19th Century British Poetry

Exercise 1:

Analyze the following poems by John Keats:

• To Homer
• On the Sonnet
• La Belle Dame sans Merci

Exercise 2:

Identify and discuss the archetypes in Keats's "La Belle Dame sans Merci".

Exercise 3:

Perform scansion on Keat's "La Belle Dame sans Merci". Do all the lines have the same metrical feet? How do they differ? What do you think is the significance of this?

Exercise 4:

The form of "La Belle Dame sans Merci" is a ballad. What is a ballad? How does it differ from a typical epic poem? How does it differ from a typical lyrical poem?

Exercise 5:

What might "La Belle Dame sans Merci" be about? For instance, the poem might be about the enslavement to sexual fantasy. Read the poem again and see if you can discover an alternative interpretation.

Exercise 6:

Read the poem "To Autumn" by John Keats and mark all the examples of alliteration and assonance.

Exercise 7:

Compare and contrast William Blake's "To the Evening Star" and John Keats's "Bright Star".

There are basically three types or forms of poetry; i.e. Lyrical Poetry, Narrative Poetry and Dramatic Poetry.

Lyrical Poetry

"Lyric", derives from the word "lyre" which is a type of stringed instrument. It therefore refers to music. Lyrical Poetry used to be sung. They tend to be relatively short and often convey the feelings and thoughts of a single speaker.

William Wordsworth's poem, "Daffodils", is an example of a Lyrical Poem. In the YouTube-video below, a rapper performs an adapted version of Wordsworth's "Daffodils".



Narrative Poetry

You should know two types of narrative poetry; the first is the epic. An epic is a type of story. Epic Poetry are basically "storrytelling poems". They tend to be quite long, often several hundred lines and are often divided into several sections.

Another type of narrative poetry is the ballad. A ballad also tells a story, but is similar to Lyrical Poetry, in that it also used to be sung. Lord Alfred Tennyson's "The Lady of Shallot" is an example of a ballad. In the YouTube-video below, Loreena McKennit performs this poem in a Celtic style.



Dramatic Poetry

Dramatic Poetry is poetry that includes drama, i.e. it is theatrical. This means that it can be performed like a play. Sometimes there are many "characters" that are in dialogue. If only one "character" is speaking, it is called a monologue.

Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven" is an example of Dramatic Poetry. In the YouTube-video, Vincent Price recites "The Raven". Note the dramatized style.