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TWENTIETH CENTURY
POETRY
ASSIST. PROF. NABIL MOHAMMED ALI, PHD

FIRST EDITION 2023

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FIRST EDITION 2023

This book is protected by national and international copyright law. All rights reserved. No part of this book may

be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,

photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the author.

PUBLISHED BY
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PREFACE

This book is written for 4th-year students at colleges of Arts, Education, and Languages. It explores

modern poetry as it developed in the twentieth century. The students will be familiarized with the

major poetic movements during this century with an in-depth study of some outstanding modern

poets. There will be particular emphasis on the twentieth century's intellectual, historical, and social

contexts. The book aims to analyze and explore the themes, techniques, and forms used by these

modern poets.

The author highly appreciates your comments and suggestions to be taken into consideration in the

2nd edition of the book.

Assist. Prof. Dr. Nabil Mohammed Ali

Email: twentiethcenturypoetry2023@gmail.com
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION THE TENTIETH CENTURY 1
TWENTIETH CENTURY POETS
GEORGIAN POETRY WALTER DE LA MARE 2
“THE LISTENERS”
THE SYMBOLIST MOVEMENT W.B. YEATS 10
“THE SECOND COMING”
“SAILING TO BYZANTIUM”
IMAGIST POETRY T.S. ELIOT 27
“THE LOVE SONG OF J. ALFRED PRUFROCK”
JOURNEY OF THE MAGI
THE SOCIALIST POETRY W.H. AUDEN 48
“THE UNKNOWN CITIZEN”
NEO ROMANTIC POETRY DYLAN THOMAS 75
“FERN HILL”
THE MOVEMENT PHILP LARKIN 84
“AT GRASS”
“CHURCH GOING”
THE 1970s TED HUGHES 97
“THOUGHT FOX”
“THE CASUALITY”
ROBERT FROST “After Apple-Picking” 108

“MENDING WALL”

LITERARY TERMS 122

REFERENCES 125
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INTRODUCTION

THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

The 20th century was a radical break from the 19 th century. The largely agricultural and pre-
industrial economy of England had greatly changed with the beginning of the 20th century.
The rapid rise of cities in the late 19th century was caused by the change from a largely
agricultural economy to a largely industrial one. Massive waves of immigrants from villages
seeking economic opportunities moved to major cities. In 1911, more than two-thirds of
England’s 45 million people lived in urban areas. As a result, Industrialization and
urbanization led to drastic changes and crises such as overpopulation, and housing shortages
with an accompanied increase in vice and crime.

The first half of the 20th century had also seen the most catastrophic and violent conflicts;
the First and Second World Wars. Millions of young soldiers were killed in the battlefields,
and the two great wars shook the very basic accepted social beliefs, traditions, and
conventions of society; causing significant consequences such as religious and moral
skepticism, uncertainty, and perplexity. Moreover, thinkers and scientists such as Einstein,
Darwin, Freud and Marx have profoundly changed Western culture and life.

TWENTIETH CENTURY POETRY

The 20th century modern English poetry emerged in the early years of the 20 th century
through various schools, styles, and influences. W.B. Yeats, Wilfred Owen, T.S. Eliot, W.H.
Auden, Dylan Thomas, Philip Larkin, and Ted Hughes are the major poets of the twentieth
century. Dominant themes and concerns in their poetry are the suffering of the modern man,
the complexity, pettiness and degeneration of modern life, pessimism, fragmentation of the
individual identity, loss of moral ethics, disillusionment, frustration, dissatisfaction, boredom,
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isolation, hopelessness, despair, anxiety, bareness and sterility of life. These themes came as
a response to the consequences of the Industrial Revolution and its effects on the social,
religious, cultural, economic and political aspects of life in England and Europe.
With regard to the style of modern English poetry, most poets used a highly expressive,
realistic, simple, and direct language in their poetry in order to convey their message to the
common reader.
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GEORGIAN POETRY

Georgian poetry was a poetic movement in England during the reign of George V (1910–
1936). Georgian poets wanted to bring new poetry to a wider audience. They used the
name "Georgian" to signify the beginning of a new era in poetry with the accession of
George V in 1910. The three characteristics of Georgian poetry are formal
techniques, romance, and sentimentality.

