Trend in Contemporary British Poetry by Adeel Salman Essay Example

this is seen as liberating or a descent into vernacular sprawl. However, reality cannot be easily defined. After the war, the new poetry that emerged still had elements of the measured and uneventful thirties verse. Poets of the neo-Romantic movement, such as Vernon Watkins (1906-1967), contributed to this development.

S. Graham (1918-1986), Patricia Beer (1919- ), George Barker (1913-1991), and John Heath-Stubbs (1918- ) along with other writers, continued to write as if the British world had not undergone irreversible changes. They were greatly influenced by pre-war figures such as W. B. Yeats (1865-1939), T.

The modernist movement included notable poets such as S. Eliot (1888 - 1965), Edwin Muir (1887-1959), Louis MacNeice (1907-1963), W. H. Auden (1907-1973), and Robert Graves (1895-1985). Other significant contributors to this movement were David Jones (1895-1974), Basil Bunting (1900-1985), and Hugh MacDiarmid.

John Greive (1892-1978) from Scotland and the Thomases, Dylan (1914-1953) and R. S. (1913-2000), from Wales, gained recognition for their significant contributions.

But the poetry was not yet a true product of its times. The reaction came in the early fifties, and by the time Dylan Thomas died in 1953, The Movement as the new tendency was called had obtained a coherence. The work of its poets nurtured rationality, was inhospitable to myth, was conversationally pitched (although lacking the speech rhythms of American counterparts like William Carlos Williams (1883-1963) and was deliberately formal and clear. Movement poets opposed modernism and had little truck with international influences.

They considered themselves to be a direct continuation of the mainstream English tradition. While there were not many conflicts, there was a lot of calm and thoughtful contemplation. Although the members were somewhat forced together, not

all of them stayed true to their original beliefs. Thom Gunn (1929-) and Donald Davie (1922-1995) expanded their horizons to include various styles of American, open field, and Black Mountain writing. Gunn employed syllabic meters while Davie became an interpreter of Pound's work. However, at the core, there remained a strong and restrained Englishness in the writings of Kingsley Amis (1922-1995), John Wain (1925-1994), Philip Larkin (1922 - 1985), and D. J.

Enright (1920-) and Elizabeth Jennings (1926-) were both part of the Movement during the formal English fifties. However, there were also significant outsiders within the Movement. Stevie Smith (1902-1971) was a unique poet who could be likened to "William Blake rewritten by Ogden Nash" (Anthony Thwaite - Poetry Today, 1996, p 28). Alongside Smith, other poets who were less hostile to romanticism were also gaining recognition, such as Jon Silkin (1930-1998), Sylvia Plath (1932 - 1963), and two of Britain's greatest twentieth-century poets, Geoffrey Hill (1932 - ) and Ted Hughes (1930 - 1998). Hughes, the gritty Yorkshire Poet Laureate, actively engaged in the primal struggle and emerged victorious.

In the late twentieth century, Hill's poetry was regarded as the highest form of English verse. However, during the 1950s and 1960s, it became clear that a major change was on the horizon. British poetry briefly experimented with jazz and stage performances before undergoing a significant shift in direction. Western cultural values were evolving due to the weakening of established orders caused by two world wars and the collapse of empires. In America, the Beat Generation prioritized spirituality over traditional structures and valued freedom over limitations, resulting in progress.

Starting with Mike Horovitz's famous Albert Hall poetry

reading in 1965, the Underground movement emerged as a way for some individuals to rebel against conventional norms. By valuing open forms and creating poetry that protested against hierarchy and war, the Underground movement rejected mainstream values and found its own means of connecting with the public through alternative magazines and distribution methods. This poetry movement, fueled by exciting events, popular readings, and independent distribution systems, spread across the UK. Spearheaded by the Liverpool poets Adrian Henri, Roger McGough, and Brian Patten, who gained popularity thanks to their association with the Beatles, and supported by Adrian Mitchell, Jeff Nuttall, Tom Pickard, and others, Underground poetry became a socially acceptable and widely embraced form of verse. This movement allowed poetry to break away from its traditionally male-dominated and academic centers in metropolitan areas. Mike Horovitz's compilation of poems from this era, ‘Children of Albion’, became a bestseller.

Not only the Underground, but also other poets and artists contributed to the world-wide concrete poetry movement in the 1960s. Among them were Scottish poets Iain Hamilton Finlay and Edwin Morgan, Dominican monk Dom Sylvester Houedard, artists Tom Phillips and John Furnival, as well as sound and found poets like Bob Cobbing, Peter Mayer, and Henri Chopin who resided in London. These experimental poets and their followers, including Peter Finch, Tom Leonard, and Paula Claire, joined forces with the Underground to challenge the establishment. The mainstream London Poetry Society was ousted by the new wave during the early 1970s, exemplifying the replacement of old with new. The Poetry Review, the oldest poetry journal in the UK founded in 1908 and a staunch supporter of traditional values, was taken over

by Eric Mottram, a passionate advocate for expanded consciousness and alternative verse.

