Society and Aesthetics

       During the course of Romantic literature the theme of aesthetics took many forms with influence from the poet’s present society. Poets such as William Wordsworth, John Keats, and Charles Darwin all used visual context to represent a part of or results of society.

        In “Two Sonnets: To Haydon, With A Sonnet Written On Seeing The Elgin Marbles,” Keats does not use vivid imagery to represent any form of aesthetics, but he does discuss a group of people and their understanding of the meaning of aesthetics. The controversy in the poem was about the British taking large sculptures from Greek culture and placing them in the British museum. The British society, without context, enjoyed these types of artwork from different cultures. At first Keats says that he couldn’t speak of this matter, because of the absurdity of this issue even being on the table; Keats held that the sculptures belonged to the Greek culture and should have, after all, stayed there. Keats contradicts his statement of not talking about the situation and takes a stand against the appropriation of Greek art for the British, this enabled him to exclude himself from British society.

Works Cited:

In this case, aesthetics is the subject matter of this society, and the people have taken sides on the issue. This raises the question of “what is art?” which was mentioned a lot in class. Of course, the monetary value increases as the market desires unique pieces from other cultures, but the art is much more valuable when the artifacts remain within their own setting as a means to keep a certain culture alive.

Keats distinguishes the point of perspective that the British look at the sculptures:

“For, when men stared at what was most divine

With brainless idiotism and o’erwise phlegm” (lines 11-12).

     Here he was referring to the British people looking at the marbles in the museum and basically saying they were “idiots” because these sculptures did not originate within British society and they have no way of understanding them, let alone to appreciate them. In the blog posts, blogger Desdemona Cranshaw concluded “he might be saying that these Grecian artifacts are wasting away in a British museum when they should be elsewhere.” This assumption can be taken from “On Seeing The Elgin Marbles”:

“Wasting of old Time – with a billowy main –

A sun – a shadow of a magnitude” (lines 13-14).

Picture: One can see that the sculptures take on a different form in the picture of the marble at the British Museum. Any museum visitor could pass by these artifacts, evaluate it, and go on to the next room to look at something from a completely different culture.

The first line in "Tintern Abbey" consists of Wordsworth going back, after 5 long years, to a secluded place where he had been to before. The significance of the 5 year remark is that when he came here the first time, Wordsworth had just come back to England from France. During his stay in France, he met a woman named Annette with whom he had a baby with, a girl named Caroline. Unfortunately, because of tensions between Britain and France and a lack of money, Wordsworth had to be separated from his daughter and lover for an extended amount of time (Everett). This most likely caused Wordsworth to seek out a secluded area from which to escape the harsh realities of society.

"...Once again

Do I behold these steep and lofty cliffs,

That on a wild secluded scene impress

Thoughts of more deep seclusion; and connect

The landscape with the quiet of the sky" (Lines 4-8).

In lines 4-8, Wordsworth attempts to reconnect with nature; He seeks isolation from the industrial world. Further in the poem, in line 24, Wordsworth mentions the "beauteous forms" of the scenery as being a landscape to a "blind man's eye." Wordsworth is stuck inside his memory, not in the present. This characterizes that he finds totality and reconnects with nature which is only attainable in the presence of nature not in the city. This shows that he prefers the aesthetics of nature to the changing landscape brought about by industrialism which society was getting accustom to.

"In darkness and amid the many shapes

Of joyless daylight; when the fretful stir

Unprofitable, and the fever of the world,

Have hung upon the beatings of my heart--

How oft, in spirit, have I turned to thee,

O sylvan Wye! thou wanderer thro' the woods,

How often has my spirit turned to thee!" (Lines 51-57)

Wordsworth states that when he faces joyless daylights and darkness, he then cries out to the forests, cries as he runs toward them in an attempt to escape from "the fever[s] of the world" which is a representation of that present society who favors industrialism. “…William Wordsworth knew the power of nature to not only touch and nurture the soul, but also to restore it from the enervating effects of industrialism, materialism, and utilitarianism” (Brennan, 2003). 

Picture: This painting represents how society is in favor of the industrialism growth as the group of people enjoy the aesthetics of man-made architecture. Wordsworth on the other hand focused in representing the visual imagery of nature surrounding Tintern Abbey. 