WALTER DE LA MARE (1873-1956)

Walter De La Mare is a known English poet, writer, novelist, essayist, critic, and folklorist
most famous for his supernatural and mystical themes. He died in the 1956 at the height of
fame.
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THE LISTENERS
‘Is there anybody there?’ said the Traveller,
Knocking on the moonlit door;
And his horse in the silence champed the grasses
Of the forest’s ferny floor:
And a bird flew up out of the turret,
Above the Traveller’s head:
And he smote upon the door again a second time;
‘Is there anybody there?’ he said.
But no one descended to the Traveller;
No head from the leaf-fringed sill
Leaned over and looked into his grey eyes,
Where he stood perplexed and still.
But only a host of phantom listeners
That dwelt in the lone house then
Stood listening in the quiet of the moonlight
To that voice from the world of men:
Stood thronging the faint moonbeams on the dark stair,
That goes down to the empty hall,
Hearkening in an air stirred and shaken
By the lonely Traveller’s call.
And he felt in his heart their strangeness,
Their stillness answering his cry,
While his horse moved, cropping the dark turf,
’Neath the starred and leafy sky;
For he suddenly smote on the door, even
Louder, and lifted his head:—
‘Tell them I came, and no one answered,
That I kept my word,’ he said.
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Never the least stir made the listeners,

Though every word he spake
Fell echoing through the shadowiness of the still house
From the one man left awake:
Ay, they heard his foot upon the stirrup,
And the sound of iron on stone,
And how the silence surged softly backward,
When the plunging hoofs were gone.

VOCABULARY
Champed (Line 3) - "Champing," like "chomping," refers to chewing, particularly by horses
and similar animals.
Ferny (Line 4) - "Ferny" means full of ferns or overgrown. In this case, the "forest's ferny
floor" indicates that the wilderness has grown up around the house. There are ferns all
around, a signal that no one has been tending to the grounds of the house.
Turret (Line 5) - A turret, in architecture, is a small tower.
Smote (Line 7, Line 25) - To smite is to strike, violently and heavily.
Perplexed (Line 12) - To be perplexed is to be confused, or unable to think rationally about a
situation.
Dwelt (Line 14) - To dwell is to remain in a place for a period of time, or to live somewhere.
Thronging (Line 17) - To throng is to crowd in, jamming a space with things or people.
Hearkening (Line 19) - To hearken to something is to listen to it.
Cropping (Line 23) - Cropping refers to cutting or shortening.
Ay (Line 33) - Ay, or aye, is an archaic or regional word of affirmation, basically meaning
"yes."
Stirrup (Line 33) - In horse-riding, stirrups are a pair of footrests for the rider to use, both as
leverage for mounting the horse and for support while riding.
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Iron (Line 34) - In this case, "iron" refers to the metal shoes of the horse.
Plunging (Line 36) - Plunging refers to a violent thrusting or diving.

SUMMARY OF “THE LISTENERS”

On a moonlit night, an anonymous traveler knocked on the building's door. His horse starts
grazing in the grass while a bird flies out of the tower, adding even more mystery to the
situation and surroundings. Receiving no reply, the traveler knocks again, but is surprised to
hear no response to his repeated knocks. However, some spirits seem to want to react to his
blows, but outside there is dead silence. He then knocks on the door with no answer, and
then announces that he has kept his promise. As the words echo in the dark of night, the
spirits hear the sound of his horse's hooves as they carry the traveler out of the house.

MAJOR THEMES IN “THE LISTENERS”

Mysterious atmospheres, imaginary spirits and romantic situations are the three main
themes of the poem.

LITERARY DEVICES IN “THE LISTENERS”

Assonance: For example, the sound of /o/ and /oo/ in “Knocking on the moonlit door.”

