Karen Marvin
Oscar Wilde Seminar
Dr. Foss
12 September 2011
Summary and Analysis: Wilde as a Poet
In the article Wilde as a Poet by Karl Beckson and Bobby Fong the two authors argue that Wilde, although he supported and preached the idea of art for art’s sake, did not follow his own doctrine. Throughout his career, Wilde wrote poems that focused on political, moral, and religious content which directly contradicts the belief that art should be created purely for aesthetic purposes and have no particular message or bias. Beckson and Fong do recognize that most of Wilde’s poetry can often be categorized by significant experiences in his life like his trip to Italy, his trip to Greece, and his education. Also, the article sheds light on our discussion of Wilde’s style, it gives the idea that he was influenced by Pre-Raphaelite artists as well as other prominent poets that he tried to emulate. The theme of the article is that Oscar Wilde contradicts himself throughout his poetry and this idea is exemplified by the different poems that are analyzed, and we can apply these contradictions of style to our discussion of Wilde’s poetry.
Many of Wilde’s early poems are influenced by his spring break trip to Italy. This vacation’s influence is seen in his poetry by the use of religious language, symbols, and images. Beckson and Fong suggest that in ‘San Miniato’ Wilde addresses Virgin Mary directly and then parallels Christ to the artist. Wilde also mentions in his poem ‘Rome Unvisited’ that he would be content to see the Pope prior to his death and that Wilde views him as the ‘only God-appointed King’ (Wilde 729.) He also invokes religious tones in his poem ‘Sonnet on Approaching Italy’ as he mentions the Pope’s perceived imprisonment. As Wilde’s experiences change, his poetry also changes and this can be seen as he transitions from religious tones to Hellenistic tones.
Even as Wilde’s spring break trip ends, some of his poems begin to adopt Greek mythos. This transition is most notable in his poem ‘Sonnet Written in Holy Week at Genoa, ’ the poem is primarily about the crucifixion of Christ during Holy Week, yet the reference to “those dear Hellenic hours” eventually mutes the sadness of Christ’s death (Wilde 728.) As Wilde began writing more poetry containing Greek mythology, he wrote some poems with pastoral settings. These pastoral settings often were invoked to contrast the past with thecurrent industrialized world. Beckson and Fong compare Wilde to Yeats because in the poem ‘Pan’ Wilde seems to grieve the end of the mythic world, and then calls upon the god Pan to save the physical world. Wilde continues to use pastoral settings to contrast the past and present in his poems ‘Ravenna’ and ‘Charmides.’ ‘The Garden of Eros’ is another poem of Wilde’s that includes pastoral settings because the speaker’s life is created by the Greek mythos. Just as Wilde used Catholicism and Greek mythology to inform his poems, he also experimented with other types of poetry styles.
Beckson and Fong continue the argument that Wilde’s experiences shape his poetry by presenting the idea that as Wilde was writing religious and classical poetry, he was learning about Pre-Raphaelite painters and poets. One of the earliest poems influenced by his learning’s is ‘La Bella Donna dellamiaMente’ which is inspired by the medieval tradition of courtly love. Remnants of Swinburne, Morris, and Rossetti are noticeable in Wilde’s poems as he used much of their poetry as inspiration and models for his own Pre-Raphaelite styled poetry, another example that Wilde often pulled from other poets while creating his own work.
Another important theme in Wilde’s poetry is the political climate of the age. He wrote poems such as ‘Sonnet on the Massacre of the Christians in Bulgaria’ which laments the atrocities that Christians faced in the Balkans. Later poems from the 70’s are more about England and the decline of her morals and government, particularly in ‘To Milton’. Also, he responds politically to Russia in the 80’s with ‘Ave Imperatrix’ which celebrates Queen Victoria and her transition to Empress.
Beckson and Fong discuss Wilde’s poetry in relation to the poets that came before him. He seemed often to glorify the poets that he tried to emulate and praise. He criticizes the sale of Keats’ love letters in ‘Sonnet. On the Sale by Auction of Keats’ Love Letters.’ Wilde also wrote ‘The Grave of Shelly’ and ‘The Grave of Keats’ two poems devoted wholly to the two poets he respected. However, critics rejected Wilde’s poetry on the grounds that his poetry was too similar or plagiarized from many poets. Although Wilde tried to emulate these poets, he was unsuccessful and often Victoria ideals leaked into his poems.
