poems. Created in the memory of Robert Thomas Hamilton Bruce in 1875, the poem gives the message of courage, optimism, hope and passion for dealing even with the most unfavorable circumstances instead of surrendering before the hurdles and obstacles that appear on the way to the progress of the individuals. Henley has applied the forms of quatrain or four line stanzas, and the pattern and theme of the poem has been adopted by the future poets and writers at continental level, where these poets declared Invictus as the powerful source of inspiration for them. He does not claim to be having faith in some specific Deity; however, he maintains unflinching belief in his ‘unconquerable soul.’ Thus, he revolted the classical traditions, where the poets used to cite Biblical teachings and tales in their poetry, and the Romantic school of thought used to invoke and refer to the seven muses and Greek gods and goddesses while creating the verses. Similarly, the Victorian poets kept in view the moral values and ethics according to the Christian morality, and reiterate the strict and unconditional observing of the same through their works. Somehow, Henley aims to communicate the message of self-reliance, spiritual uplift and confidence over oneself in order to defeat even the most unfavorable state of affairs. The most important and obvious characteristic of Victorian Poetry was the use of sensory elements. Most of Victorian Poets used imagery and the senses to convey the scenes of struggles between Religion and Science, and ideas about Nature and Romance, which transport the readers into the minds and hearts of the people of the Victorian age, even today. Lord Alfred Tennyson lives up to this expected characteristic in most of his works. (Victorian-Era Poetry) Unlike the traditional fears, expressed by the poets, Henley urges for standing dauntless on the face of hardships. Keats’s “When I Have Fears” laments upon his illness and expected demise at the prime of his youth, where he thinks that he would never live to trace the shadows of various beautiful creatures ‘with magic hand of chance’, as he is going to expire soon. On the contrary, Henley appears to be as solid as rock in the face of hardships, and does not look ready to surrender before them even after the amputation of one of his leg. Thus, instead of declaring it as the decision of the destiny, Henley is ambitious to explore the way to defeat the possible disaster under the chariot wheels of his unabated determination. The same kind of courage was displayed by 19th century poetess Emily Bronte in her ‘No Coward Soul is mine.’ However, she directly seeks the support from Almighty God, the Lord, at her death door; as she says that a Day would arrive when every living object including earth and humans, and sun and universe will cease to exist, but God name will remain alive forever, Who is actually the Creator of each and every object of the entire universe. On the other hand, Henley simply relies on his soul and spirit to eliminate all obstacles on his way to success, though he does not negate the existence and omnipotence of the Lord. Somehow, the poem remained under strong criticism for not fulfilling the criteria established and determined by the critics for creating a literary piece, as Henley expresses his feelings and imagination in an extremely precise and straightforward manner, which was not the tradition of his predecessors in poetry at all. The same simplicity of diction could be explored in his Bring Her Again, O Western Wind, in which the poet simply seeks the support of the west wind for bringing her beloved back without mentioning the circumstances that paved the way towards his separation from his beloved. The poem is also unable to elaborate whether the beloved has left him in the lurch or his own fault deprived him of his beloved. Furthermore, the poet has also not cited whether the beloved has breathed her last and has departed to the eternal world, or she is still alive and the support of the western wind is required for conveying the poet’s message to her. Since such type of simple and artless diction has never been the tradition of the poets of his era, Henley is frequently excluded from the poets representing his contemporary times. His Double Ballad of Life and Death also points out towards plainness of the style he adopts while creating the poetry, where he ridicules on the typical duties taken by the communities, as the ‘moralists scourge and drill, and preachers prose, and faint-hearts quail.’ Everything is being done under the orders decreed from the high heaven, and man’s life is mere a dance being performed according to the instructions issued by the ‘fate’s fiddler,’ which is regulating all activities of human beings at large. Thus the ray of romanticism seldom appears in Henley’s verse at large. Another significant poetic tradition Henley has revolted includes absence of his affiliation with the classical school of thought. The Classical school used to stick to producing either the epic poems or the Biblical themes as the subject matter of their poetry. Somehow, Henley appears to be establishing his own set of goal while creating the verses. His “Easy is the Triolet” also gives the message of having high hopes and making struggle in order to achieve the destination in life. Thus, he looks isolating himself from all schools of thought, pattern of any of which could be adopted for earning recognition. Additionally, the authors including Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, George Eliot and others recommended and supported reforms being introduced in the 19th century England. Moreover, the poets also condemned conflicts and wars on the one hand, and created patriotic verses on the other. However, Henley refused to submit to the romantic patterns of poetry being created by his contemporaries including W. B. Yeats and Browning on the one hand, and the discussing of social problems or cultural discrimination highlighted by James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, Annie Walker and others. Consequently, he experienced exclusion from his contemporary school provided he did not imitate any of the literary patterns prevailing in the England of his times. Works Cited Bronte, Emily. “No Coward Soul is mine” 1848 Retrieved from http://www.online-literature.com/bronte/1352/ McCooey, David. “Poetry and Public Speech: Three Traces.” 2006 Retrieved from http://www.nla.gov.au/openpublish/index.php/jasal/article/viewFile/9.4/1651 Victorian Era Poetry Retrieved from http://www.victorian-era.org/victorian-era-poetry-characteristics.html Read More