Paradoxically, if we say that Victorian
age in the history of England suffered an enjoyment, it will be true to speak
thus! The whole country, under the reign of their queen, Queen Victoria
(1837-1901), underwent an all-round progress. Mechanically, the country touched
the new heights of prosperity. Industrialization on a great scale marked the
rise of new business era for England. Moreover, we must remember that this was
the age in which England made the grip of dominance stronger in the colonized countries.
However, this growing prosperity and the
decaying faith in the existence of supreme divinity did not lure the hearts of
the great literary figures of Victorian age. The poets, writing in Victorian age,
were in dire need of escaping to the countryside areas in search of peace and
solace! John Clare stands as an example of this group of poets, who was a
farmer and painted the rural life in his poetry. Another perfect and foremost
example of this trend is Mathew Arnold who always remains with his ‘scholar’ in
the countryside areas of Oxford and enjoys the company of nature and rustic
people. Arnold despises the city life and advises the ‘scholar’ of his
imagination and indirectly the fellow citizens to escape:
“But fly our paths, our feverish
contacts fly!
For strong the infection of our mental strife,
Which, though it gives no bliss, yet spoils
rest.”
Another contemporary of Mathew Arnold is
Alfred Lord Tennyson. He also writes of the disappearing faith in the existence
of God and the increasing interference of enlarging hands of Science and
Mechanism in the society. In his protracted elegy, In Memoriam, he
expresses the agony of his heart and in a way, the entire Victorian society:
“Our little systems have their day:
They have their day and cease to be:
They are but broken lights of thee,
And thou, O Lord, art more than they.”
We can have the conspicuous glimpse of
the conflict prevailed the Victorian age, in the hearts of Victorian people;
and we can see the realization that the heart of this great poet, Tennyson,
feels. Thus, we can say that the Victorian period saw the prosperity of
mechanics and industries, which the governing body and the citizens liked, but
the poets of higher spirit and noble soul, felt the coming danger of moral and
religious decadence and tried to present their foresight to the society.
Victorian age bears two greatest poets
of the English Literature of all time, the first is Alfred Lord Tennyson, and the
other is Mathew Arnold. They both are genius on their place. No one can hold
the dignity of another. They both enjoy the gift of heavens; they both have the
poetic fire; the “Muse” has been very tender to her both sons! Therefore, to
make an analogy amid these two great figures of the English Literature is a
very difficult task. Still, we can try to exercise our wit to present the
qualities and special merits of both of them as a poet. This effort will lead
us to make certain perceptions that discriminate the two great poets, their
style, their views to art and poetry, and more.
The View towards Art and Poetry:
The first and foremost point that discriminates
the great literary figures is undoubtedly the view towards art and poetry;
moreover, the two, Arnold and Tennyson are not the exceptions. They are
certainly different in their perception about art and poetry, though, they are
the representatives of the same age. Both the poets were aware of the falling
standards of art in the age of Victorian Flourishing. Amid the topsy-turvy of
faith and belief, both the poets had to choose their way different and set a
standard of themselves. We have certainly to rank Arnold above to Tennyson in
this regard. Arnold was very early to know what the standard of poetry should
be; he decided the way of his poetic growth and always moved constantly on that
like the Etna. For Arnold, “poetry is the criticism of life under the
conditions fixed for such a criticism by the laws of poetic truth and poetic
beauty.” Arnold, in his poetic creation, The Buried Life, compiled in Empedocles
on Etna and other Poems, announces the weakness and crisis of the Victorian
age:
“Alas, is even love too weak
To unlock the heart, and let it speak?
Are even lovers powerless to reveal
To one another what indeed they feel?”
This quote reveals the motive of Arnold
and his poetry- only to reveal the truth and unbiased judgment, to announce the
society of his time as it is, and to tell the ways of a content and alive life!
Moreover, we have to admit that Arnold
knew the ‘poetic truth’ and the ‘poetic beauty’. However, when we have to make
a judgment of Tennyson in the regard of his realization of art and poetry, we
have a quote made by the great critic, IforEvans that is worth to quote:
“…..
Though Tennyson was charged with sometimes having one eye on the audience and, after
he was made laureate, with having both eyes on the Queen.”
This remark says so much about the
perception of Tennyson towards poetry. He had in view the audience, and then
the Queen. However, it is the masterpiece of Tennyson, In Memoriam, and some
other writings indeed, where Tennyson, to an extent, surpasses all the poets of
his age or any age in the matter of realization the true meaning of poetry! The
very opening line of the longest elegy written hitherto in English, In Memoriam,
strikes our conscience with a grand force:
“Strong son of God, immortal Love,”
In this line, we have the mature and
learned Tennyson, who enjoys a washed soul and solace after the protracted
suffering of the loss of his friend, Arthur Henry Hallam. Tennyson announces in
the same elegy:
“I hold it true, whate’er befall;
I
feel it, when I sorrow most;
‘Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.”