Wilde also dabbled in Impressionistic and French decadence. The poems ‘Impressions’ and ‘Impression: Le Reveillion’ both are examples of his trials in impressionism. ‘The Sphinx’ is an example of Wilde’s French decadence because of its use of such a fabulous creature, yet at the end of the poem the speaker rejects the sphinx which is a step back into Victorian ideals because the sexuality throughout the poem that is associated with the Sphinx might be alarming to Victorian readers.
Finally, Wilde’s most well-known poem, The Ballad of Reading Gaol, was a culmination of his poetic styles. He recognized himself that the poem struggled with many different styles. However, although there is strong conflict in style, the poem is successful in showing self-destruction; a self-destruction that parallels Wilde’s own life. It seems that in this final poem, Wilde finally finds his own voice regardless of the stylistic inconsistencies. Beckson and Fong create a strong argument for the variation throughout Wilde’s poetry, by discussing all of the different styles that he uses by referring to specific examples of his poetry.
The article, Wilde as a Poet, by Beckson and Fong sheds light on our discussion of Wilde as a poet, as well as, where some of his ideals and fascinations with different styles germinated. I think that the discussion of Wilde’s development of style is applicable to the discussion of his poetry as well as his future works. The article can inform on our discussion of Wilde’s poetry as influenced by specific styles and by particular poets. Reading Wilde’s poetry through a Pre-Raphaelite lens might give a better understanding of his stylistic changes in his works. Also, comparing his poetry to his idols like Keats and Shelly allows us to compare his models’ poetry to his own.
The idea presented in the article that Wilde was influenced by Pre-Raphaelite poets and artists is something to consider in reading his other works because we did not discuss much of his more medieval sounding poetry. Also, in considering the Pre-Raphaelite lens, we can perhaps see his compilations of different styles and how those poets and painters affected his work. We see in ‘La Bella Donna dellamiaMente’ medieval aspects that are exemplars of the Pre-Raphaelite influences. He also uses the language that is suitable to the medieval time period. I think that we could apply these aspects of Wilde’s poems to our discussions of his poetry and compare the Catholic, Hellenistic, and Pre-Raphaelite poems to each other. As well as see if there are remnants of the Pre-Raphaelite influences in his poetry, just as Catholic and Hellenistic themes overlap into the same poems. As these art styles impacted Wilde’s poetry, poets that Wilde respected also played an important role in the development of lack or development of his poetry.
Beckson and Fong suggest Wilde’s poetic style was strongly influenced by other poets and that he was unable to develop his own poetic voice. This idea that Wilde’s poetry is similar to other poets could lend itself to analysis of his poetry in comparison to other authors. By reading his work with an eye for specific stylistic variances we might be able to find remnants of pastoral, impressionistic, aesthetic, or decadent styles of poetry that his idols used. For example, Wilde glorified Keats and this glorification can be seen in similarities between their works. Understanding then, the styles that Keats uses, we can then compare those styles to those that Wilde invokes in his own poems. A similarity between Keats and Wilde can be seen in comparing Keats’ ‘The Song of the Happy Shepherd’ and Wilde’s ‘Pan’ because they both use pastoral imagery. Keats more often used pastoral settings and Wilde in this poem seems to be emulating Keats’ style. This consideration of how other poets, especially Keats, influenced Wilde’s poetry as well as his other works is something that would be interesting to discuss further.
Beckson and Fong’s article gives new insights to Wilde’s poetry and the factors that impacted his writing. Applying the comparison and study of Wilde’s Pre-Raphaelite influences on his poetry is an aspect that we have yet to develop in class and I think it is interesting to see how those affects compare to the religious and Greek aspects of his work. Also, analyzing how Wilde used other poets as models we can discuss the similarities between his writings and those of other artists. Considering how these two factors shape his writing, I think we will be able to expand our discussion of what influences we see within the works we have read and will be reading.