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Example research essay topic: Literature Of Lord Alfred Tennyson - 1,568 words

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In any genre of expression, he who possesses the ability of variance, will poses the hearts of many. Meaning in any art form, from the majestic impressionist paintings of Degas, to the masterful written works of Lord Alfred Tennyson, one must possess the ability to vary or change their style in order to relate to the masses. This technique in modern times is called crossing over, or attracting new audiences. The brightest stars, and most well know artist and poets are those who have mastered this ability. In the world of Victorian poetry, Alfred, Lord Tennyson was the equivalent to the contemporary Sean Puff Daddy Combs, an artist that has the ability to successfully express himself in multiple facets. Tennyson, one of the most prolific poets of the Victorian age was also known for possessing the poetic talent to cover many diverse subjects.

Over his career, he covered such issues as politics, history, classical mythology, and scientific matters. Lord Tennyson was educated enough to compose works based upon such academic topics, yet gifted enough to write about deeply personal thoughts and feelings. (Platizky 146) Tennyson was described by many as, both a poet of penetrating introspection and a poet of the people; he plunges the depths of his consciousness while also giving voice to the national consciousness of Victorian society. (Platizky 201) As a reader, to fully understand and appreciate Tennyson's gifted poetic ability, you must know a little about his past. Born Alfred Tennyson, in Somerset, Lincolnshire, he began to write poetry at an early age in the style of Lord Byron. After spending four unhappy years in school, Tennyson decided to return home for home schooling.

Because of the mentally unhealthy situation of his family, several members of his family were diagnosed with epilepsy, most noticeably his father; he left the house to study at Trinity College in Cambridge. While there, he was mentored by William Wheel, a famous 19 th Century philosopher who helped shape Tennyson's ideas of the philosophical world. In 1829, while at Cambridge, Tennyson was asked to join an undergraduate society named the Apostles. This undergraduate society met frequently to discuss major philosophical issues, as this would also be the place where Tennyson would meet his best friend and the source for much of his melancholic inspiration, Arthur Henry Hallam. The abrupt death of his best friend who died suddenly at age 22 shocked Tennyson, and it would be this great pain and grief that would lead to some of his best work. Tennyson would go on to become undoubtedly on of the most prolific writers of his time, and is know to many as the chief representative of the Victorian age of poetry.

It would be easy to assume that as a result oh his extremely diverse background which included: the mentally unhealthy history of his family, the higher education and philosophical experiences at Trinity College, and the great loss of his best friend, it resulted in Tennyson becoming a very diverse poet. A perfect example of his diverseness is reflected in two of his most famous poems, Ulysses and Marianna. In this essay, the writer will attempt to show Tennyson's diversity by discussing the dualities and dichotomies of his two works Mariana and Ulysses. The writer will be discussing each work with a focus on the poems themselves, as well as the character or characters of each. The first work that the writer will attempt to discuss in order to show Tennyson's great diversity is the poem Mariana.

The poem Mariana originally appeared in Tennyson's Poems, Chiefly Lyrical in 1830. The inspiration or subject matter of this play was taken from a line in William Shakespeare's play Measure for Measure: Mariana in the moated grange. (Platizky 185) This particular line shows a young women waiting for her lover who had abandoned her. The form of this play is six twelve-line stanzas that are written in iambic tetrameter. Tennyson used the tool of repetition as several lines of each stanza were repeated through out the poem which creates a presence of a vexing chant.

An example of this was the repetition of: "She only said, 'My life is dreary / He cometh not, 's he said; / She said, 'I am away, away, / I would that I were dead! Also, through out the poem there are few action verbs, instead the poem is chalked full of visually descriptive words to convey a feeling of continual melancholy and isolation: With blackest moss the flower-plots Were thickly crusted, one and all: The rusted nails fell from the knots That held the pear to the gable-wall. The broken sheds look'd sad and strange: United was the clinking latch; Weeded and worn the ancient thatch Upon the lonely moated grange. Tennyson shows his talent of invoking feelings through out this play, but the remarkable aspect in this particular work is that he does not invoke these feelings by simply stating it, yet he does it by using descriptions of the settings.

