Ponderings

Tag: poetry

  • The Inheritor Of Unfulfilled Renown

    On the 20th of November, 1752 the English poet Thomas Chatterton was born. He was born in Bristol to a family who played an important and prestigious role in the office of sexton for St Mary Radcliffe Church. His mother, Sarah Chatterton was a part-time seamstress. His father, also called Thomas, was a numismatist who died shortly after he was born.

    He was educated at Edward Colston’s charity school, reputedly on the site of a ruined Carmelite convent. His childhood was steeped in mystery and myth, but also difficulty and poverty. This inauspicious start in life did not bode well for his future. In spite of his efforts to establish himself as a professional poet he died at the tragically young age of 17. His death occurred in murky circumstances. Many assumed that he had taken his own life.

    However other commentators have suggested that his demise may have been accidental, as his death was attributed to arsenic poisoning. Arsenic was a common treatment for venereal disease at that time. Nonetheless his death still created a myth that lingers to this day, of the tortured, doomed and misunderstood poet destined for obscurity.

    His death and the legend that surrounded it influenced other writers and artists for at least a century afterwards, and beyond. In 1835 the French playwright Alfred de Vigny wrote the visionary drama “Chatterton”. The troubled Victorian poet and Catholic mystic Francis Thompson believed that he was saved from suicide by the comforting presence of Chatterton’s ghost.

    The myth was also immortalised in the popular imagination by the pre-Raphaelite artist Henry Wallis in his 1856 painting “The Death of Chatterton”. In 2010 the outsider artist George Harding was inspired to create his own interpretation of this iconic image in the painting “Everything is Real except God and Death”, inspired by his experience as an in-patient at Bethlem hospital.

    Harding re-imagined the mythic figure of Chatterton, and re-created the infamous death scene with himself at the centre. However in the painting, Harding is not dead, but in a state of madness and confusion. In the grip of his delusion, he has no head, in its place is the Eye of Providence. The painting illustrates that disturbing and unsettling no-man’s land that exists between reality and insanity in which death itself has no meaning.

    Chatterton’s extraordinary life and death provides a dark inspiration for those who have found themselves adrift in society. Chatterton was an imaginative and sensitive child. When he was six he amused himself with solitary pursuits, and spent entire days reading and writing. At school he was prone to daydreaming, and neglected his academic work. He started writing poetry at the age of eleven, and this was encouraged by his mother.

    He was fascinated by history, particularly folklore and many of his earliest writings illuminate the old myths and tales of England. The ancient legends and landscapes of England, especially Bristol animated his verse. This was something that he cultivated while still a schoolboy at Colston’s school. It was staggering to consider that he was only sixteen, and unlike many youths of today who are only too keen to forge ahead and create new ideas for the future, he was more inclined to look back into the past.

    Chatterton adored the rarefied world of Medieval England. This was a period replete with ornate mythology and lore. It was a realm so captivating that he would frequently lose himself within it. He even adopted the persona of a Medieval poet, and attempted to appropriate the syntax and style. He created the pseudonym “Thomas Rowley”. The “Rowley” poems are an astounding testament to his literary and linguistic talents, honed at such a young age.

    Chatterton believed that the character that he imagined, of a Medieval scholar, scribe and Priest, was so convincing, that he could fool the literary establishment. He appealed to the great and good of Bristol. He told them that he had discovered a neglected masterpiece written by an unknown and unrenowned poet from the fifteenth century. However they were unwilling to remunerate him.

    Unchastened by this rejection, he sent his appeal further, to the esteemed Horace Walpole, who initially believed his account until he was informed of Chatterton’s age. He was sceptical of the veracity of the poems, and consulted his friend Thomas Gray. Gray instantly declared that the poems were fake. Walpole wrote a denouncing letter to Chatterton in which he called his poems “facile”, and the correspondence ended.

    The rejection wounded him, and it sent Chatterton on a path to self-destruction, and led to his untimely demise. It seems tragic now to consider that he died not knowing that his work of medieval parody and pastiche would become a major influence on the Romantic poets, and inspire further generations of English poets.

  • In Xanadu

    On the 21st October, 1772 the English poet, literary critic, philosopher and theologian Samuel Taylor Coleridge was born. Coleridge was a prominent member of a rarefied group of writers and artists known collectively as the Romantics. This was an intellectual movement dedicated to the cultivation of the human imagination, regarded as the ultimate source of enlightenment and the key to the development and progression of civilisation.

    In our modern understanding of the term, Romantics are idealistic dreamers with an excessively optimistic perception of human nature and its destiny. Romantics were the heirs of utopians, who themselves had too much faith in humankind, at least in terms of solving the almost intractable problems of existence. However we are living in a time of cynicism and scepticism, and these concepts do not have much significance or resonance, but in the past these ideas were considered radical.

    Writers associated with utopianism include the moral philosopher William Godwin.

