Poetic Language in Transition: A Comparative Study of Late Victorian and Early Modernist Poets

Author(s): Aanchal Mohnani and Dr. Anil Adagale

Abstract:

English poetry underwent a profound transformation in linguistic form and thematic substance as it moved from the late Victorian period into early Modernism. This study offers a detailed comparative examination of five central poets: Alfred Lord Tennyson and Robert Browning from the Victorian tradition, and Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot, and Thomas Hardy as figures who bridge or embody the Modernist turn. The analysis unfolds against a backdrop of sweeping historical forces, including the rise of industrial machinery that reshaped daily existence, Charles Darwin's theories that unsettled long-held religious convictions, the strains of imperial expansion followed by its erosion, the devastation wrought by the First World War, the growth of sprawling cities that isolated individuals, and new understandings of the human mind drawn from emerging psychological thought. Poetic expression shifted from the elaborate vocabulary, carefully constructed sentence structures, regular musical patterns, and images that promised resolution in Victorian work to the spare phrasing, broken lines, irregular beats, and unsettling visions characteristic of Modernism. Key poems receive close attention here: Tennyson's meditative sequence In Memoriam A.H.H., with its exploration of grief and belief; the narrative tapestry of The Lady of Shalott, probing the artist's separation from life; the rhythmic tribute to valor in The Charge of the Light Brigade; and the quiet acceptance of mortality in crossing the Bar. Browning contributes his probing dramatic voices in My Last Duchess, the disturbing intimacy of Porphyria's Lover, and the relentless journey of Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came. Pound brings crystalline moments like In a Station of the Metro and the ritual echo of The Return. Eliot's The Waste Land assembles fragments of a shattered culture, while Hardy's poems such as The Darkling Thrush, During Wind and Rain, and The Voice capture a world tilting toward doubt. What emerges is not a clean separation between eras but a steady progression. Elements of uncertainty already present in Victorian poetry, such as the shifting tones in Browning's speakers or the shadowed faith in Tennyson's symbols, grow more pronounced in the Modernists, who confront a reality marked by division and loss. Words grow leaner and more pointed, sentences break apart to reflect disjointed thought, rhythms lose their steady pulse to match the uneven flow of experience, and images move from comforting patterns to stark revelations of emptiness. Poetry, in this view, serves as a living record of its time, adjusting its tools to capture the evolving sense of human life amid change. This perspective deepens our grasp of how literary language engages with broader currents in thought and society, linking one age to the next through shared struggles and innovations.

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Pages: 71-74     |    2 View     |    0 Download