Aesthetics was used as a conduit to attract society to more radical ideas. In Darwin's "Love of the Plants," Charles uses the imagery of a flower to both applaud and critique women's rights advocacy. His intended audience is educated women, he drops names and alludes to Greek mythology -- this indicates his directedness towards the upper class. For example, in Stanza 13, Line 125 Darwin mentions the name "Ninon," only well-educated, upper class people would understand the correlation to this mythological figure and the stamen of the flower, Gloriosa. The poem was intended to send these women a message to liberate themselves; these sorts of ideas were very radical and threatening to a society that held very conservative values and ideas.

The Romantic Period itself was filled with many radical ideas, being a by-product of the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution, the Romantics in their attempts at seeking a totality in the human experience used aesthetics as a way to promote social causes and to escape the alienating experience brought about by the introduction of factories and industry to the idyllic landscapes of Nature; "Erupting out of the dual revolutionary epoch- relating both to the inspiring and the hostile elements embodied by the French and Industrial Revolutions, Romanticism embraced modernity but not its methods" (Camp and Schulte 2012).

Brennan, Matthew C. "Simms, Wordsworth, and "the Mysterious Teachings of the Natural World"." Southern Quarterly 41.2 (2003): 37-47. ABI/INFORM Global; ProQuest Research Library. Web. 11 Dec. 2012.
Camp, Matt and Schulte, Brit. "Bloodlines II: The Rise of Modern Horror." Redwedgemagaine.com. n.p. Oct. 15 2012, Web. Dec. 11 2012

Everett, Glenn. "William Wordsworth: Biography." Victorianweb.com. n.p., July 2000, Web. Dec. 11, 2012

What if?

It seems to me that Wordsworth's "Prelude" and the never-realized "Recluse," was supposed to be the culmination of everything we've studied in class this semester. In his (seemingly) ultimate project, Wordsworth desired to recall himself as a poet in terms of nature, history, and his own sense of being. The publication history in itself is fascinating. In the 1850 introduction, he claims that he wanted "to compose a philosophical Poem, containing views of Man, Nature, and Society, and to be entitled the Recluse; as having for its principal subject, the sensations and opinions of a poet living in retirement." This project shadowed Wordsworth since he was in his 20s, and still was never fully finished. It's hard to imagine what the completed work would have been like. Yet we are only left a fraction of the bigger picture. While that fraction is a somewhat culmination of what we have discussed all year round, we readers can definitely tell that bigger plans were at work. 

Byron the Giaour

Reading the notes I discovered that Byron experienced a similar situation as the Giaour with the slave Leila. Byron had an affair with a Turkish slave in Athens whom he saved from being executed in a similar manner as Leila. She was sown onto a sack and was to be thrown into the water, but Byron saved her by bribing them to lend her to him instead. I found this in google books; it turns out there is an entire book about Byron's love affairs by Francis Henry Gribble. So this poem was definitely a portrayal of himself.

Keats and The Brits

I read sonnets I and II probably about 20 times trying to decide what I thought they were about.  I still haven’t exactly come to a definitive answer to that question though.  I will try to type up a few theories I have in mind.  John Keats references to his illness several times in both of these sonnets.  In the first sonnet he says “Were I of ample strength for such a freak” and in the second one he says “godlike hardship tells me that I must die/Like a sick eagle looking at the sky”.  Both of these sonnets are about the Elgin marbles so maybe he is comparing his sickness to the way some of the British people look at the marbles.  Keats obviously does not agree with those who took the Elgin marbles away from Greece.  In the first sonnet he states “For, when men stared at what was most divine/With brainless idiotism and o’erwise phlegm” .  He seems to be saying that men stare at these marbles and have no idea what they mean or how grand they actually are.  In the second sonnet he says “Grecian grandeur with the rude/Wasting of Old Time”.  He might be saying that these Grecian artifacts are wasting away in a British museum when they should be elsewhere.

Whether any of this is true, I have no idea. I think an A for effort is in order though.

Byron the Stud

I enjoy Lord Byron...he's a cad, a superstar in his day, and he wrote one of my favorite vampire poems! As someone who loves to travel I enjoy the vivid descriptions given of the places Harold visits. Not only are of what is seen but tidbits of the history of these places as well. When Harold goes to Greece he bemoans the state of this "fallen" empire.

Byron: A Modern Day Blogger

While reading the preface to "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage" I was overwhelmed with the sheer amount of name dropping and allusions.  Don't get me wrong- I really enjoy his poetry, but I thought the preface was just a bit too pretentious.  I imagine this preface as a Tumblr, where all of the ideas that people have accused him of taking are listed as having been reblogged, and he references these various knights, authors, poets, and characters on a first name basis as if they are all good friends.  I think the one that really got me was the final line right before "To Ianthe" where he says "this character would have deepened as he drew to the close; for the outline which I once meant to fill up for him was, with some exceptions, the sketch of a modern Timon, perhaps a poetical Zeluco." (59)  "Timon of Athens" is a play by Shakespeare (am I the only one who didn't know this?) and Zeluco is an evil Italian nobleman from a 1789 novel, which seems rather recent for Byron's taste.  I really enjoy reading Childe Harold, but the tone of the preface set me off on the wrong foot

Beachy Head Publication and Reception History

Charlotte Smith

“Beachy Head”

1807.

Background Information:

•         Born May 4^th 1749
•         Was married off to Benjamin Smith at age 16.
•         Gave birth to 12 children between 1765 and 1785.
•         Was in prison with her husband for seven months.
•         In 1785 was legally separated from her husband.
•         Charlotte Smith died at the age of 58 in 1806.
•      Beachy Head was later published in 1807.

Composition:

•           In 1805, Smith wrote a letter to her publisher, negotiating for a new edition of sonnets.
•   Intended for Beachy Head, with Other Poems to be published after her death as the third volume in a tenth edition of Elegiac Sonnet.
•         In her letters to Davies, Smith mentions that she had been working on a long poem for several years,
•         She also writes that the work is a “local poem of near 700 lines…which is the only part of the work that is not actually ready.”
•         Beachy Head has 731 lines in published form.

      Publication:

•         The poem was printed as a collection of poems. Readers thought they were misplaced, so the publisher decided t have them included in this volume.
•         There was a heading with the title of the poem on every page which gave easy access to look at another poem.
•         Had “Notes” instead of appendices.
•         There was an advertisement instead of a preface explaining the delay of the publication and Charlotte Smith’s death.

Criticism:

•       Admirers of Smith included:
•        Sir Walter Scot
•        Queen Caroline
•   William Wordsworth
•   Samuel Taylor Coleridge
•         “…her use of the topographical and narrative mediation in blank verse (in Beachy Head was revolutionary and influential (Terence Allan Hoagwood).
•         “Beachy Head is more historically ambitious and more attentive to natural history (Theresa M. Kelley).” 
•         One autobiographer called Smith a “woman of her times, but she was truly an exceptional one.”
• 
  

      Bibliography: 

            Beachy Head and Other Poems. http://books.google.com/books?id=M-MyAQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=beachy+head&source=bl&ots=7f8jFwq98G&sig=6WcjwXzjzkPcPU2k1ghnshLPQLs&hl=en&sa=X&ei=8AdxUPHFDKGO2wXuhoDwDw&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAQ

            The Old Manor House, Volume 1. http://books.google.com/books?id=37UNAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=manor+house&source=bl&ots=WjZT9qDxnO&sig=DMR4T3y2kkIIZ3wu3b32L27j7OM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=YghxUM-WI8LQ2wW0m4CgBg&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=manor%20house&f=false 

Females and Details

I suppose for starters, I do not necessarily agree with Schor's view of art and details.  While an abundance of details cannot make up a story, neither can a lack of them. I believe toward the end, this aspect is conceded but I feel that it was not given its due. Although these are a means to an end, they are an important means and should be respected as such. Unfortunately, this view of inferiority is intimately tied to the gender of the artist and broad speculations about women and their art.  In my opinion, most of the gender based assertions were unfounded, I have read plenty of books by male authors that are grounded in the minute details and female authors or artists easily rank among (and often above) many of their male peers.  The perspective reminds me of "the angel in the house" of the Victorian era where the ideal woman is a dutiful, submissive wife and mother.  Schor does not seem misogynistic in himself but merely reflects the society in which the female is seen as the milder or lesser sex.

Clare's poem as a children's fantasy story.

Clare's poem reminded me of a children's fairy tale novel. If children were really his audience I would say that his message is to encourage children to abort all activities done by the rest like sports and playing with toys and be imaginative like in the poem The Village Minstrel. He didn't need those things in order to be happy he created fantasy in his natural world instead. I think the reason it reminds me of a children's fantasy is that in The Village Minstrel he is very imaginative with nature, he not only enjoys the sight of it but he has a relationship with nature. I think this can also be for an audience of poor people because he is enjoying all he had-nature and made it into something more fantasy-like meaning that these poor people don't need anything but to care for nature and enjoy it.

Timothy and I Go WAY back

I enjoyed Klinkenborg’s Timothy more than any other piece we have read. It was easier to follow. I thought it was pretty much hilarious throughout its entirety. I also felt a heavy sense of environmentalism in the narrative. From Timothy’s perspective, humans seemed to be detached from the Earth and their environment. It was like Timothy was quite literally down-to-Earth while the humans were lost in a web of beliefs and materialism. I thought that this was the biggest comment the piece made, but it did so from within a pleasant narrative about an old turtle. I enjoy the excellence of this style of writing. Also, I enjoyed White’s narrative for its close descriptions of endless details. I think he was on to something very compelling in his opinion that thoroughly observing the details of a region uncovers a history one might otherwise miss. 

Nostalgia and Wordsworth

I have studied “A Few Lines Composed Above Tintern Abby” by Wordsworth several times and I fall in love with it every time I do.  His imagery is wonderful and the pictures it creates makes you feel like you are sitting on with him and his sister staring down at the ruins of Tintern Abby.  One of the prevalent themes I see in this poem is that of nostalgia.  Wordsworth mentions several times that when he feels overwhelmed by the life he leads in the city he thinks back to the wonderful memories he has in the area surrounding Tintern Abby “Oft, in lonely rooms, and mid the din of town and cities, I have owed to them, in hours of weariness sensations sweet…feelings too of unremembered pleasure” (lines 26-32).  Wordsworth has such a strong connection with nature it pains him to feel disconnected and completely separated from it. It’s interesting to read about someone who feels so intensely about nature because in today’s age everything is so city oriented. It is hard to go out in the middle of nowhere and see nothing of modern society.

Loving Dr. Darwin

About 10 years ago, Jenny Uglow wrote an article on Darwin for the Gaurdian, urging a recovery of his poetry.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2002/sep/21/featuresreviews.guardianreview30

As Uglow argues, when we see Darwin in own historical moment of 1780s Britain, he is quite radical in many of his beliefs, religious scientific and social (and much more liberal than many of his contemporaries, especially in his support of abolition and other reform agendas, including the cause of female education). The poem-treatise combination is itself a radical way of writing, and certainly he used this form to reach a wider audience and to put forward views that went against conventional norms. This is not, however, to say that Darwin conforms to *our* standards or views about relationships between men and women--he was a product of his moment, as were all the poets that we are reading in this course. But it is telling that women poets, novelists and philosophers admired Darwin and used his work to promote their own work. Whatever the content of his poem implies (and as you can see it is not at all easy to determine what his overarching message was), the way women authors used it was to empower themselves and stake a claim for their right to speak and publish on scientific and political subjects.

Comparing "A Nocturnal Reverie" and "Loves of the Plant"

While I was reading Darwin's "Loves of the Plants," I noticed a very prevalent similarity between it and Anne Finch's "A Nocturnal Reverie." At first, both stories seemed comparable just by the subject matter: nature, or in Darwin's case, plants. Both authors made heavy use of vivid descriptions to make sure the reader can get a clear picture inside their minds. However, the execution of these two poems are vastly different. While Finch's description of nature was more enchanting and (for a lack of a better word) romanticized, Darwin's description focused more on personifying each plant. Lines such as "O'er her warm cheek the blush of beauty swims/And nerves herculean bend her finewy limbs," used allusions to help the reader find a connection between the plant world and ours. Not only is this clever writing, it's also slightly educational. Darwin, being both a writer and a botanist on the side, decided that this would be a fun way to educate the general public on the studies of famous botanist Carl Linnaeus. Ultimately, both works are satisfying by transporting the reader into the world of nature and letting it consume you for awhile.

A theme I saw in the readings for today (Tuesday, September 11th) is how personal passion ultimately affects the significance of a collection. The entries of this voyage are nothing more than collections of memories and experiences. What each author chooses to divulge and how he chooses to communicate it is highly indicative of their positions. For example, Captain James Cook's entries were all reflective of his role; he wrote about the things that directly affected him. His entries were highly numerical and were littered with short-handed code for cardinal directions and off-handed descriptions of weather, all things a captain should be concerned with. For Banks, his entries were highly descriptive and focused more on the aesthetic quality of the trip; replacing Cook’s numbers were Latin names for plants and romantic, flowing descriptions of the landscape. Lastly, in Parkinson’s journal, there is a similarity with Banks, but there is more of an anthropologic focus. I found it extremely significant that for these three men, their journey becomes their collection. Their perception and what they choose to be significant are what eventually composes their individual collections, collections that each gathered from the same trip and that are ultimately significant only to each individual author.