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English Poetry of the Mid-Century

 

Early in the 1950s there were signs that a new generation of poets was about to appear. Oscar Mellor's Fantasy Press books and pamphlets, John Wain's series of readings on the Third Programme, a few volumes printed by the Reading School of Art, and the anthology Springtime, edited by G.S. Fraser and Gain Fletcher (1953), were among the early manifestations of this new spirit. Then came the launching of a periodical called "Listen," produced by G. Hartley who also published volumes by Philip Larkin and by John Holloway.

It is undeniable that R. Conquest's anthology, "New Lines" (1956) provided much the same platform for the poets of the fifties that "New Signatures" (1932) had offered to the poets of the thirties. The poets in this anthology were united by "a negative determination to avoid bad principles" rather than by any positive programme. The nine contributors, to the anthology shared a common tone, a belief that the intellect and the moral judgment must play a decisive part in the shaping of a poem.

The most widely admired of all the Movement poetsPhilip Larkin published his first volume "The North Ship" in 1945. In his witty introduction to the 1966 edition of the "The North Ship" he remarks that he was infatuated with the poetic music of Yeats, and that poetic talent was preserved from ruin by his discovery in early 1946 of Hardy's verse. The poem is an enormous advance on Larkin's earlier work, exhibiting the characteristics of his mature poetry – a fine, though unobtrusive, power of evoking an atmosphere, a muted wit, a masterly control of tone, a lyrical irony.

Larkin's poems present with a rare accuracy the social climate of suburban England in the 1950s. His verse is suffused with a compassionate melancholy, a sense of sadness and the transience of things. He pronounces his verdict on our lives:

 

Life is first boredom, then fear.

Whether or not we use it, it goes,

And leaves what something hidden from us chose,

And age, and then the only end of age.

 

It would be misleading to claim that all the best poets of the 1950s were represented in "New Lines," or that the Movement comprised everything that was vital in the poetry of the decade. As at all times, there were few poets working in solitude, indifferent to current literary disputes.

R.S. Thomas’s first two volumes "The Stones of the Field" (1946) and "An Acre of Land" (1952) were printed by small, little-known firms in Wales, and it was not until 1955 that he made his mark with "Song at the Year's Turning," a selection of poems written between 1942 and 1954. Although he owes nothing to the Movement poets his work exhibits many of the virtues which they admired. He presents a small world of the Welsh hill country where he favoured as priest. The background of his poems is almost always the Welsh landscape in winter, the cold sky, the bare branches, the snow.



A much younger poet,Ted Hughes, published his first collection, "The Hawk in the Rain," in 1957. It is interesting to compare him with his Cambridge contemporary,Thom Gunn, who is usually associated with the Movement. Both are anatomists of violence; but whereas Gunn is concerned with its operation in society, Hughes broods on violence as a principle of the universe and, in particular, of the animal kingdom.

In his review of "New Lines"Charles Tomlinson voiced dissatisfaction with the practice of the Movement. After some years during which he was admired in the States but ignored in his own country, Tomlinson gradually won recognition in Britain. His poetry is notable for clarity of outline and precision. He believes that Symbolism was the major poetic achievement in the late 19th century, admiring not only the French Symbolists, but the work of Tyutchev and of Machado, whom he has translated in collaboration with Henry Gifford.

There are other poets who deserve more than a passing mention.Thomas Blackburn, whose early verse draws on myth and legend in order to illuminate his own illuminate own perplexities, has become more direct in the exploration of his inner tensions.

Geoffrey Hill, who has published only two small volumes, writes poetry of extraordinary concentration and purity.Burns Singer andEdward Lowbury, two fine undervalued poets, have wrestled with the metaphysical problems of time, death and nothingless.

 

II. Translate into Russian the following key words and word combinations and use them in the sentences of your own:

 

the early manifestations of the new spirit, to launch a periodical, to share a common tone, to be infatuated with, mature poetry, to evoke an atmosphere, to present the social climate, to make the mark with, the background of his poems, to be associated with the Movement, to voice dissatisfaction with, notable for clarity of outline and precision.

 

III. Answer the following questions:

 

1. What poets manifested the new spirit of the 1950s?

2. What collection of poems provided the platform for the poets of the fifties?

3. The nine contributors to the anthology shared a common tone, didn't they?

4. Who was the most widely admired of all the Movement poets and why?

5. What other poets not belonging to the Movement do you know?

6. What can you say about R.S. Thomas's poetry? What is the background of his poems?

7. Who voiced his dissatisfaction with the Movement?

8. Why did Ch. Tomlinson win recognition in Great Britain?

 

IV. Read the poem and say what it is about. Learn it by heart.

 

Philip Larkin

 

Wants

 

Beyond all this, the wish to be alone:

However the sky grows dark with invitation cards

However we follow the printed directions of sex

However the family is photographed under the flag staff.

Beyond all this, the wish to be alone,

Beneath it all, desire of oblivion runs:

Despite the artful tensions of the calendar,

The life insurance, the tabled fertility rises,

The costly aversion of the eyes from death –

Beneath it all, desire of oblivion runs.

 

V. Comment on the guotations:

 

1. Poetry is the record of the best and happiest moments of the happies and the best minds. (P.B. Shelly)

2. Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex, and vital. (O. Wilde)

3. "Classic" is a book which people praise and don't read. (M. Twain)

 


Date: 2016-01-03; view: 605


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