Alliteration: For example, the sound of /f/ in “forest’s ferny floor” and /h/ in “his horse.”

Consonance: For example, the sound of /s/ in “And his horse in the silence champed the
grasses”, /n/ in “Leaned over and looked into his grey eye” and the sound of /s/ and /l/ in
“Stood listening in the quiet of the moonlight.”

Deus Ex Machina: The appearance and mention of the ghosts in the poem show the
appropriate use of deus ex machina.
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Enjambment: For example,

Hearkening in an air stirred and shaken

By the lonely Traveller’s call.

Imagery: For example, “Their stillness answering his cry”, “Neath the starred and leafy sky”
and “Louder, and lifted his head.”

Metaphor: for example, the poem shows the use of the metaphors of atmosphere, ghosts,
and man.

Personification: The poet used silence, shadowiness, and stillness as if they have emotions
and a life of their own.

Rhetorical Question: The poem shows the use of rhetorical questions such as “‘Is there
anybody there?’ said the Traveller, / Knocking on the moonlit door” used twice in the poem.

Symbolism: For example, the night, the stillness, the traveler, and the ghosts are symbols of
mystery and supernatural elements.

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

1- What are the major themes of “The Listeners”?
Mysterious atmosphere, imaginary ghosts, and romantic situations are three major themes of
the poem.

2- Why did the traveller knock at the door? Did anyone answer his knock?
The traveller knocked at the door and wanted to get in because he had promised to meet
the resident of the house. No one answered his knock.
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3. Explain the phrase 'perplexed and still'?

The phrase ‘perplexed and still' means puzzled and motionless. The poet uses this phrase to
show that the traveller was confused and puzzled but he remained motionless.

4. What time of the day is described in the poem? Mention the words that
suggest this.
The time described in the poem is night. The words suggest that it was night are Moonlit
door, moonlight; moonbeams; starred and leafy sky; shadowiness, one man left awake.

5. Why have the hoofs of the horse been described as ‘plunging'?

The hoofs of the horse have been described as ‘plunging' because he made his horse move
quickly when he left the place.

6- What has disturbed the bird from its nest in the turret?
The knocking at the door by the traveller has disturbed the bird from its nest in the turret.

7- Who are the 'host of phantom listener's?

The ghosts in that lonely house are the ‘host of phantom listeners’.

8- What were they listening to?

They were listening to the voice of the traveller.

9- Whose is the 'voice from the world of men’? Explain the phrase.
It is the traveller's voice which referred in the phrase ‘voice from the world of men’.
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10- What was the reaction of the traveller when he did not get any response
from that house?
The traveller was quite afraid but he stood puzzled and motionless there.

11- When was the traveller perplexed?

The traveller was perplexed after his second time knocking at the door in vain. He knocked at
the door twice but nobody came out and he felt confused.

12- Who were the listeners of the traveller's voice?

The ghosts that lived in the house were the listeners.

13- Why did the traveller leave the place?

The traveller left the place because no one answered and open the door when he knocked at
the door. He felt the strangeness of the situation.

14- What was his message to the listeners before he left the house?
He told the listeners that he had kept his promise. The traveller gave this message to the
listeners to tell the residents of the house.

15- Explain the following lines and give the meaning of the underlined words:
(A)- ‘Is there anybody there?’ said the Traveller,
Knocking on the moonlit door;
And his horse in the silence champed the grasses
Of the forest’s ferny floor:
And a bird flew up out of the turret,
Above the Traveller’s head.
(B)- Ay, they heard his foot upon the stirrup,
And the sound of iron on stone,
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And how the silence surged softly backward,

When the plunging hoofs were gone.

16- Write a summary of “The Listeners” by Walter De La Mare.

17- Write a critical appreciation of “The Listeners” by Walter De La Mare.
18- Give examples of Deus Ex Machina, consonance, assonance, and alliteration
from the poem “The Listeners” by Walter De La Mare.