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Poetry of the age of Transition

THE AGE OF TRANSITION (1850-1898) And PRECURSORS OF

ROMANTICISM

Continuance of the classical Tradition and The Romantic reaction

The second half of the eighteenth century is known as a transitional period. It was an
era of change from pseudo-classicism to romanticism. Continuance of the Classical
Tradition • Dr. Samuel Johnson (1709-84) and Churchill (1731-64) were the two
prominent poets of the age of transition who kept alive the classical tradition of
Alexander Pope. Dr. Johnson wrote little poetry, and whatever he has left behind is
satirical.

3. 1) Poetry of Dr. Johnson His first poem was London(1738) which is written in heroic
couplet. His second poem is satire – The vanity of human wishes (1749) 2) Charles
Churchill He was satirist and political writer. The Rosciad (1761) is his most successful
work. It is long satire in heroic couplet. His other significant poems are An Epistle to
William Hogarth (1763), The Prophecy of Famine: A Scots Pastoral (1763) and The
Candidate(1764)

Reasons

1. Decline of Party Feud: The rivalry between the Whigs and Tories still continued but it
had lost its previous bitterness. The institution of literary patronage gradually
crumbled during this period. Men of letters learnt to depend entirely on their public.

2. Influence of the French Revolution: Revolutionary ideas gave birth to democratic and
humanitarian feelings. And it influenced literature greatly.

3. The Revival of Learning: in the study and editing of old authors like Chaucer,
Shakespeare and Milton. The writers revived the old form of ballad. The publications
of Bishop Percy‘s Reliques (1765), containing the oldest and finest specimens of
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ballad literature, is a landmark in the history of the Romantic Movement. The latter
half of the eighteenth century witnessed the swift rise of historical literature.

4. The New Realism: The birth of a new spirit of inquiry was at the root of realism
which is expressed in the novels of this period and is noticeable in the poetry of this
century.
5. The Humanitarian Spirit: This period is characterised by the rapid growth of
democracy. The philosophy of Rousseau and the French Revolution popularised the
democratic and humanitarian ideals, which immensely influenced the literature of this
period.

THE TRANSITIONAL POETS

The transitional poetry marks the beginning of a reaction against the rational, intellectual,
formal, artificial and unromantic poetry of the age of Pope and Johnson. It was marked by a
strong reaction against stereotyped rules. The transitional poets derived inspiration from
Spenser, Shakespeare and Milton.

The transitional poets revolted against the conventional poetic style and diction of the
Augustan poetry. They aimed at achieving simplicity of expression. This poetry appealed to
emotions and imagination. It is marked by the development of naturalism. Crabbe, Burns,
Blake and many others are the pioneers of naturalism. The transitional poets are the
forerunners of the splendid outburst of the romantic poetry of the nineteenth century.

I. James Thomson (1700-48) was the first to bring the new note in poetry both in his
Seasonsand The Castle of Indolence. The Seasons is a blank verse poem and consists of a
long series of descriptive passages dealing with natural scenes. Though its style is clumsy, the
treatment is refreshing, full of acute observation and acute joy in nature. The Castle of
Indolence is written in Spenserian Stanza and is remarkable for suggestiveness, dreamy
melancholy and harmonious versification.

II. Oliver Goldsmith (1728-74) represents the poetic tradition of neo-classicism so far as the
use of the heroic couplet is concerned. His treatment of nature and rural life, note of human
sympathy and simplicity of expression are characteristics of the transitional poetry. His first
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poem, The Traveller is written in the heroic couplet and deals with his wanderings through
Europe. He uses simple and polished language. He reveals human sympathy for the
sufferings of the poor. In The Deserted Village Goldsmith described the memories of his
youth. ) Oliver Goldsmith(1728-1774): His two poems are very famous : The
Traveller(1764), it is a long poem. The Deserted Village(1770)- in this the voices so perfectly
the revolt of the individual man against institutions.