Mariana, as stated by one critic, Tennyson uses Keatsian descriptions of the natural world to describe a womens state of mind, he conveys via his natural setting the consciousness of a women waiting vainly for her lover, and her increasing hopelessness. (Platizky 137) Although there were not many action verbs in Mariana, Tennyson was still able to create a building of emotions which would eventually climax by only making subtle changes in repetitive sentences. At the end of the first stanza she states that, My life is dreary. The second stanza changes as she states, the night is dreary. As the poem progresses, the cycles of the day passes, the poem continues to build the readers emotions until Marianas life is no longer dreary, but instead it climaxes in the final stanza with the lines: I am very dreary He will not come, she said; She wept, I am away, away, Oh God, that I were dead! Through out this masterful work, Tennyson uses his unique ability to create human emotions via the surrounding landscapes.

Yet, at the same time Tennyson successfully conveys the melancholic feeling of an almost silent main character Mariana. Tennyson not only demonstrated that he can express human emotions, but most impressing he did it through the emotions of a lovesick woman. In Tennyson's second work that is being discussed, Ulysses, when compared and contrasted to Mariana, one can truly appreciate his poetic diversity. This poem is vastly different than that of the first. From its origins to its style, Ulysses is contrast that of Mariana. Because Tennyson writes Ulysses as a dramatic monologue, there is no ab ab pattern, the entire poem is written in blank verse which results in a more natural fluid quality.

In some situations sentences would just break in the middle and start over. The final difference in the form is that it is broken up into four paragraphs like sections. The four paragraphs of the poem resembles the from of an epic. This serves not as a surprise as the inspiration of this work was not that of William Shakespeare; instead Tennyson received inspiration from Homers Odyssey. (Tennyson 56) The educated and extremely diverse Tennyson who conquered Keatsian expression in Mariana, was also well educated in Greek mythology.

Through out this poem, the most noticeable dualities were that of the main character and the theme. Ulysses is a totally different type of poem when compared to Mariana. He is an explorer, a conqueror, and an indefinite inspiration. As a confident headstrong king, he feeds into the theme of the poem.

Not only is he not melancholic, but he is so full of life and yearns for new experiences and knowledge. Just as Tennyson invoked feelings of sadness and melancholy, he also possesses had the uncanny ability to inspire people with his works. Tennyson composed an amazing line as the final words of the poem, to strive, to seek, to find and not to yield. Inspired by the great loss of his best friend Hallam, that famous line went on to inspire a nation and became the motto of later Victorian poets. It made Ulysses a symbol of hope as it encouraged people to escape the tediums of everyday life and to go after the thing that they want.

Compared to Mariana, Ulysses is almost a polar opposite. In conclusion, it is easily noticeable the magnitude of diversity amongst each of these works which can only be attributed to Tennyson's gifted poetic ability. Mariana, the lonely melancholic work, is very dreary and sad, although if anyone has an elderly relative that they care about, then they too can most likely relate to such feelings. It is impressive to view Tennyson's understanding of such heart felt emotions and pain. Yet, it is even more impressive that he does it form the position of a women and is still able to convey them in such a polished and complexed manner. In the poem Ulysses, some feel that he achieved an amazing task by using the traumatic loss of his best friend, and using that pain to create a work that would inspire not only a nation, but also the poetry of the Victorian age itself.

Although both works are so very contrasting, they are only a praise of Tennyson's exceptional poetic ability. ~~~ To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield ~Alfred, Lord Tennyson


Free research essays on topics related to: human emotions, victorian age, trinity college, alfred lord tennyson, william shakespeare

Research essay sample on Literature Of Lord Alfred Tennyson

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