In the eastern counties, there was a group of poets known as the Cambridge School. These poets, mostly associated with university English departments and influenced by American models, were centered around the magazine Grosseteste Review. Their poetry was characterized by an emphasis on language over discourse and a non-metropolitan axis. Leading practitioners included Andrew Crozier, John James, Veronica Forrest-Thomson, Douglas Oliver, John Riley, J. H. Prynne, and Peter Riley. Critics referring to them as 'lunatic fringes' dismissed them while the English mainstream continued unaffected. However, new poets emerged from outside London, adding a regional touch to the UK's Georgian gentility.

Tony Harrison's (1937-) hard-edged northern realism was augmented by Douglas Dunn's (1942-) skilfully crafted, working-class observations from Hull. As the seventies transitioned into the eighties, the experimenters adopted a neo-modernist approach. Despite modernism's perceived sterility, a new group of writers emerged, following in the footsteps of Basil Bunting (1900-1985) and David Jones (1895-1974). Allen Fisher (1944-), Denise Riley (1948-), Barry MacSweeney (1948-2000), Lee Harwood (1939-), Chris Torrance (1941-), Peter Didsbury (1946-), and others, often published by the Ferry and Fulcrum Presses, proved that British poetry would never limit itself to just one method.

In response, the Empire retaliated. In 1982, Andrew Motion and Blake Morrison published the Penguin Book of Contemporary British Poetry, a mainstream neo-Georgian anthology that highlighted who was excluded rather than who was included. While pop poetry thrived in clubs and neo-modernists dominated small presses, this anthology proved that formalism, structure, traditional meaning, and absolute clarity were still valued in these lands. Alongside prominent voices like Seamus Heaney, Tony Harrison, and Douglas Dunn,

Hugo Williams, Michael Longley, Tom Paulin, Anne Stevenson, Fleur Adcock, James Fenton, Carol Rumens, Craig Raine, and Christopher Reid were also included. Notably, Reid and Raine briefly gained fame for their creation of the Martian school of exaggerated metaphor.

The unity of the center persisted, despite Larkin's inability to identify the binding force. The literature in the UK was being influenced by consistent immigration throughout many years. Immigrants such as Linton Kwesi Johnson (1952-) introduced new values that opposed authority, normalized non-standard spelling, and through their association with black music, created a type of poetry that was unparalleled in Britain. The way the poetry was presented was equally as significant as its style and content.

James Berry (1924-), the most famous early writer of British black literature, was the editor of the first anthology. The acceptance by academic institutions was not a top priority for these individuals. The movement grew to include many emerging second-generation black Britons and long-time residents of the country. Poets like Benjamin Zephaniah (1958-), John Agard (1949-), Grace Nichols (1950-), Jackie Kay (1961-), Jean 'Binta' Breeze (1956-), and others were able to transcend racial boundaries with their verse that resonated with those referred to as "white Negroes" by Norman Mailer. These poets shared a disdain for prejudice, authority, and the police similar to British Caribbean Blacks. Despite this progress, British Asian poetry has received even less recognition.

In the early nineties, the continued attacks on the established tradition of centralism sparked a poetry boom. The media, caught up in the frenzy, suggested that poetry could become the new rock'n'roll. Even pop stars started to admit their admiration for poetry, and some even began writing

it themselves. This trend of combining verse with songwriting, started by Bob Dylan, continued to gain popularity. The new poets of this period were diverse, ranging from the innovative and experimental Peter Reading (1946-) to more traditional poets like David Constantine (1944-), Selima Hill (1945-), Kit Wright (1944-), Bernard O'Donahue (1945-), Sean O'Brien (1952-), Michael Donaghy (1954-), Michael Hoffman (1957-), Carol Ann Duffy (1955-), Simon Armitage (1963-), and Don Patterson (1963-).

The culture has become diverse. Since the time of Dylan Thomas before the war, the Celtic fringes have been gaining prominence. Over the past fifteen years since 1990, being an Irish or a Scots poet (but strangely not a Welsh poet) has provided significant benefits. British culture now places stronger value on its individual parts rather than its entirety. This could be attributed to the British being a nation that adheres to tradition. As post-Modernists, the concerns of minorities regarding language, sexual orientation, origin, and gender have all become disproportionately important.

The output of presses such as Carcanet and Bloodaxe in the early 1990s reflects much of the mainstream stance at that time. This is exemplified in The New Poetry (1993), a controversial anthology edited by Michael Hulse, David Kennedy, and David Morley. The anthology is noteworthy for its diversity, lacking a central theme but instead embracing multiplicity. However, it does not include many examples of Britain's performance poetry. In the past fifteen years or so, verse has been increasingly embraced on the stages of clubs, pubs, and bars.

