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Modernism in poetry an essay
Modernist elements
The impact of modernism
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As one single poem can intrigue the everyday college student, one can imagine the obsessive nature that one poem can have on the mind. The poem, circulating, round and round in the mind, leaving one to ponder the day away all because one poem, as one can be left questioning, such as in "Prayer" by Galway Kinnell. However, even if someone were to be obsessed with one poem, there are ones who are intrigued by not just one, but two, maybe dozens of poems, all by the same author that had them intrigued since the first poem looming in their head. Nevertheless, as one may ponder across an entire work of a single author, this pondering may lead to one who is passionate about the entire work of an author to publish articles about someone and their work respectively. In the article, "Galway Kinnell: Transfigured Dread," by Edward Hirsch, the pondering over the entire works of Galway Kinnel are discussed in great detail.
Society, for centuries, has revered poetry for its beauty, philosophy, and unique capability to reveal truth to the individual. One of the most prominent time periods that display society’s acclaim for poetry was within the Romantic period. Romanticism, according to the New World Encyclopedia, was “an artistic and intellectual movement that ran from the late eighteenth century through the nineteenth century. It stressed strong emotion as a source of aesthetic experience” (New World Encyclopedia, 2015). Romanticism glorified art, poetry, music, and nature.
During the Modernist movement, many writers were inspired to express their thoughts on events that occured at the time. Their thoughts were expressed in various forms; some being through novels, and others through “literary critiques”, as a way to portray their perspective on the movement. Modern texts include: F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, J.D Salinger’s The Catcher In The Rye, and S. Irenaeus’ The Critique of Modernism. Though all these authors took different approaches in portraying their views, they all managed to shares common themes; one prevalent theme being the rejection of the past.
S. Eliot’s title “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock ironic is that the woman he speaks of never responds to him anywhere in the poem. This makes it to be the realization of Alfred Prufrock’s loveless life. The failure and breakdown of communication from the other side tell about one aspect, which is the symbol of isolation among humans. The beginning of the poem seems like the speaker is talking to a woman whom he loves. It then turns out to be ironic and against normal expectations of the readers because there is the anticipation of something special to be spoken from the other party as well.
Written poetry is seen as more universal than personal as the reader, instead of the
The love song is actually a poem, but one of the meanings of love song, is a poem. This poem is assumed to be directed towards a lover of Prufrock’s, but throughout the story Prufrock seems to be facing dilemmas and indecision when having to choose the things to do and say to his lover. Elliot starts his love song off in a very mysterious manner, beckoning for his lover to join him and take a trip, but not the ordinary romantic
How to Live According to Irving Singer Throughout Irving Singer acclaimed trilogy, The Nature of Love, the viewer can observe how he unveils rich insight into fundamental aspects of human relationships through literature, the complexities of our being, and the history of ideas. In his sequel, The Pursuit of Love, Singer approaches love from a distinct standpoint; he reveals his collection of extended essays where he presents psychological and philosophical theories of his own. The audience can examine how he displays love as he systematically maps the facets of religion, sexual desire, love from a parent, family member, child or friend. Irving explores the distinction between wanting to be loved and wanting to love another, which ultimately originates from the moment an individual is born.
Although both “Araby” and “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” are narratives revolving around the characters’ unrequited love, there are more differences than similarities in the boy and Prufrock’s love style. Apart from the obvious difference in the characters’ age, the enthusiasm level and the activeness in action are also noticeably different. James Joyce’s short story, “Araby”, is about a boy’s puppy love on his friend’s sister. The boy expresses his love in various ways. In his excessive flow of emotions, he uses a simile and poetically states, “my body was like a harp and her words and gestures were like fingers running upon the wires” (2169).
Do we really love what we do? In the article “In the Name of Love,” Miya Tokumitsu covers the issue that doing what you love (DWYL) gives false hope to the working class. Tokumitsu reviews how those who are given jobs ultimately cannot truly love what they do because of the employers who make jobs possible. These same employers keep their employees overlooked.
In T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” I believe Prufrock’s overwhelming question is a marriage proposal because of the severity of his indecisiveness and inner debate of whether or not to ask it. I also believe he does not ask this question because he is in self-denial of his indecisiveness, old, afraid of rejection, and wants to be sure of her answer before he asks the question. Prufrock does not reference marriage in this poem while determining whether or not to court the woman and ask the overwhelming question, so it is unclear if he means to ask the woman he is in love with to marry him or to go out with him. However, due to the severity of his indecisiveness and his constant excuses as discussed, I believe Prufrock treats the overwhelming question with high importance because of its risk. This high risk and importance are logical because if the question is a proposal, then the answer is serious and has the potential to be life-changing.
Eliot uses tradition and personal innovation, combined with the revitalization of the twentieth-century British poetry, which leads to poems full of vitality. Based on the poem “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” this paper explores the poet 's exploration and innovation in the aspects of poetic skills and content. The early works of Eliot are in a low tone, and he often uses association, metaphor, and suggestion to express modern people 's depression. The famous poem “The love song of J. Alfred Prufrock" uses the inner monolog of the protagonist’s desire to love and fear of the contradictory attitude of love to illustrate modern emptiness and cowardice. From the content, the reader gradually learns the poem is about a middle-aged man.
For instance, he writes “And would it have been worth it, after all, / After the cups, the marmalade, the tea, / Among the porcelain, among some talk of you and me, / Would it have been worth while, / To have bitten off the matter with a smile, / To have squeezed the universe into a ball / To roll it toward some overwhelming question” (“Prufrock” 87-93). This vivid imagery shows how he compares taking on some overwhelming question to squeezing the universe into a ball; this is virtually impossible, so Prufrock is very intimidated by confronting people in society, specifically women. He believes that it wasn’t worth it and convinces himself it was a good idea that he didn’t risk anything for this woman. The fragmentation in
Modernist poetry refers to poetry written, mainly in Europe and North America, between 1890 and 1950 in the tradition of modernist literature. It is characterized by a self-conscious break with traditional styles of poetry and verse. Modernists experimented with literary expression and form, stick to Ezra Pound 's maxim to “Make it new”. This paper examines different methods that Ezra Pound used to break the boundaries of traditional poetry and the techniques he used to pave the way for later poets. To
The purpose of this essay is to investigate the Modernism in English literature especially in The Translator (a novel written by Leila Aboulela). Modernist literature is a major English genre of fiction writing, popular from the 1910s into the 1960s. After the end of the reign of Queen Victoria in 1901, the industrialization and globalization are increasing. New technology and the horrifying events of both World Wars (but specifically World War I and atomic bomb) made many people question the future of humanity: What was becoming of the world? Was the old world end?
Modern poetry is in open form and free verse. It is pessimistic in tone, portraying loss in faith and psychological struggle which is quite different from the fixed forms and meters of traditional poetry. Secondly, modern poetry is fragmented in nature, containing juxtaposition, inter-textuality and allusion. It has no proper beginning, middle or end. Thirdly, modern poetry is predominantly intellectual in its appeal, rather than emotive.