However, if we are compelled and bond to
compare the two great poets in this regard, that is, in the realization of the
poetry and its motive, we certainly have to rank Arnold above Tennyson; Arnold
was quick in realizing, Tennyson was late! Arnold, almost in each of his poems,
speaks with the authority of his own propagated theory; Tennyson at the same
time fails to follow the rhythm of In Memoriam in all of his poems!
Thus, the first and foremost of the distinguishing points, announces Arnold as
superior to Tennyson.
Style of Composing Poetry:
In the matter of style, it is indeed
tough to fix that who is superior- Arnold or Tennyson. They both enjoy their
own way of expressing their great ideas. However, Tennyson has been praised for
his beautiful lyricism and Arnold has been charged of “Coldly efficient
narrative.” Arnold emphasizes on the grand style of composition, while Tennyson
bends towards the charming ways of expressing his ideas in the poems. For instance,
if we consider the lines of Tennyson, in the fragment of his poem, The Eagle:
“He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close
to the sun in lonely lands,
Ring’d
with the azure world, he stands.”
Here we have the sight animated in front
of our eyes; we can see; we can imagine; we can trust the poet of his
imagination too. The lyricism is apparently visible. Moreover, the beauty of
the lines is unchallenged! Now, let us concentrate on the lines of Mathew
Arnold, in his poem, Dover Beach:
“Sophocles long ago
Heard it on the Aegean, and it brought
Into his mind the turbid ebb and flow
Of human misery; we
Find also in the sound a thought,
Hearing it by this distant northern sea.”
After the beautiful expression of the ‘calm
sea’, ‘fair moon’, and other sceneries, the poet expresses his great ideas in a
fashion suiting to it; in other words, he adds the ‘poetic truth’ and ‘poetic
beauty’ to his ‘criticism of life.’ We all know the erudition of the great
figure, Mathew Arnold, and in the words of IforEvans, he imparted something ‘permanent
and major contribution’ to the English literature with his great prose
writings. However, the same critic, IforEvans charges him of being not so great
in the matter of being a poet. By and large, we see it in the case of his
expression, Arnold is able to perceive great ideas; he is able to impart
knowledge and wisdom to his verse; yet, he is not able to make his expression
as beautiful as Tennyson!
The Influences on the both Poet: Their
General Tendency to Follow
Any poet is not a poet at once; a poet
is born and he is lulled amid some certain fancies and tendencies. Every poet
has liking for poets of the past, or the contemporary, or a person or people of
another areas of art. No poet can pave his was alone in the field of literary
production without being affected by some other literary figure. Tennyson and
Arnold are not the exceptions. These two great poets also reflect certain impressions
of the older poets. Except some occasions, generally, both of the poets were
unaffected by the growing mechanism of the Victorian age. We have the example
of Locksley Hall where the poet Tennyson finds himself amid the mirage
of Victorian bright diadem!
Arnold was in favour of the Ancient
Classic masters and always tried to reinforce his verses with a universal
message like them. Even in the great essay written by him, The Study of Poetry,
Arnold tends to blow the triumph of the Ancient Masters and warns his readers
to use them as the ‘touchstone’ jewels to brighten their readings. Tennyson, just
contrary to Arnold, finds himself amid the Romantic remains. Except of some
fixed numbers of examples, he leaves nothing of permanence for his readers to remember!
His poems are the ‘day’s enjoyment’ except the elegy or long length that
remains to suggest us the value of universal and eternal realm! However, we
must not forget that the lasting phase of the career of Tennyson showed him as
the magnificent poet who tries to follow the ancient style of writing:
“Where never creeps a cloud, or moves a
wind,
Nor ever falls the least white star of snow,”
Tennyson in these two lines stands in
the rank of Homer! The beauty of the lines, the grandeur of the rhythm,
everything we have to remark thus…
Now, to conclude the argument of the
comparison between these two poets, I must leave it upon the readers to choose
whether one is surpassing other or the two, just move along on the road to
greatness.
The concluding verse of Arnold, the most
worthy to quote of the poet who is very hopeless of the crisis of Victorian
prosperity:
“But ah, though peace indeed is here,
And ease from shame, and rest from fear;
Though nothing can dismarble now
The smoothness of that limpid brow;
Yet is a calm like this, in truth,
The crowning end of life and youth?”
And the concluding verse of the poet
Tennyson:
“And it sings a song of undying love:
And
yet, tho’ its voice be so clear and full,
You
never would hear it; your ears are so dull,”
Both the poets stand dazzling on the
ground of English Literature! To compare them, and to come to a solid ground of
judgment, is too tough a task for any scholar! Still, it was my attempt to
bring out their merits and qualities together.
Written by Alok Mishra
Author and Poet
Student of MA in English Literature at Nalanda College, Biharsharif, Bihar
