Victorian Verse: The Politics of Public Poetry
Had you ever heard of the term, "public poetry" before today's lecture?
I certainly had not. But now that I have considered it, it does seem to be a paradox, much like Professor Kuin suggested it may be in lecture. For the most part, poetry is a private matter, such that one writes poetry in order to express a personal belief, feeling, thought, etc. However, any poetry that is published does become public, so then, perhaps all poetry is inherently private and public in nature. Being more specific, public poetry can be poetry about public matters, poetry that appears in pubic (ie. a newspaper) or that which receives public acclaim.
The poems we looked at today in class, Sir Henry Newbolt's "Vitai Lampada" and "Tommy" and "Recessional" by Rudyard Kipling are of course public poetry. Of those poems I especially liked "Tommy". For the most part it is the message and style of this poem that I enjoy. Recently (and this is my Canadian Content inclusion) I read The Wars by Timothy Findley and I found that this work shared similar themes with "Tommy". Primarily, it is the exploration of the way in which soldiers (and lower class individuals as a whole) are treated that the texts have in common. I suppose it is the portrayal of the reality for these individuals that I find so intriguing. Kipling and Findley accomplish this realistic portrayal by distancing themselves from the characters and the story. Kipling does this through his use of colloquial language and what one could imagine as a regional dialect, as Professor demonstrated so well for us today. Findley does the same, but less through language and more through the typical post-modern way of fragmented story-telling, self-reflexivity and personal interjections throughout the novel reminding the reader in subtle ways that The Wars is not his story or the only version of the story. Essentially, in both texts there is a focus on the character.
The implications of such works are strong; the message is that soldiers have been raped by their countries. I hate to give it away but this example illustrates my point so well that I cannot help myself, so here it goes: the message is represented quite vividly in The Wars when the main character is brutally raped by his fellow soldiers. The scene is intended to represent the way that one's own people (ie. fellow soldiers, fellow Canadians, etc.) can (and have) abuse their power and take advantage of soldiers (and the lower class). This scene also represents the maddness of war, but I won't elaborate on that now, I sure that point is clear to everyone, especially if you have read the novel, which I recommend! Anyhow, this rape metaphor is also easily recognized in the whole of "Tommy", but initially in these lines of the first stanza:
"I went into a public-'ouse to get a pint o'beer
The publican 'e up an'sez, "We serve no red-coats here."[...]
O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, go away";
But it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins," when the band begins to play"
(Norton 1181)
The idea here is that soldiers are treated one way in order to ensure that they are willing to risk their lives for the rest of us, but when no longer needed, they are disregarded and forgotten. This idea upsets me greatly, mostly because this attitude persists. If you need evidence, just read any news story about those returning from the war in Iraq and I am sure you will read stories about being forgotten by the government or families adandoning them emotionally. So please, wear your poppy proudly, learn about the wars and participants that have direcly effected your life and just don't forget. I believe it was for these reasons that both texts I have discussed in this post were written, so I suppose by reading and analyzing them we are doing our part in remembering. Now all we can do is pass the message along.
Janice
I certainly had not. But now that I have considered it, it does seem to be a paradox, much like Professor Kuin suggested it may be in lecture. For the most part, poetry is a private matter, such that one writes poetry in order to express a personal belief, feeling, thought, etc. However, any poetry that is published does become public, so then, perhaps all poetry is inherently private and public in nature. Being more specific, public poetry can be poetry about public matters, poetry that appears in pubic (ie. a newspaper) or that which receives public acclaim.
The poems we looked at today in class, Sir Henry Newbolt's "Vitai Lampada" and "Tommy" and "Recessional" by Rudyard Kipling are of course public poetry. Of those poems I especially liked "Tommy". For the most part it is the message and style of this poem that I enjoy. Recently (and this is my Canadian Content inclusion) I read The Wars by Timothy Findley and I found that this work shared similar themes with "Tommy". Primarily, it is the exploration of the way in which soldiers (and lower class individuals as a whole) are treated that the texts have in common. I suppose it is the portrayal of the reality for these individuals that I find so intriguing. Kipling and Findley accomplish this realistic portrayal by distancing themselves from the characters and the story. Kipling does this through his use of colloquial language and what one could imagine as a regional dialect, as Professor demonstrated so well for us today. Findley does the same, but less through language and more through the typical post-modern way of fragmented story-telling, self-reflexivity and personal interjections throughout the novel reminding the reader in subtle ways that The Wars is not his story or the only version of the story. Essentially, in both texts there is a focus on the character.
The implications of such works are strong; the message is that soldiers have been raped by their countries. I hate to give it away but this example illustrates my point so well that I cannot help myself, so here it goes: the message is represented quite vividly in The Wars when the main character is brutally raped by his fellow soldiers. The scene is intended to represent the way that one's own people (ie. fellow soldiers, fellow Canadians, etc.) can (and have) abuse their power and take advantage of soldiers (and the lower class). This scene also represents the maddness of war, but I won't elaborate on that now, I sure that point is clear to everyone, especially if you have read the novel, which I recommend! Anyhow, this rape metaphor is also easily recognized in the whole of "Tommy", but initially in these lines of the first stanza:
"I went into a public-'ouse to get a pint o'beer
The publican 'e up an'sez, "We serve no red-coats here."[...]
O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, go away";
But it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins," when the band begins to play"
(Norton 1181)
The idea here is that soldiers are treated one way in order to ensure that they are willing to risk their lives for the rest of us, but when no longer needed, they are disregarded and forgotten. This idea upsets me greatly, mostly because this attitude persists. If you need evidence, just read any news story about those returning from the war in Iraq and I am sure you will read stories about being forgotten by the government or families adandoning them emotionally. So please, wear your poppy proudly, learn about the wars and participants that have direcly effected your life and just don't forget. I believe it was for these reasons that both texts I have discussed in this post were written, so I suppose by reading and analyzing them we are doing our part in remembering. Now all we can do is pass the message along.
Janice