5. Modernism - Poetry.pptVIP

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Longfellow predominantly wrote lyric poems which are known for their musicality and which often presented stories of mythology and legend. He became the most popular American poet of the 19th century and also had success overseas. He has been criticized, however, for imitating European styles. Walt Whitman considered Longfellow an imitator of European forms, though he praised his ability to reach a popular audience as the expresser of common themes – of the little songs of the masses. The background to Modernism Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species (1859) radically altered the 19th century Romantic view that nature, especially human nature, was benign. The work of Marx and Freud had mounted an assault against orthodox religious faith that lasted into the twentieth century. World War I deepened doubt and disillusionment. Modernism is a cultural movement that generally includes the progressive art and architecture, design, literature, music, dance, painting and other visual arts which emerged in the beginning of the 20th century , particularly in the years following World War I. It was a movement of artists and designers who rebelled against late 19th century tradition, and embraced the new economic, social and political aspects of the emerging modern world. They felt that the old conventional artistic methods could not express the modern world, and they needed to find new ways for art to portray modern life. Modernism in literature is not easily summarized, but the key elements are experimentation, anti-realism, individualism and an emphasis on the mind and ideas, rather than emotion. The work of Modernist writers is characterized by showing the disenchantment, dislocation, and alienation of men in the world, and by the emphasis on experimentation and objectivism which are, in most cases, a reaction to the Modern Age. Among American writers, the best-known Modernists are Ezra Pound, T. S. Eliot,, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Er