19th Century British Anthology

*All evaluation poems were chosen because they were good examples of that poets style and therefore easier for the class to figure out based on the information and the examples we gave of the other poets.

Lesson plan: 

Objectives

-To give students a good understanding of certain British poets from the 19th Century. (Lord Byron, Jane Taylor, Christina Rossetti, and John Clare)

 

-To give students the proper tools to recognize the poetic styles in poems, according to the main events in the above poets lives.

 

-To give students an understanding of poetic meter. (Specifically Iamb, Dactyl, Trochee and Anapest)

 

 

Resources

- Projector

- Laptop
- Handouts of different poems for groups to analyze
- Microsoft PowerPoint

- Handouts of certain poems

- Speakers

 

Methodology

1. Split the class into 4 groups.

 

2. Teach class about poetic meter

 

3. Brief introduction into 19th Century Britain (setting, major events that may have influenced the poets in that era)

 

4. Poets

Poet #1

Lord Byron

i)  Brief Bio.

ii) Analysis of "The Battle of Sennacherib".

iii) Anthology.

 

Poet #2

Jane Taylor

i) Brief Bio

ii) Analysis of "The Spider"

iii)Anthology 

 

Poet #3

John Clare

i)  Brief Bio

ii) Analysis of "Autumn”

iii)Anthology

 

Poet #4

Dante Rossetti 

i)  Brief Bio

ii) Analysis of ""

iii)Anthology

 

Evaluation

1) Each group will be given a handout of a select poem from one of the four poets so that each group will have one poem (this poem being from one of the for poets discussed earlier)

 

2) After about 10 minutes, the groups will be asked to make an estimated guess of who wrote the poem that they were given based on what they know about each poet, and how they write.

 These poems will be:

 

“Come and play in the garden” (Jane Taylor)

 “She walks in beauty” (Lord Byron)

“I Am” (John Clare)

 “Nuptial Sleep” (Dante Rossetti)

 

3) Students will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

i)  If they come up with the right poet

ii) If they come up with valid reasons/how many for why they chose who they chose. 

 

Lord Byron

Lord Byron is widely considered to be one of the most bad ass poets (aside from Mr. Murray) to ever walk the earth. He was known around Britain as that guy you didn’t want your wife (or in some cases, husband) around. That’s right, he was bisexual. Byron’s indiscriminate promiscuity as well as deep debt is what ultimately led to him fleeing from England in 1816, never to return. He lived in Venice and Genoa before joining Greece’s struggle for independence of the Ottoman Empire. Byron was however robbed of this final act of bad-assery, falling violently ill and dieing before he could fight. Some people believe that if Byron had survived, he would have been made the king of Greece.

"The Destruction Of Sennacherib"
I The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold, And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold; And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea, When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.

Like the leaves of the forest when Summer is green, That host with their banners at sunset were seen: Like the leaves of the forest when Autumn hath blown, That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.

II For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast, And breathed in the face of the foe as he pass'd, And the eyes of the sleepers wax'd deadly and chill, And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever grew still!

And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide, But through it there roll'd not the breath of his pride; And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf, And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.

III And there lay the rider distorted and pale, With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail: And the tents were all silent, the banners alone, The lances unlifted, the trumpets unblown.

And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail, And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal; And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword, Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord
This poem was chosen because of its catchy poetic meter as well as the interesting metaphors and similes.
Lord Byron makes great use of rhyme and meter in his poem “The Destruction of Sennacherib”. He uses an AABB (Couplets) rhyming scheme and an anapestic tetrameter format. This combination makes for a poem that sounds very powerful and epic when spoken out loud. Another strategy that Byron uses in this poem is dramatic contrast. In the first 7 lines of the poem he paints a picture of valiant, proud soldiers only to have them basically destroyed for the rest of the poem. Unlike most of the poems analyzed throughout this unit, “The Destruction of Sennacherib” does not seem to have a deeper meaning at its core. Instead, this work seems to simply tell the biblical story of the Assyrian’s (King Sennacherib) attempted invasion of Israelite’s territory, only to be “Destroyed”. Ashur was the first capital of ancient Assyria as well as the name of their “Top God”.

Evaluation poem: "She walks in beauty"*

SHE walks in beauty, like the night Of cloudless climes and starry skies; And all that 's best of dark and bright Meet in her aspect and her eyes: Thus mellow'd to that tender light Which heaven to gaudy day denies. One shade the more, one ray the less, Had half impair'd the nameless grace Which waves in every raven tress, Or softly lightens o'er her face; Where thoughts serenely sweet express How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

And on that cheek, and o'er that brow, So soft, so calm, yet eloquent, The smiles that win, the tints that glow, But tell of days in goodness spent, A mind at peace with all below, A heart whose love is innocent!

John Clare
-Lived July 1793 – May 1864
-Grew up poor and was very malnourished which is a big reason for him being only 5ft tall
-Went to school until he was twelve
-First poem was published in 1820
-He married Patty Turner in 1820
-As mentioned before he was very malnourished from being poor and because of this he had many cycles of constant depression and became dependant on alcohol
-As his alcohol depression became greater he started to become more and more disgusted with himself
-His behaviour became more and more erratic, so his wife had him admitted to Dr Allen's High Beach Private Asylum (1837 – 1841)
-During his stay he would write poetry but not as John Clare.
- At times he thought he was Byron and Shakespeare and would even re-write there works as if it was his own
-He was released shortly for a period of five months, but was admitted back into another asylum by his wife Patty as his behaviour did not change and would stay there for the rest of his life

Autumn

The thistledown's flying, though the winds are all still, On the green grass now lying, now mounting the hill, The spring from the fountain now boils like a pot; Through stones past the counting it bubbles red-hot.

The ground parched and cracked is like overbaked bread, The greensward all wracked is, bents dried up and dead. The fallow fields glitter like water indeed, And gossamers twitter, flung from weed unto weed.

Hill-tops like hot iron glitter bright in the sun, And the rivers we're eying burn to gold as they run; Burning hot is the ground, liquid gold is the air; Whoever looks round sees Eternity there.

-He uses a ryming scheme aabb
-He describes nature in great detail
- Again, like Jon’s poem Autumn doesn’t appear to have any deep meaning waiting for the reader but instead is just describing an Autumn day.

This poem was chosen because it is a prime example of Clare's writting style.

Evaluation Poem: "I am"

I am: yet what I am none cares or knows,
My friends forsake me like a memory lost;
I am the self-consumer of my woes,
They rise and vanish in oblivious host,
Like shades in love and death's oblivion lost;
And yet I am! and live with shadows tost

Into the nothingness of scorn and noise,
Into the living sea of waking dreams,
Where there is neither sense of life nor joys,
But the vast shipwreck of my life's esteems;
And e'en the dearest--that I loved the best--
Are strange--nay, rather stranger than the rest.

I long for scenes where man has never trod;
A place where woman never smil'd or wept;
There to abide with my creator, God,
And sleep as I in childhood sweetly slept:
Untroubling and untroubled where I lie;
The grass below--above the vaulted sky.

While John Clare was admitted to the Northampton General Lunatic Asylum he wrote a series of poems. "I Am" was one of the poems that was written by John Clare during his stay. This poem is written in iambic pentameter and its doesn't follow the same rhyme scheme through out the poem. The first stanza is in "ababbb", the second stanza has and "ababcc" and the third follows the same.The first thing that came to mind as I read it was the irony in the title "I Am" as many times during his stay at the asylum he didn't really know who he was as at times he thought he was Byron and even called himself Shakespeare. The first and second stanza's tell me that being locked up in the Asylum he feels alienated from his friends and family"And e'en the dearest that I loved the bestAre strange nay, rather stranger than the rest." by saying this he says that his family and friends might as well be strangers to him as he no longer feels connected to them. The third stanza you see something that you don't see a lot of in his poems and thats God. He mentions him in his poems as if he is accepting God or even accepting death/fate that is coming to him "There to abide with my creator, God," as he knows he will be stuck in the Asylum for a long time.

Dante Rosseti
1. Full name : Dante Gabriel Rossetti 2. Born : May 12th, 1828 in London, England 3. Died : April 9th, 1882 in Kent, England 4. Brother of famous poet Christina Rossetti (One of the most important female poets of 19th century British poetry) 5. Not only a poet, but a famous painter as well: 6. Attended Kings College School 7. One of the founding fathers of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (A group of English painters, poets and critics who’s intent was to reform art) 8. Enjoyed medieval things 9. Had an obsession with exotic animals, particularly wombats. He had a pet Wombat named “Top” 10. Wife Elizabeth Siddal died after giving birth to a stillborn child. Dante buried the majority of his unpublished poems in his wife’s grave, which he later removed and published 11. Was a big fan of a drug known as chloral 12. Famous quote: "The worst moment for the atheist is when he is really thankful and has nobody to thank.”

"Sudden Light"

I have been here before, But when or how I cannot tell: I know the grass beyond the door, The sweet keen smell, The sighing sound, the lights around the shore.

You have been mine before,-- How long ago I may not know: But just when at that swallow's soar Your neck turn'd so, Some veil did fall,--I knew it all of yore.

Has this been thus before? And shall not thus time's eddying flight Still with our lives our love restore In death's despite, And day and night yield one delight once more?


This poem was chosen because Dante’s choice of words really paints a picture for the reader.


First notion: The poem Sudden Light by Dante Rossetti is one that tells quite an interesting story. The poem starts off by saying: “I have been here before, But when or how I cannot tell: I know the grass beyond the door”, but this cannot truly be interpreted until the whole poem is read. I believe that this poem is telling the story of a man who has been in a particular situation before, in this case; marriage. The notion of marriage is alluded to in lines 9 and 10 by saying that: “Your neck turn’d so, Some veil did fall, - I knew it all of yore”. A veil being a clothing article that is generally worn by women, in some instances during marriage. Referring back to the opening lines of the poem, this can now be interpreted to mean that the man has been in the wedding situation before. The man has perhaps ran away the first time around, this being identified in the poem as “I know the grass beyond the door, the sweet keen smell, The sighing sound, the lights around the shore” meaning that he knows what’s beyond the doors of the building they’re in (perhaps a church) as he has fled his first marriage. The rest of the poem in this case being the man’s second shot at marriage with the same women. He goes on to state: “You have been mine before,--How long ago I may not know” this meaning that the man has been with this women before in this particular situation but he cannot recall when their last (first) wedding actually occurred. Further notions of the man running away from his first marriage are seen in the last stanza, where he states that “Has this been thus before? And shall not thus time's eddying flight” meaning that he has given a shot at marriage before and it has not been successful but this time he will not run away. The poem concludes with “Still with our lives our love restore In death's despite, And day and night yield one delight once more?” this to me indicating that once again their love is restored, they will give marriage another shot and live day and night with each other until death do them part.

Second notion: The second interpretation I have conjured up is similar to the first. Similar in the sense that they both embody the overall theme of marriage. In this case, I believe that the poem is telling the story of a couple renewing their wedding vows, and the reader is seeing it through the perspective of the man. The man recalling that he has “been here before, but when or how he cannot tell” meaning that it’s been so long since he has truly been with his wife, the spark was gone but it is now re-lit. I believe the title of the poem “Sudden Light” is quite relevant to this certain interpretation. The “light” in this case being the spark that is being re-ignited in the relationship between the husband and wife and the man is seeing this as he is looking at his wife and he is ready to spend the rest of his life with her. The poem concludes with “Has this been thus before? And shall not thus time's eddying flight Still with our lives our love restoreIn death's despite, And day and night yield one delight once more?” Meaning that yes, they have been in this marriage situation before but now they’re there to restore the love they have for themselves and they are going to live the rest of their lives happily.


Evaluation Poem: "Nuptial sleep"*

At length their long kiss severed, with sweet smart:
And as the last slow sudden drops are shed
From sparkling eaves when all the storm has fled,
So singly flagged the pulses of each heart.
Their bosoms sundered, with the opening start
Of married flowers to either side outspread
From the knit stem; yet still their mouths, burnt red,
Fawned on each other where they lay apart.

Sleep sank them lower than the tide of dreams,
And their dreams watched them sink, and slid away.
Slowly their souls swam up again, through gleams
Of watered light and dull drowned waifs of day;
Till from some wonder of new woods and streams
He woke, and wondered more: for there she lay.

Jane Taylor

-Jane Taylor was born on September 23rd, 1783 and died of breast cancer on April 13th 1824 at the age of 40.
-Both her and her sister were poets which resulted in confusion in a lot of their authorship among people
-Jane’s most famous work was “Twinkle, Twinkle, little Star,” written when she was 23.
-She also wrote poems like “Come and play in the Garden” and “The Orphan”
-Not only was she a poet but she was also a hymn writer and a children’s author.
-Fun fact: It was rumoured that a character on start trek was supposed to represent Jane Taylor.

The Spider

Oh, look at that great ugly spider!" said Ann; And screaming, she brush'd it away with her fan; "'Tis a frightful black creature as ever can be, I wish that it would not come crawling on me. "
"Indeed," said her mother, "I'll venture to say,
The poor thing will try to keep out of your way; For after the fright, and the fall, and the pain, It has much more occasion than you to complain.
"But why should you dread the poor insect, my dear? If it hurt you, there'd be some excuse for your fear; But its little black legs, as it hurried away, Did but tickle your arm, as they went, I dare say.

This poem was chosen because it gave the image when read quitely but when read out loud it represented more of a story than anything else. It had a certain specific ryhthm to it which was pleasant to the ear when read aloud and drew a picture of a life lesson of patience.

-Has a specific rhyming scheme of aa, bb, cc, dd… etc.
- Jane may have written this about her and her sisters childhood possibly
- Memory of her mother and sister
- The main theme is a life lesson (possibly one she learned when she was young).
- She wrote the poem in a way that it seems like a story to the reader
- It becomes obvious that this is her writing it because it exaggerates her style of writing and it almost seems like a nursery story

Evaluation poem: "Come play in the Garden"*

LITTLE sister,
come away,
And let us in the garden play,
For it is a pleasant day.

On the grass-plat let us sit,
Or, if you please,
we'll play a bit,
And run about all over it.
But the fruit we will not pick,
For that would be a naughty trick,
And very likely make us sick.
Nor will we pluck the pretty flowers
That grow about the beds and bowers,
Because you know they are not ours.

We'll take the daisies, white and red,
Because mamma has often said
That we may gather then instead.
And much I hope we always may
Our very dear mamma obey,
And mind whatever she may say.