    In 1793 Godwin published “An Enquiry Into Political Justice”. This essay fired the imagination of a young William Wordsworth. He implored others, in a spirit of reckless extravagance to “throw aside your books of chemistry” and urged his contemporaries to focus on Godwin’s theories instead. Coleridge himself was encouraged by his message and composed a “hymn” honouring him, announcing in emphatic tones.

    “For that thy voice, in Passion’s stormy day,

    When wild I roam’d the bleak heath of Distress,

    Bade the bright form of Justice meet my way-

    And told me that her name was HAPPINESS.”

    At this time, Coleridge was young and fiery and determined to rid the world of all of its iniquities.

    He was a bold and ambitious young man with tremendous zeal. However he was also afflicted with a sensitivity that was frequently misunderstood and maligned by mainstream society and its institutions. He was invalided out of the Army, and in spite of early academic promise, failed to graduate from Cambridge University. He published his first volume of poetry in 1796, which also featured poems from Charles Lamb and Robert Southey.

    One year later he moved to a cottage in Nether Stowey, Somerset. He resided there for a year and created his best work, including “Kubla Khan”. This visionary, extraordinary poem was composed after an opium induced dream. The poem describes Xanadu, the summer capital of Mongol China. It details Emperor Kublai Khan’s pleasure dome, situated next to a holy river. The poem is a testament to the sacred and hallowed elements of the natural world.

    Voyages into far flung lands are enduring themes in English literature. These are mythic tales which are not meant to be literally true. These are works designed to represent a national sensibility. These reflect a common experience living on a cold, dark island cut off from the rest of the world. The yearning for escape to more exotic climes speaks to an insular people who have a deep longing for a land of promise, a paradise, or even a garden of Eden.

    Coleridge and his fellow Romantics were deeply committed to the artistic recreation of Godwin’s utopia. Utopia is more of a symbol than an actual destination, it represents the centre of goodness and harmony. The political philosophy of utopia has dwindled, but the art it inspired has left a lasting and profound legacy.

  • In Praise of Cats

    The English poet, Christopher Smart was born on the 11th April, 1722. He is chiefly remembered for his startling and innovative religious poetry. However he was misunderstood in his lifetime. He was part of the tradition of fragile genius, epitomised by other original and solitary poets like John Clare. Clare was declared mad and confined to an asylum, an unhappy experience which nonetheless allowed him free rein to develop his poetic sensibility.

    It is a fine line to tread, as the division between truly original thought and madness is tenuous. Conventional society is suspicious of free thinkers, and those who are blessed with the gift of imagination often find the business of ordinary living stifling. It is hard to feel confined by the everyday restrictions of life, and authority figures always attempt to undermine anyone who dares to be creative. It is therefore inevitable that artistic and creative people are prone to mental illness as they are overwhelmed by prejudices and philistinism.

    In 1757, Smart was committed to St Luke’s Hospital for Lunatics. He was isolated in this bleak, forbidding asylum with only his beloved cat Jeoffry for company. While interned at St Luke’s he composed a moving paean to Jeoffry. In “My Cat Jeoffry”, Smart pays tribute to a creature who, in his mind, embodies godly virtues. According to the poet, every action, no matter how banal, is Jeoffry’s way of communing with God.

    However the poem is much more than an outpouring of love for a cherished pet, it is actually an important lesson in humility. This is something that humanity rarely takes heed, as it is a species in which the ego is paramount. As Smart acknowledges,

    “For he is good to think on, if a man would express himself neatly.”

    The poem is reminiscent of St Francis’ profound eulogies to animals. The animals are holy and noble, and part of the wonder and beauty of God’s creation.

    Smart’s verse resonates with anyone who has ever had the privilege of owning a cat. It is not far-fetched to state that they are imbued with a distinct quality of magic wisdom. Jeoffry was just one remarkable cat among a magnificent species.

  • A Ghostly Language

    On the 7th April, 1770 the English poet William Wordsworth was born. It was fortuitous that he was born amidst the magic surroundings of the Lake District. This is a unique and astounding area of natural beauty, a phenomenon shaped by ancient geological history. The story of its creation is a thing of wonder.

    Glaciers created a distinct landscape of scooped-out valleys, accompanied by a rough scree of angular stones which combined to form breccia. Skiddaw Slates were deposited first, then volcanic rocks emerged to produce the mountainous region of Langdale Pikes and Helvellyn. During the later Ice Age, an ice cap spread through the valleys which widened and deepened them. Once the ice retreated, piles of glacial debris known as moraines blocked the mouths of the valleys and produced the lakes.

    Wordsworth could not help feeling enthralled by the nature that surrounded him, he spoke about “the ghostly language of the ancient earth”. He was a romantic poet, but he was also a product of the Enlightenment, an era of scientific and philosophical innovation which replaced theological dogma. Writers and thinkers cultivated a new respect for the natural world, and even developed an entirely new form of religious devotion to the Earth.

