help plz

[another sara]

could u guys help me with this plz!

i want a summary or titles of the majot writers or poems that talks about political poetry, the ones that reall made a difference or an influence in the political, economi level of da society...

[cuppajoe_9]

Pablo Neruda would be a good place to start.

[another sara]

would u plz help me more..i know im being pain in da ***, but i was wondering like, is there a specific era where i can start, or a specific theme..

i dont know if u get me, ohhh...sorry again really

[Rosalind]

Are you dealing with any particular country or time period?
Here are a few ideas for starting places.

The American Transcendentalists were big on economic and political reform, though a lot of it is in prose rather than poetry. Emerson and Thoreau are the big names.


World War I spawned a whole generation of anti-war poetry. Some starters: Siegfried Sassoon, Ivor Gurney, Wilfred Owen.

One of my personal favorite poets, W.B. Yeats, and his contemporaries wrote lot of political poetry. 'To Ireland in the Coming Time' and 'Easter 1916' spring to mind.

Rudyard Kipling had a lot of strong political ideas (*cough-chauvanistic-imperialist-cough*). They definately show up in his novels, but I can't remember any specific examples of poems. It's worth a check.

Just a few ideas.

[cuppajoe_9]

Rudyard Kipling had a lot of strong political ideas (*cough-chauvanistic-imperialist-cough*). They definately show up in his novels, but I can't remember any specific examples of poems. It's worth a check.

What about "The White Man's Burden"?

[Rosalind]

Bingo. Thanks.

[another sara]

thanks alot guys! but well plz put up with me...
Major British who made difference through their poetry, and talked about important political issues, such as, liberty, war, economic system..etc. at the present I study the romantic and Victorian era, so poets from that era would be great. And other thing, err…poets from contemporary or modern time who made a fuss or talk about the same issues, if u know what I mean, political poems that really made an affect….

[Whifflingpin]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rosalind
"Rudyard Kipling had a lot of strong political ideas (*cough-chauvanistic-imperialist-cough*). They definately show up in his novels, but I can't remember any specific examples of poems. It's worth a check."
"What about "The White Man's Burden"?"

Kipling was definitely not pc, but neither was he chauvinist-imperialist.

He thought the British Empire ought to be a force for good. As shown in "take up the white man's burden, send forth the best ye breed, etc" he argues that nations with wealth and technology should use their advantages for the benefit, not the exploitation, of the rest of mankind. The phrase he uses (much misquoted out of context) for those whose imperialism is selfish and domineering is "lesser breeds without the Law."


** ** **

From the Romantic period, Blake, Byron and Shelley are probably the major poets who say most on liberty and other social issues.

George Crabbe (1754-1832), wrote scathingly in verse on the sort of issues later taken up by Dickens, Charles Kingsley etc. I'd say that you should read the section on "Peter Grimes" from Crabbe's poem "The Borough" at the very least.

[another sara]

thank u guys, u've been a amajor help

cant thank u enough but one last thing...sorry again, what abput poets from nowadays?

[PeterL]

cant thank u enough but one last thing...sorry again, what abput poets from nowadays?

Are there any noteworthy poets today? I'm not big into poetry, but I used to hear about poets. Alan Ginsberg died in the recent past, so you might consider him.

[danar256]

W B Yeats,D H Lawrence, W H Auden, Seamus Deane (Irish), Siegfried Sassoon et al. The First World War seemed to produce a lot of anti-war poetry (is the time frame too late?)but I suppose all generations have been opposed to war and what better way to express than the written word.
I could even suggest that Shakespeare was political in his day.
Hope it helps.

[PeterL]

thanks alot guys! but well plz put up with me...
Major British who made difference through their poetry, and talked about important political issues, such as, liberty, war, economic system..etc. at the present I study the romantic and Victorian era, so poets from that era would be great..
.

The Romantics didn't have much to do with politics, although Wordsworth and Keats had some political comments in their poetry. An argument that Coleridge was political could be made, but that would require some stretching.

In the Victorian period Alfred Lord Tennyson was very political, especially after he was made Poet Laureate. Others have mentioned Kipling. I would say that Tennyson was the most influential, and some of his Victorian poetry predated the coronation of Queen Victoria, which suggests that he initiated some of the themes that came to be known as Victorian. Dickens was also political but seldom overtly so.

You might want to read the Wikipedia article on Victorian literature.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victorian_literature

[Sindhu]

The Romantics didn't have much to do with politics, although Wordsworth and Keats had some political comments in their poetry. An argument that Coleridge was political could be made, but that would require some stretching.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victorian_literature

Good God! My Ph.d Thesis, (Ready for publication:) now) has an entire chapter with poems , lines and page numbers about the political nature of the major Romantic poets' writings - including Blake, Coleridge, Wordsworth, Byron, Shelley AND Keats. And there are heaps of booksand articles on this subject now. I'm kind of typing this with an eye on the clock- have to rush to class- state, but I'd really like to discuss this with you later, Peter, Ok?

[Sindhu]

thank u guys, u've been a amajor help

cant thank u enough but one last thing...sorry again, what abput poets from nowadays?

If you could specify the time frame you meant by "nowadays" itwould be easier to answer.

To take a chance, you could certainly include Auden, Heaney,Stevie Smith, Gwendoline Brooks, Eunice D' Souza, Agha Shahid Ali and Rukmini Bhayya Nayar. (The last 3 are Indian, by the way but political enoughto satisfy anyone!);)

Like I said, I could help more if you specified what you meant by nowadays.

[Sindhu]

thanks alot guys! but well plz put up with me...
Major British who made difference through their poetry, and talked about important political issues, such as, liberty, war, economic system..etc. at the present I study the romantic and Victorian era, so poets from that era would be great. And other thing, err…poets from contemporary or modern time who made a fuss or talk about the same issues, if u know what I mean, political poems that really made an affect….

Sara, I can guarantee the Romantics had a lot of interest in Politics, it's only a question of which poems we choose to look at. I'm running out of time, so just a few brief exammples: Check out Wordsworth's sonnet: England, the time has come; parts of Keat's Endymion where an 'Indian maid' figures, Shelley's "Mask Of Anarchy" and Kathema (I'm not quite sure about that last title), Byron's "Curse of Minerva" and Coleridge's " Fears in Solitude". We'll get onto minor poets later. By the way, even though it may not be part of your assignmentor whatever, it still would be interesting to look into the prose writings, including letters, journals etc of these poets. You'll soon find politics enough there.:thumbs_up

[Sindhu]

And oh yes, some of these did crate quite a stir- The Mask of Anarchy was burnt in England and Fears in Solitude generated a spate of indignant reviews.

[another sara]

Sindhu :)

thanks a millions! u cant imagine how much help you were! thanks really!
and sure, i'll check those titles u told me about !:) :D

hope we can talk more in future if you dont mind:blush:

thanks angel ;)

[Sindhu]

Sindhu :)

thanks a millions! u cant imagine how much help you were! thanks really!
and sure, i'll check those titles u told me about !:) :D

hope we can talk more in future if you dont mind:blush:

thanks angel ;)
Sure! and I'm still blushing over your PM!:blush:
Oh, yes- just remembered the Shelley title I wasn't sure about was Zeinab and Kathema.
Sindhu