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2 Poetic Plethora An Annotated Anthology of Select Victorian and Modern Poems i

3 Publishing-in-support-of, EDUCREATION PUBLISHING RZ 94, Sector - 6, Dwarka, New Delhi Shubham Vihar, Mangla, Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh Website: Copyright Nilanko Mallik, 2018 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, magnetic, optical, chemical, manual, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written consent of the editor. ISBN: Price: ` The opinions/ contents expressed in this book are solely of the authors and do not represent the opinions/ standings/ thoughts of Educreation or the editor. This book is for educational and research purposes. The authors and the editor has taken all reasonable care to ensure that the contents of the book do not violate any copyright or other intellectual property rights. In the unlikely event that the authors and/or editor has not been able to acknowledge any source, and if any copyright has been inadvertently infringed, please notify the editor in writing, so that corrections can be carried out in future editions. Printed in India ii

4 Poetic Plethora An Annotated Anthology of Select Victorian and Modern Poems Compiled and Edited by Dr. Nilanko Mallik MA, PhD (AM), TESOL (ASU) EDUCREATION PUBLISHING (Since 2011) iii

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6 Contents Sr. Title Page i Preface vii ii Acknowledgements ix 1. Ulysses Tennyson 1 a. Structural Pattern of Ulysses 13 b. Critical Analysis of Ulysses 14 c. Idea of Self-Projection in Tennyson s Ulysses Koushik Dey d. Ulysses as a Dramatic Monologue Tanusree Roy 2. Porphyria s Lover Robert Browning 29 a. A Psychoanalytic Study of Robert Browning s Porphyria s Lover Ankita Pandey b. Necromance in Browning s Porphyria s Lover: A Study in Abnormal Psychology Pritesh Chakraborty 3. The Last Ride Together Robert Browning My Last Duchess Robert Browning 51 a. Does the Duke in Robert Browning s Poem My Last Duchess inadvertently betray his own self? Subrata Ray 5. Strange Meeting Wilfred Owen Spring Offensive Wilfred Owen 64 a. Owen and War: Reading Strange Meeting and Spring Offensive Shruti Roy Chakraborti 7. Lake Isle of Innisfree W.B. Yeats 73 a. A stylistic Analysis of Lake Isle of Innisfree v

7 Anuradha Dosad 8. Preludes T.S. Eliot 78 a. Eliot s Use of Imagery in Preludes Sunayan Mukherjee 9. The Waste Land T.S. Eliot 90 a. Broken Images: T.S. Eliot s The Waste Land and the Inevitably Fragmentary Experience of Modernity Aaron Edwards b. In the Gloom of Spiritual Sterility What are the roots that clutch in T.S. Eliot s The Waste Land? Subrata Ray References 161 vi

8 Preface This book has come into existence out of the need of students who need a comprehensive understanding of the poems which are generally studied in English courses at undergraduate or post graduate levels, particularly the Victorian and the Modern ages. While there abound a lot of good books on the poems of the preceding ages, there is not much available for Victorian and Modern age, when it comes to academic study. Even if there exists a good collection, there is hardly any annotation. This book brings some of the representative poets of the Victorian and Modern times. This does not go to say that the other poets are less important. This selection offers poems which are academically studied, and studying which, the students would gain a comprehensive understanding of the ages which the poems belong to. This book unites scholars of different institutions, most of whom have previously worked with me in bringing out another book, a collection of articles, titled, Through the Literary Glass (Educreation, 2017). This book was originally conceived to be of the same pattern as the work stated above, but after seeing the depth of insight in the articles, I deemed it necessary to include the text of the poems, and began the cumbersome task of adding annotations to each text, to do justice to the articles which I received, and which have been printed in the following pages. vii

9 In bringing out the annotations, a lot of time was taken, and what was scheduled to come out in 2017 has come out in 2018, but I think it is safe to say that a good read is worth a little wait. I hope this book will be well-received, so that future works of such kind can follow. Nilanko Mallik Kolkata, viii

10 Acknowledgements I wish to thank all those who have contributed by submitting their invaluable articles, and for waiting patiently even though I took longer than the stipulated time to complete the annotations. I would like to thank Educreation for their wonderful support through all the stages of publication, and for their prompt service. All references to the Bible are from the English Standard Version (ESV), unless otherwise specified. Translations from other languages are mine, unless otherwise listed. All citations have been duly credited in the articles and in the reference section. If any source has been unintentionally left unacknowledged, I would appreciate if I were to be notified in (mentioned in the back cover), so that corrections can be done in future editions of the book. ix