    However this was just a revival of the old religion, the only exception was that they had discovered the language to illustrate it. Intellectuals were living under the misapprehension that they were living in an age of reason and had divested with superstition. Their illusions were shattered in the age of post-revolutionary terror that was inflicted upon continental Europe. This island was always immune to the contagion of radicalism, even the aberration of Cromwell was swiftly corrected. The ancient institutions of monarchy and church merely evolved with the changing times.

    Wordsworth alluded to the preservation and conservation of our ancient landscape in his “Guide Through The District of the Lakes”. He imagined the solitary walker looking across the lakes and opined, “he may see or hear in fancy the winds sweeping over the lakes, or piping with a loud voice among the mountain peaks and lastly, may think of the primeval woods shedding and renewing their leaves with no human eye to notice, or human heart to regret or welcome the change”. Such plaintive words speak to a distinctly English soul.

    It is an integral part of the English sensibility to find solace in nature, as J.B Priestley notes in his 1934 work “English Journey”, “give the English a foot or two of earth, and they will grow flowers in it; they do not willingly let go of the country-as the foreign people do-once they have settled in a town; they are all gardeners, perhaps country gentlemen at heart”. Our ancestors understood the sacred nature of the landscape, and we have always felt an atavistic longing to return to our roots. Wordsworth will always be the poet of the Lakes, and we must continue to remember him.

  • A Glass of Blessings

    On April the 3rd, 1593 the poet and Anglican priest George Herbert was born. He was born into a prominent and influential Anglo-Welsh family. His ancestors included luminary figures, one notable member was the Earl of Pembroke. Herbert’s older brother Edward became the learned and respected Lord Herbert of Cherbury. Edward was revered as a renowned philosopher and theologian who later acquired the sobriquet “the father of Deism”. This philosophy championed the dual power of nature and reason.

    The Herberts elevated education and the arts as noble pursuits. His esteemed family background meant that his ultimate destiny was certain, it was inevitable that he would make his mark as a man of letters. When he was eight years old, the family moved to a dwelling close to the Charing Cross in London.

    At that time, this now unremarkable London landmark still had profound national, and spiritual significance. It was one of the twelve “Eleanor crosses”, dedicated to Eleanor of Castile. These were memorials commissioned by King Edward I to remember his late, lamented wife, and these were built at strategic points across his kingdom. Although three centuries had passed since its construction, Londoners understood the importance of the monument. The sixteenth century playwright George Peele composed a drama based on the life of the King, and devoted a section of the play to the assembling of the Charing Cross. The location, at the heart of the capital, was imbued with myth. Many other writers sensed the resonance of the King’s crosses, and inspired poems of a distinctly visionary nature.

    The poetic and numinous elements of central London had a tremendous influence on the young Herbert. His spiritual sensibility continued to invigorate him throughout his literary career. His faith in a higher power provided a comforting light during the darkest episodes in his life. In spite of his privilege he was prone to episodes of ill health. He experienced tubercular disease and prolonged fevers which stifled his intellectual ambitions.

    Nonetheless his inner resilience and resolve carried him through his years at Cambridge, where he ascended to the position of fellow. In 1619 he was appointed assistant to the University Orator. The Orator’s role fascinated him, and it helped deepen his understanding and appreciation of the art of rhetoric. It gave him an important grounding in his future career as a poet. He ascribed to Cicero’s maxim that the purpose of oration was to teach, to delight and to persuade. Meanwhile his mother, Magdalen, was encouraging him to seek a vocation in the Church.

    Magdalen was an educated and well connected lady who regularly entertained respected figures like John Donne and William Byrd. Both used their considerable talents to promote Christian virtue. A year later Herbert himself became the University Orator. In 1623 he delivered a “farewell oration” to King James I who was on a visit to the University. The King was so moved by the sermon that he requested a written copy. Emboldened by the flattery of the King, and supported by his cousin the Earl, Herbert entered the realm of politics and he represented the constituency of Montgomery. However when the King died, his enthusiasm for politics ebbed away.

    Herbert felt that he was drifting through life. In 1626 this period of torpor and ennui ended when he finally entered the priesthood. He was assigned to minister at the small parish of Leighton Bromswold in Huntingdonshire. This relatively unassuming English village was situated close to Little Gidding, an Anglican religious community later immortalised by T.S Eliot. In Herbert’s mind, however, this was a place that encapsulated the English soul. The founder of Little Gidding was Nicholas Ferrar, a close friend and confidant. Ferrar became a mentor to him, even in times of despair and doubt. He helped to cultivate and refine his poetry.

    In 1629 he moved to another parish, Fugglestone St Peter with Bemerton, which was near Salisbury. While serving as rector he worked on his poetry, which had spiritual themes. He entrusted his collection to Ferrar. Unfortunately four years later his tuberculosis returned and he died. Ferrar published his entire work the same year, and he wrote the preface. Ferrar’s intervention introduced an entire readership to some of the most affecting religious poetry ever written. It is poignant to consider that in his short, painful but immensely productive life Herbert continues to inspire us today.