“Hero as Poet” in

“On Heroes, Hero- Worship,

and The Heroic in History”
by Thomas Carlyle.

Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) is the prominent writer

of Victorian age. His early work is consisted of translations,
essays and auto biographies. His other historical works
include “The History of Fredrick II of Prussia”, called
Fredrick the Great, “Past and Present” and “Oliver
Cromwell’s Letters and Speeches”. He holds fair fame by
dint of Sartor Resartus. “On Heros, Hero-Worship and
The Heroic in History” is also his famous work which is
consisted of five lectures. First is Hero as Divinity, second is Hero
as Prophet, third is Hero as Poet, forth is Hero as Man of Letters
and fifth is Hero as King.

Carlyle in third lecture depicts that what sort of a poet can be a

hero. According to him having all qualities of heroic warrior can
delineate a picture of a heroic warrior in his writings. Like
prophets poets are the people who can see and understand divine
mystery. They bring to light “ the open secret ” which is seen by
almost none. They can penetrate into “Divine idea of the world
that which lies at the bottom of Appearance”. And they are
the man of the eternal world. He gives two names of poets which
are Dante and Shakespeare. He calls them the saint of poetry.

Carlyle says that people are worshiping Dante. He was an

intelligent and hard working person. Misery, suffering and
humiliation were the great part of his life. He could not marry to
whom he loved. He was banished from Florence. But all his
suffering bestowed him with profound and ponderous
intellect. Dante in his epic described all the circumstances of dark
and medieval age. Carlyle gave different names to his “Divine
Comedy”. Like “divine song”, “the transcendental mystic song” ,
“the voice of silent centuries” and “Christian epic” etc. In “Divine
Comedy” we can experience the vivid expression
of Dante’s realm of imagination. The first part Inferno
of “Divine Comedy” explains the condition of hell, the second
part Purgatorio describes the experience of souls that how they are
purified. And the third part Paradiso is a kingdom of beauty and
delightness. Here poet meets his beloved. Dante with all sincerity
and circumspection delineates his time. So according
to Carlyle the soul of “Divine Comedy” is eternal and if will
continue to transfer its readers into the world of joy.

According to Carlyle, Shakespeare has the same importance

for modern age as Homer has for Greece and Dante has
for middle ages. He praises Shakespeare for his penetrating
eye, joyous strength, great soul and true and clear tune. He calls
him a tranquil unfathomable sea and the greatest intellect. He says
his tragedies can make us acquainted with his own sufferings. He
says that his use of proverbs can only be compared with Dante.
By concluding this he says Shakespeare’s intelligence the
“unconscious intellect”. And Shakespeare is more than his
awareness.

Thomas Carlyle by dint of his prophetic zeal is trying to make

the world free from evil. He is trying to convince us to purity of
heart and soul. For describing hero as poet he gives us the ideal
figures from the world of poetry. He considers Dante a hero
because his poetry still encompasses the universal
lessons. Shakespeare to him is an eternal poet. He believes
that Shakespeare gains his art from the depth of nature.