The poetry, which is delivered in an entertaining and loud manner, has become popular and easily understood, similar to other forms of media. This shift has transformed poetry

from being obscure to being widely appreciated. The Liverpool poets and their followers, such as John Cooper Clarke, Attila the Stockbroker, and John Hegley, have played a significant role in increasing the public's interest in poetry. Their work is dynamic, politically relevant, and often infused with humor. However, it is rare for their poetry to also captivate readers on the page. On the other hand, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales - countries that have recently gained political autonomy - have experienced a surge in poetry within their post-colonial cultures.

In Scotland, the poetry of Hugh MacDiarmid has had a strong influence. Robert Garioch, George MacKay Brown, Norman MacCaig, Liz Lochead, and other poets from Scotland have seen their work become popular outside of their own country. Similarly, during the troubles in Northern Ireland, poets like Paul Muldoon, Derek Mahon, Michael Longley, Tom Paulin, and others emerged alongside the celebrated poet Seamus Heaney. In Wales, the poetry of R has been a dominant force beyond its borders.

S. Thomas has been followed by a number of poets, including Gillian Clarke (1937-), Nigel Jenkins (1946-), Menna Elfyn (1951-), Gwyneth Lewis (1959-), Robert Minhinnick (1952-), Tony Curtis (1946-), and, more recently, Owen Sheers (1974-). However, it is in Scotland where significant formal innovators such as Tom Leonard and W. N Herbert (1961-) have emerged.

Poetry in Wales and Northern Ireland, with the exception of Paul Muldoon, follows more traditional paths. By the year 2000, British poetry had reached a complex impasse. Despite efforts from editors like Simon Armitage and Robert Crawford to unite various forms of poetry such as post-modern, post-Christian, post-war, post-Hiroshima, post-structuralist, and post-devolution under one diverse banner,

the different parts of British poetry struggle to form a cohesive whole. In Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, literature is no longer overshadowed by English dominance; its influence can now be dismissed. The debate regarding form versus content remains as potent as ever.

The counter-culture has been ongoing for a century with no clear winners. Despite changes in name and focus, from lifestyle to free-form experimentation and back, it remains a strong movement with numerous followers. While there may not be British L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E poetry, there are plenty of like-minded individuals. This lineage extends from Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) to D. H.

The influence of poets such as Lawrence (1885-1930), Philip Larkin, Sir John Betjeman (1906-1984), Douglas Dunn, Andrew Motion, and Simon Armitage still persists, although it is not as central as it used to be. Minority writing, including ethnic, genre, and sexual orientation writing, now has as many advocates and followers as popular writing did in the seventies. Some poets have expanded beyond their role as poets and established themselves as multi-faceted artists. Thus, poetry has been influenced by many other disciplines.

Toni Harrison is a renowned film and theatre poet who has contributed to various creative mediums. He has written for singers featured in commercials and has also worked with esteemed institutions such as the National Theatre in London, the New York Metropolitan Opera, and the BBC and Channel 4 television.

He was born in Leeds, England in 1937 and received his education at Leeds Grammar School and Leeds University. At university, he studied Classics and also obtained a diploma in Linguistics. He became the inaugural Northern Arts Literary Fellow from 1967-8, and later held the same position again

in 1976-7. Additionally, he served as the resident dramatist at the National Theatre from 1977-8. During his time there, he worked on adaptations of Moliere's The Misanthrope and Racine's Phaedra Britannica. In 1972, his first collection of poems titled The Loiners received the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize. He later won the first European Poetry Translation Prize in 1983 for his acclaimed version of Aeschylus's The Oresteia, which was published in 1981. His collection The Gaze of the Gorgon was awarded the Whitbread Poetry Award in 1992. In 1995, he was commissioned by The Guardian newspaper to visit Bosnia and create poems about the war.

His most recent collection of poetry is Under the Clock (2005). In his poem ‘The Truth’ from this collection, he has expressed the various perspectives on war held by different people in England. Even in today's world, with its arms race and obsession with political supremacy, the hatred for war remains strong. The poem calls for making the world a better place and stopping the pain of violence. Brian Patten is also a prominent voice in contemporary poetry. He is part of a group known as the Liverpool poets, who wrote their work with the intention of being performed. Although each poet in the group has developed independently, they share a commitment to reviving poetry as a performance art. Patten's poetry evokes emotions, setting him apart from the other two 'Liverpool poets'.

