The Victorian-to-Modern Era

The poets in the Victorian-to-Modern era in the late to mid nineteenth century were influence somehow by the past work that they viewed in the beginnings of there era, especially with the earlier English work. However, even with this influence, the poets of the Victorian era tried to create an image of there work that would last in the history and make a new a base for poetry for the poets whom are coming later in the world.

The Victorian poets took the idea of heroism into their work just like other poets in the past and tried to highlight their abilities in achieving their goals regardless what kind was that goal and how it was compared to that past poets’ goals. Hence, the war and the introduction to battles’ technologies made them even more heroic. This appeared in William Yeast’s work, who used images, themes and symbols that seemed to look like the older poems. In his poem “An Irish Man Foresees His Death”, he created an image of an airman who fight in a plane not for any goal but to for his country and for his people and did not fear of death which was equal to life according to him in the last line of his poem when e said “In balance with this life, this death”. Accordingly, this line showed the heroism in the poem that might be similar to Lord Byron’s heroism when he crossed the river swimming to achieve his goal without fearing death.

In contrast, the Victorian poets created their own form of poetry with their new images, themes, styles and symbols. They were affected by the industrialization world they lived in and the modern thoughts and ideas they got. Moreover, they started a new type of poetry that had more imagining instead of real life stories and probably less religious conservatism, away from the older poetry that was fascinated by the natural world and God’s amazing powers in creation. There new life shaped them to be new people with new thoughts and idea. For example, Yeast titled his work with “Adam’s Curse” and talked about the whole Adam and Eve’s story comfortably and even stated his opinion and judgment about the subject of them being out of Eden. He said “I said, "It's certain there is no fine thing. Since Adam's fall but needs much labouring” which showed his judgment of the mistake Adam did.

In conclusion, I think as the world kept on developing, the poets and their work followed what was new and deferent from the past, but they still relied on older work as the base that they should take off from.