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12 Ulysses Ulysses 1 - Alfred Tennyson It little profits that an idle king, 2 By this still hearth, 3 among these barren crags, 4 Match d with an aged wife, 5 I mete and dole 6 1 The title of the poem is an allusion to the classical hero Ulysses (in Latin and Odysseus in Greek). The Odyssey, sequel to the Iliad, recounts his part in the battle of Troy and of his adventures while returning. He was cursed to roam for a long time before seeing his home, and so, his name became a metonymy for a hero as well as a wanderer. 2 Ulysses was the King of Ithaca. 3 There is no reason for a hearth in the Greek times, and it is anachronistic. This is more of an English image, that of a family seated comfortably by the fireside, getting warmth from the cold English climate. Right from the start, we find Tennyson Anglicising the Greek hero. Moreover, still hearth is an oxymoron. A hearth (fireside) cannot be still, when there is fire. The word still is therefore, symbolic, and stands in opposition to the life of warfare. Tennyson suggests that Ulysses is now back in his homeland, and leads a calm and quiet life, which he says profits little as he clearly dislikes being idle. 4 Crag is a rocky outcrop (a piece of land that stands out into the water from the land). Barren means of poor fertility. The image is of a rugged area. As we have seen the mindset of Ulysses, we may safely say that the barrenness is also the lack of creative output in his life in Ithaca, particularly after the adventures abroad. 5 Penelope was the wife of Ulysses. 6 mete and dole i.e., to allot and distribute 1

13 Poetic Plethora Nilanko Mallik Unequal laws unto a savage race, 7 That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me. 8 5 I cannot rest from travel: 9 I will drink 7 The retrospective quality of Ulysses is admirable he clearly understands he is not able to make neutral judgement. However, as the land is savage, it somehow fits that there is inequality. This mindset of Ulysses again makes him differ from the classical hero that Homer presented him to be. Homer s Ulysses is a cunning planner (he came up with the idea of hiding inside the wooden horse, after all) and in his (mis)adventures, he never abandons his crew and men. He rescues them (as many as he can), though the numbers keep dwindling with each incident. The Greek Odysseus cares for his people; Tennyson s Ulysses longs to abandon his kingdom, family and men, and go on a voyage again. 8 Tennyson clearly presents the people of Ithaca to be a savage race which believes in looting and merry-making, without understanding or trying to understand the mind of the leader. Ulysses by his travels abroad has become an intellectual, and is not able to relate to them. Although he says that they are not able to understand him, it is actually he who has become distant; he no longer understands their motives for the savage behaviour of hoarding, sleeping and feeding. There is also a Biblical allusion here, that of the people giving honour to God in their mouths, but not really understanding him, as per the words of the prophets. The most famous of such lines is spoken by Isaiah, this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me (Isaiah 29:13). The expression know not instead of not not know is also a Biblical influence. The words of Jesus on the cross, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do (Luke 23:34). 9 These lines have become quite famous, and it springs the debate about whether or not this is a dramatic monologue. In a dramatic monologue, the persona speaks to a silent listener or listeners, and that seems to be the case here. However, it can also be argued that these are his musings he is merely thinking. 2

14 Life to the lees: 10 All times I have enjoy d Greatly, have suffer d greatly, 11 both with those That loved me, and alone, on shore, and when Thro scudding drifts the rainy Hyades Vext the dim sea: I am become a name; 13 For always roaming with a hungry heart Much have I seen and known; cities of men And manners, climates, councils, governments, 3 Ulysses 10 This is a metaphor. The comparison is with someone who raises a toast to drink on some occasion. Lees are the sedimentary deposits after the fermentation of alcoholic drinks. In earlier days, there was no modern way of keeping out the sediments and offering only the liquid. The liquid, along with the sediments, were poured into the glass, and the sediments would deposit in the bottom. Ulysses says he will drink his glass of wine to the last drop, to the very dregs. While drinking, he will offer a toast to life, i.e., to adventure and activity. This brings out the spirit of the Victorian age, where the zeal of knowledge, spurred by Darwin s theories of evolution, made the Victorians thirst for more. Ulysses, in that sense, represents the spirit of the Victorian age, which does not believe in slumber. However, as we will see later, Tennyson does not make his Ulysses blindly reject traditional beliefs, which many Victorians were doing. The lines also become personal for the poet. This poem was written closely after the death of Tennyson s friend Arthur Henry Hallam. The death of Hallam had made Tennyson plunge into grief for years, giving us In Memoriam. This poem was written when Tennyson was writing the many poems of In Memoriam, and the note of embracing life (by coming out of a negative state of mind) is comparable to Tennyson deciding that he will live on and embrace life once more. 11 It must not go unobserved that Ulysses embraces not just the enjoyable moments, but also the moments of suffering. He has lived both types of experiences from his heart. 12 This constellation was supposed to relate to rain. 13 See footnote on the title of the poem.

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Sample Copy Not. For Distribution. Practical Manual of Reiki Second Degree i Publishing-in-support-of, EDUCREATION PUBLISHING RZ 94, Sector - 6, Dwarka, New Delhi - 110075 Shubham Vihar, Mangla, Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh - 495001 Website: