Modernism is a period in literary history
which started around the early 1990s and continued until the early 1940s. This
movement rejected traditional values and techniques, and emphasized the
importance of individual experience. This movement has also been driven by
various social and political agenda. The Modern age been called “the age
of anxiety”
Modernism
includes Imagism, Cubism, Futurism, Dadaism, Expressionism, Surrealism,
Symbolism, Impressionism and Existentialism.
After 1900, we could find a lot of
tremendous activities in the field of poetry as well as in the other field of
literature.
Characteristic
of modern poetry
Modern poetry often features disrupted
syntax which refers to irregular sentence structure. Intertextuality is also an
important aspect of modern poetry. In addition, many modern poems feature a
stream of consciousness and use of allusion and multiple association of words
which are borrowed from other culture. Modern poet also convey a sense of
alienation from the worlds. The most common characteristic of modern poetry is
open form and free verse which is quite different from the fixed forms and
meters of traditional poetry as well as it is marked by fragmentation and
juxtaposition.
1)
''The Embankment''- T.E.Hulme
Once,
in finesse of fiddles found I ecstasy,
flash of gold heels on the hard pavement.
Now see I
That warmth’s the very stuff of poesy.
Oh, God, make small
The old star-eaten blanket of the sky,
That I may fold it round me and in comfort lie.
This poem depicts the poverty of people through the use
of metaphors like ‘fallen gentleman’, ‘Finesse of fiddles’, ‘Flash of gold hills’, ‘Star eaten
blanket’. It may be related with sexual temptation. The metaphor fallen gentleman symbolize those
who succumbed to sexual temptations and ruined his life emotionally and
financially.
2) "Darkness"- by Joseph Campbell
I
stop to watch a star shine in the boghole –
A
star no longer, but a silver ribbon of light.
I
look at it, and pass on.
The theme of this poem seems quite
against of the Victorian theme of poetry. The title of the poem as well as 1st and
2nd lines of the poem presents the contradiction between dark
and shiny star, by using this it may tell about the illusion of life.
3)
"Image"- by Edward Storer
"Forsaken
lovers,
Burning to a
chaste white moon
upon strange
pyres of loneliness and drought".
Generally the
metaphor of love is used to reflect the connection of heart between two people
but here the poet used it as something which burns the lovers. It represents
the idea of loneliness among the modern people.
4) “In a station of the Metro” – Ezra pound
The
apparition of these faces in the crowd:
Petals
on a wet, black bough.
This is a very
short modern written by Ezra Pound. It is considered as the first haiku written
in English but it lacks the traditional structure of haiku. "Petals on wet black
bought" is a very good metaphor used by poet. Through this
metaphor poet tells about the faces of individual in the metro. Lifelessness of
the people of city is reflected in this poem.
5)"The
pool"- by Hilda Doolittle
"Are you
alive?
I touched you
you quiver
trembling like a sea fish
I cover you with
my net
What are you
banded one?
In a very
different way this poem start with a question which is related existentialism
and it is considered as a one of the important aspect of modern literature. The
metaphor seafish seems to suggest that the life of modern people is controlled
by authority.
6)
"Insouciance"- By Richard Aldington
"In
and out of the dreary trenches
Trudging cheerily
under the stars
I make for myself
little poems
Delicate as a
flock of dovesin
Thy fly away like
white-winged Doves.
This poem speaks
about how people were living in modern age. The word dreary trenches
presents the loneliness in the life of modern people. In that isolation they
try to relief themselves by writing down their feelings in a words. As poet
says that, ‘I make for myself little poems’ through this poet express his
feeling in isolation.
7)
“Morning at the Window”- T.S.Eliot
They are
rattling breakfast plates in basement kitchens,
And along the trampled edges of the street
I am aware of
the damp souls of housemaids
Sprouting
despondently at area gates.
The brown waves
of fog toss up to me
Twisted faces
from the bottom of the street,
And tear from a
passer-by with muddy skirts
An aimless smile
that hovers in the air
And vanishes
along the level of the roofs.
This short poem
is a depiction of modern England. It highlights the issue of poverty faced by
poor people who were living in slum area. We can find modern metaphors like
, ‘brown waves’, ‘twisted
faces’, ‘aimless smile’ and ‘muddy skirt’ – it also gives an idea about the poverty.
8)
"The Red wheelbarrow- William carols William
so
much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside the white
chickens
It is well
known short poem by William carols William.In this poem we find a modern
metaphors like a red wheelborrow’ and ‘white chicken’.
This metaphor are connected with field of agriculture. It represents the
craftsmanship of farmer.
9)
“Anecdote of the jar”- Wallace Stevens
I placed a jar in Tennessee,
And round it was, upon a hill.
It made the slovenly wilderness
Surround that hill.
The wilderness rose up to it,
And sprawled around, no longer wild.
The jar was round upon the ground
And tall and of a port in air.
It took dominion everywhere.
The jar was gray and bare.
It did not give of bird or bush,
Like nothing else in Tennessee.
Like a John
Keats’s “The Grecian Urn”, this poem is also a exaggeration of the picture of
jar. Thorough this poem poet also mocks on the industrialization of modern
century. By using the metaphor jar poet provides us a vision to look at nature
in a good manner.
10) “ I” – E.E.Cummings
“A leaf falls with loneliness”
The poem is very
short but it has very deep and various meanings. In this one line poem
isolation is at the central idea of it. The leaf is fallen because of
loneliness that’s why we can connect this idea with the idea of death.