Thomas Gray (1716-71) epitomises the changes which were coming, over the literature of his
age. He was ―a born poet, fell upon an age of prose‖. His early poems Hymn to Adversity
and the odes To Spring and On a Distant Prospect of Eton College strike the note of
melancholy that characterises the entire poetry of this period. Nature is described as a suitable
background for the play of human emotions. His finest poem The Elegy Written in A country
Churchyard has many new features in it. It is remarkable for the minute observation in the
descriptions of nature, love and sympathy for the humble and the deprived, expression of the
primary emotions of human life. His two odes, The Progress of Poesy and The Bard express
the new conception of the poet as an inspired singer. The first shows Milton‘s influence as
regards melody and variety of expression. The Bard is even more romantic and original. It
breaks with the classical school and proclaims a literary declaration of independence. In The
Fatal Sisters and The Descent of Odin he reveals interest in noise legends. 1) Thomas
Gray(1716-1771): His poems divided into three periods. First- Hymn to Adversity, Ode to
Spring, On a Distant Prospect of Eton College. Second- Elegy written in a Country
Churchyard, The Progress of Poesy, The Bard. Third- The Fatal Sisters, The descent of Odin

IV. William Collins (1721-59) wrote his first work Oriental Eclogues in prevailing
mechanical couplets but it is romantic in spirit and feeling. His Ode To Evening is instinct
with a sweet tenderness, a subdued pathos, love of nature and a magical enchantment of
phrase. His Ode To Popular Superstitions of the Highlands introduced a new world of
witches, fairies and medieval kings. So it strikes a new and interesting note in romantic
revival.

V. William Cowper (1731-1800) is an immediate forerunner of the romantics. His first

volume of poems, containing The Progress of Error, Truth, Table Talk etc. shows the
influence of the neo-classical rules. The Tasks is Cowper‘s longest and finest poem. His
descriptions of homely scenes of woods and brooks, of plowmen and teamsters and the letter
carriers indicate the dawn of a new era in poetry. Cowper was a pioneer who preached the
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gospel ―return to nature‖. He foreshadowed Wordsworth and Byron. In his love of nature,
his emotional response to it and in his sympathetic handling of rural life he certainly
anticipates Wordsworth. His minor poems On the Receipt of My Mother’s Picture and
Alexander Selkirkshow the rise of romanticism in English poetry. William Cowper(1731-
1800): His first volume of poems containing- The Progress of Error, Truth, Table talk, etc.
The task- it is a long poem written in blank verse published in 1785

VI. George Crabbe (1754-1832) is a pioneer of the naturalistic reaction against the Augustan
tradition. His main poetical works are written in the heroic couplet but thematically they deal
with the life of simple country folk and show his sincerity, sympathy and acute observation of
human life. His descriptions of nature are neither sentimental nor picturesque nor sentimental.
They are characterized by sincerity and minute observation. As a pioneer of the naturalistic
reaction against the Augustan tradition, Crabbe‘s place is certainly very high.

VII. Mark Akenside (1721-1770) began is poetic career with Epistle to Curio which is a
brilliant satire in the Augustan tradition. His best known poem The Pleasures of
Imaginationis a long poem in Miltonic blank verse. It contains some fine descriptive passages
on a nature.

VIII. Other poets of the transitional period are Christopher Smart, Bishop Percy, Thomas
Chatterton and James Macpherson. Percy‘s Reliques revived the romance of the middle Ages.
He also revived the ballad which was deftly used by Coleridge and Keats.

PRECURSORS OF ROMANTICISM

By the end of the nineteenth century the poets had completely abandoned the classical
tradition. Robert Burns and William Blake are the early representatives of the new
school of poetry known as the romanticism.

I. Robert Burns was influenced by the tradition of Scottish poetry and the life he saw
around him. His two poems- The Cotter’s Saturday Night and Tam O’Shanter are the
earliest expression of romanticism in the eighteenth century. Burns spoke straight from the
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heart to the primitive emotions of the race. His poetry shows great interest in the lives of
poor peasants of Scotland. He depicts with sincerity and compassion the poverty,
sufferings, natural feelings, joys and sorrows of the people he saw around him. His poetry
is the expression of the democratic spirit. Burns brilliantly blends man and nature. He
carries into his scenic pictures the same tenderness he shows in dealing with the Cottagers.
His finest poetry is lyrical. Both humour and pathos are intermixed in his poetry. As a stylist
Burns represents the Scottish Vernacular tradition. He had a matchless gift for catching
traditional airs and wedding them to words of simple and searching beauty. ) Robert Burns
(1759-1796): Poems Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect(1786)- it is a little volume but great
book. It includes poems like The Cotter’s Saturday Night, To a Mouse, To a Mountain
Daisy, Man was made of Mourn, The twa Dogs, Halloween. Some of his miscellaneous
poems- A man’s man for a’that, The vision, Epistle to a young Friend, Address to the Unco
Guid, etc.

II. William Blake‘s first publication Poetical Sketches is a series of imitative poems. In it
he experimented with various verse forms in the manner of Spenser, Shakespeare and
Milton.

His The Songs of Innocence, a collection of short lyrics expressing the poet‘s views of
the original state of human society, symbolized in the joy and happiness of children.
They have a passionate sincerity and a deep sympathy with the child. And his Songs of
Experience is another collection of lyrics in which the mood of spontaneous love and
happiness revealed in

Songs of Innocence is replaced by a less joyful note. His other writings are The Book of
Thel, The French Revolution, The Visions of the Daughters of Albion, The First Book of
Brizen, The Book of Ahania, The Book of Los and The Song of Los. Blake is the worthy
predecessor of Wordsworth. His poetry deals with simple and ordinary themes— the love
of the country, of simple life, of childhood and of home. He became the leader of naturalistic
kind of poetry. He poetically deals with childhood, flowers, hills, streams, clouds, birds
and animals. He, for the first time, introduced the note of mysticism in poetry. He
clarified the common objects if nature and human life, and cast on them a halo of mysticism.
In this respect he anticipates the mystical poetry of Wordsworth. Blake was a lyric poet
par excellence. As a lyricist he is a visionary like Shelley. He rapturously sings of Nature,
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Love and Liberty. William Blake(1757-1828): Poetic sketches published in 1783- is a

collection of Blake’s earliest poetry. Two later and better known volumes are Songs of
Innocence and Songs of Experience.

The names of his poems like, The Evening Star, Memory, Night, Love, Spring, Summer,
The Tiger, The Lamb, etc. Some of his mysticism by dipping into any of the works of his
middle life- Urizen, Gates of Paradise, Marriage of Heaven and Hell, America, Jerusalem,
etc.

The Romantic Reaction (characteristics of the romantic poetry) • 1) Reaction against the
school of Pope: The Augustan principles of reason and correctness came to be challenged
on a broad front, a new spirit was beginning to be felt in poetry. Values which Pope and his
followers had discarded were coming into their own again. Gradually the poets of this period
began to break away from the bondage of Pope. Thus there was the protest against the
bondage of rules, the return to nature and the human heart.

Appreciation of Nature: The slogan of the transitional poets was ‘A Return to Nature’- to
the real nature of earth and air, and not to the bookish nature of the artificial pastoral of the
Windsor Forrest of pope. The pre-romantic poets exhibited a genuine love for the beauties
of nature without introducing any mysticism in the interpretation of nature like
Wordsworth and Shelly. The works of pre-romantic poets such as Thomson, Collins, Burns,
Gray reveals an intimate knowledge and love of nature coming close to the
Wordsworthian love.

6. • 3) Emotional appeal: There was a readmission of emotion, and even a personal

emotion into poetry. Emotion started taking the place of cold intellectual appeal to
reason. In the poetry of the age we find the advent of sensibility- an emotional
sensitiveness that soon found expression in literature and gradually merged into the larger
and deeper imaginative life of the Romantic revival.

7. • 4) Country –life: There was a widening of interests and the pre-romantic poets were not
circumscribed by the town-life and manners of the school of Pope. Country life and a
fresh interest in man’s position in the world of nature began to be asserted during this period.
• 5) Sympathy for the poor and the oppressed: An enlightened sympathy for the poor and
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the oppressed became a characteristic features of the new school. In literature during this time
the work of Cowper, Burns, Crabbe and Gray perceive the revolution that is taking
place in the minds of men.

8. • 6) Interest in the Middle Ages: Interest in the Middle Ages and in Celtic myths began
to be felt and the transitional poets turned their gaze on the past reviving the hoary
traditions of the Middle Ages which had wrongly been dubbed as barbarous by Dryden,
Pope and Johnson. Now Gothic became term of admiration rather than reproach.

7) Simplification of themes of poetry: There was a radical simplification of the themes of

poetry. There was a quest for more elementary themes which sought among the
unsophisticated country folk rather than amid the complexities of the culture and refinement.
They were choosing themes like rainbow, small element of nature, solitary reaper, etc.

9. • 8) Reaction against the heroic couplet: There was also a reaction against the poetic
forms of the Augustan age. The poets of new revival come back in the old forms such as
lyric and ballad. Young, Collins and Gray also imitating the Milton’s blank verses and
earlier lyrical work. Thus, these are the characteristics of the romantic poetry. Now let’s
know about the pre romantic poets.