If you look at a list showing the most important English poets in 20th century literature, Charles Tomlinson is often one of the persons you will miss, or at least, only find in the background. Instead, the list is fixed on poets like Ted Hughes, Philip Larkin or Seamus Heaney. This has got several reasons: it is not the fact that Charles Tomlinson has published only a few works, but it is the difficulty to put him and his poems in one category. Tomlinson, who has published since 1950 in each decade, has been influenced by the different conceptions about art throughout the years.
The poem I want to analyse was written in 1953, at the beginning of Tomlinson’s writing, in a time, when English poetry was dominated by the realistic style of writing of the Movement poets. This poem deals about the English painter John Constable, who is famous for his landscape paintings and especially his cloud pictures. The poem is a good example to show Tomlinson’s position towards the term of “art” in general and his opinion about contemporary poetry. As he is today most famous for his poems about natural phenomena, this poem can be regarded as one of his most meaningful ones.
The upcoming analysis should discuss this poem in order to its content, structure and style and should especially answer the question where in the 20thcentury Tomlinson and his concept of poetry should be integrated and where he stands for.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. „A Mediation on John Constable“ – Charles Tomlinson and his poetical concept
2.1 The poet and the painter
2.1.1 The poet Charles Tomlinson
2.1.2 The painter John Constable
2.2 The poem
2.1.1 The structure of the poem
2.1.2 The content
2.1.3 The style
2.3 The essence
3. Conclusion
4. Works Cited
Objectives and Themes
This paper aims to analyze Charles Tomlinson's poem "A Mediation on John Constable" (1958) to explore his distinct poetical concept and his position within 20th-century English literature. The research investigates how Tomlinson navigates the intersection of objectivity and subjectivity, challenging the realistic dominance of the Movement poets.
- Literary analysis of "A Mediation on John Constable"
- The intersection of artistic objectivity and individual subjectivity
- Critique of the "Movement" poetry style
- Tomlinson’s aesthetic concept and use of natural imagery
- The relationship between painterly techniques and poetic expression
Excerpt from the book
A Mediation on John Constable ( 1958 )
“Painting is a science, and should be pursued as an inquiry into the laws of nature. Why, then, may not landscape painting be considered as a branch of natural philosophy, of which pictures are but the experiments ?” ( John Constable, The History of Landscape Painting )
He replied to his own question, and with the unmannered Exactness of art; enriched his premises By conforming his practise: the labour of observation In face of meteorological fact. Clouds Followed by others., temper the sun in passing 5 Over and off it. Massed darks Blotting it back, scattered and mellowed shafts Break damply out of them, until the source Unmasks, flood its retreating bank 10 With raw fire. One perceives ( though scarcely ) The remnant clouds trailing across it In rags, and thinned to a gauze.
Chapter Summaries
1. Introduction: Presents the poet Charles Tomlinson within the context of 20th-century English literature and defines the scope of analyzing his poem concerning John Constable.
2. „A Mediation on John Constable“ – Charles Tomlinson and his poetical concept: Explores the biographical background of both the poet and the painter, and provides a detailed structural, thematic, and stylistic analysis of the poem.
3. Conclusion: Summarizes the difficulties in categorizing Tomlinson’s work and reflects on his paradoxical "in-between" position in contemporary poetry.
4. Works Cited: Lists the primary poem source and the secondary academic literature consulted for this study.
Keywords
Charles Tomlinson, John Constable, English poetry, 20th century literature, Objectivity, Subjectivity, Movement poets, Natural phenomena, Artistic theory, Metaphor, Modernism, Landscape painting, Poetic structure, Aesthetics, Literary critique
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core subject of this academic paper?
The paper provides a literary analysis of Charles Tomlinson's poem "A Mediation on John Constable," using it as a lens to understand his broader poetic philosophy.
What are the central themes discussed?
The primary themes include the synthesis of objectivity and subjectivity in art, the influence of landscape painting on poetry, and Tomlinson’s critical stance against the "Movement" poets.
What is the primary research goal?
The goal is to determine where Tomlinson fits into the landscape of 20th-century English poetry and to clarify his unique concept of "art" as an inquiry into nature.
Which scientific methodology is utilized?
The author employs a qualitative literary analysis, combining biographical research of the poet and painter with a close reading of the poem's structural and stylistic devices.
What topics are covered in the main body?
The main body covers the biographical parallels between Tomlinson and Constable, an examination of the poem’s irregular structure, and an evaluation of Tomlinson's critical theory of art.
Which keywords best characterize this work?
Key terms include Charles Tomlinson, John Constable, 20th-century English poetry, objectivity, subjectivity, and the dialectical approach to art.
How does the poem relate to John Constable’s own philosophy?
The poem engages with Constable’s belief that landscape painting should be treated like a scientific experiment governed by natural laws, which Tomlinson expands into a discussion on artistic truth.
Why does the author consider Tomlinson an "excluded" poet?
The author argues that because Tomlinson avoided rigid categorization and refused to adhere to established trends like the "Movement," he often occupied a peripheral, "in-between" position in the literary canon.
What is the significance of the "Movement" poets in this context?
The "Movement" poets serve as a foil to Tomlinson; while they pursued a strictly objective, realistic style, Tomlinson argued for a dialectical relationship between the poet’s subjectivity and the objective world.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Bernd Evers (Autor:in), 2000, 'A Mediation on John Constable' - Charles Tomlinson and his poetical concept, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/54905