According to Linda Cookson, Patten's poetry complements the poetry of Henri and McGough. However, there is a distinct difference between them: Patten's humor is fundamentally different from the verbal acrobatics of Henri and McGough, and it is almost always subservient to

an underlying seriousness of purpose. Notably, Patten's poems signal a shift among poets, prioritizing emotion over style or technique. Many of Patten's poems explore the themes of aging and mortality. In "Staring at the Crowd," he observes that "I saw the skeleton in everyone." He reflects on the presence of "Grinning Jack," symbolizing death, within each person, patiently waiting for its moment to conquer the flesh and discard its outer layer.

In a slightly ironic manner, the author highlights that we often live our lives consumed by our ordinary routines and future plans, completely unaware of the constant presence of death, symbolized by Grinning Jack, ready to abruptly end everything. However, this aspect of life may be what allows us to find interest in the trivial aspects of our daily lives; otherwise, everything we do would feel as somber as being surrounded by a graveyard. In "Cinders Patten", the narrator mourns the loss of his mother, who never experienced a fairytale-like life, and in "Armada", he recalls fond childhood memories spent with her. Just like a gust of wind that blows a child's paper boat out of reach, the smallest whisper of death also took his mother away from him.

Like a child's paper boat drifting away on a pond with the slightest breeze, you too have been carried away by the faintest breath of death. As a performance poet, Patten values pleasing his audience over pleasing critics. Anxious of critics and skeptical of intellectual analysis, he expresses his discomfort with those who dissect poetry to destroy it and his disdain for theorists of verse. The poet desires anonymity, wanting to breathe without the weight of obscure

ambitions or the necessity to explain every poem. He aims to satisfy only true lovers of poetry, ordinary individuals who are as vast as the world.

In summary, we observe a transition from the previous constraints on the technical aspects of poetry. The poet now emphasizes the importance of their poem being enjoyable for readers. Another poet, Tom Raworth, shares a similar sentiment of seeing poetry as an art form devoid of technical burdens. He expresses that he writes in order to have something that captivates his own interest to read. Raworth's poems are characterized by a strong sense of liberty.

As if wanting to experience poetry like air - free and everywhere, the British community's diversity ensures the presence of voices from various cultures, shaping the contemporary British scene with contributions from Black, Asian, and other backgrounds. Notably, Black poets such as Benjamin Zephaniah, John Agard, and Jean 'Binta' Breeze have greatly influenced British poetry. Each of these poets played a crucial role in establishing a black context within British poetry. Interestingly, it is not a matter of black poetry encroaching upon English poetry or vice versa; rather, it seems that they both complement each other.

The black poetry is undeniably black, but it also carries aspects of Englishness. Amryl Johnson was one such voice in this genre, as her poetry explored the intersection between Caribbean and English cultures. Sadly, Amryl Johnson passed away at the age of 56. She was a talented writer and her work, particularly as a poet, was evolving in unique and remarkable ways.

Her premature death is a loss to contemporary British poetry as well as Caribbean writing. Hailing from Trinidad,

her sense of fundamental identity was shaped during her childhood in Trinidad. However, upon moving to London, where she spent her adolescence and adult life amidst a sometimes hostile cultural environment, she never truly felt at ease in either place. Amryl confronted the hostility she faced as a black woman in Britain, along with the distinct perspective on British/Caribbean history it highlighted, in some honest and enraged early poems featured in her initial pamphlet collection, Shackles. This body of work established her reputation as a unique voice during a time when young black voices in British literature were relatively scarce.

. I am Black And I am Angry My name is Midnight Without Pity However, her return visits to Trinidad were not always trouble-free in terms of her desire to connect with the place and its people. The occasionally disturbing response of many of those people to her - her blackness there symbolizing less than her middle-class English accent and inevitably city-oriented attitudes - caused her distress. Her latest publication, Calling, which was released last year, also explores myth and the connotations of the female voice in poetry.

There were plans to adapt and produce Gorgons as an opera or musical. Amryl, certainly, came to regard performance as her primary medium of communication. On stage, she had a powerful presence and was able to engage and enthuse the audience, involving them in the event of her performance. Anyone who ever saw her perform her poem-song, Far and High, was not left unchallenged or unmoved. Wendy Cope, another poet known for her style of free verse and humor, was born in 1945 in the south of England.

Both of

her parents held management positions with British companies. Cope obtained a B. A. from Oxford (1966) and earned a diploma from the Westminster College of Education (1967). Following years of teaching at different junior schools in London, she transitioned into a freelance writer and columnist.

Her book Making Cocoa for Kingsley Amis (1986) contains numerous jokes and parodies in the style of famous poets from the twentieth century. Cope expresses her distaste for the term 'light verse' as it is often used to dismiss poets who incorporate humor into their work. She believes that a humorous poem can still be 'serious', conveying deep emotions and meaningful messages. In the twenty-first century, British poetry has evolved beyond being exclusively English. It has redefined the concept of 'English' due to the various trends within the British poetry scene. Just like world literature, it possesses a multitude of facets.

Solving the issue at hand is the current problem.