Literary Modernism and a Few Literary Works

Literary Modernism is a term which is almost self-explanatory. After the completion of the first-class honours degree bea War, the whole of the European Continent along with America observed a few notable forms in the realm of literature. In 1922, T. S Eliot composed The profligacy Land being befuddled by the abrupt shock which the devastations of the War had brought forth.Liberty, novelty and avant-garde were the watchwords of that Literary Modernism. The way in which this Modernism worked was somewhat immaturethe new changes in forms and contents were incorporated quite spontaneously. Even the alterations seemed to stimulate fitted suitably into the varied compass of the literary creations Thus, Literary Modernism breathed a gush of new, fresh air into the stale, dull ambience of literatureIf we analyze a few literary works it will be immediately pass how Literary Modernism affected and influenced the-then literary scene. In Song of Myself, Walt Whit bit in full-throated ea se can sing at the top of his voice, breaking both launch norms of Introduction form all toldy d whizz in a poem, I celebrate myself, and sing myself,/And what I assume you shall assume,/For every atom belonging to me as soundly belongs to you. In this somewhat long poem, Whitman goes on setting all conventional poetical forms at naught and sings of camaraderie that stretches from one nook to the other of America.We determine America singing through him, with him. The lines are composed in verse libre mode. Free verse is the right carrier of the right thought. He claims to sing for all and sundry, for the recognised victors as well as for the conquered and slain persons. Whitman caters philosophical ideas to the readers equally adeptly, I am the poet of the Body and I am the poet of the Soul/ The pleasures of heaven are with me and the pains of hell are with me/.I am the poet of the woman the same as the man/.And I say there is nothing greater than the mother of men. He talks of oppression, inequality, freedom, Time and Space and multifarious issues in one breath.This variety of typets in the length of a poem chosen freely by the poet itself speaks volumes for Modernism. more everyplace Whitman can say in this vein, Endless unfolding of words of ages/And mine a word of the modern, the word En-Masse He sounds too modern to declare in the last line, I stop somewhere waiting for you.T.S.Eliots The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock is again a documentary poem of the turbulent times of the First World War when Modernism as a literary notion was taking its final shape. The elements of literary modernism lie in the image of offend self, mans living in more than a single level of consciousness, self-disgust, ennui, pain of inaction in turbulent ,meaningless times, desire for an escape , the rest period between the desired existence and the habitual one .As a modern poem, Prufrock throws a series of solutions to the problems that modern man with divided aims face in that location will be time, there will be time/To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet/.And time yet for a snow indecisions. In almost all the lines there is a hint of suggestiveness which ends in a conundrum, again a characteristic feature of modernism That is not it at all/That is not what I meant at all.In Robert Frosts Mending Wall , there is sharp pointer to the need of a partition-wall in this war-torn ground 1914where good fences make good neighbors. What was to be walled in and walled out again left many questions unanswered. A sense of separatism, unrest, and friendlessness go on recurring in the lines of this poem.In Emily Dickinsons poem Much Madness is the Divinest Sense , we find a clue in construing the ways of a undercover modern world where positive sometimes implies the negative and vice-versa. Madness is taken to be the most divine sense while the sane thoughts are sometimes pooh-poohed .Why so? It is because, literary modernism supports the rise of the abstruse and absurd in a disturbed world with jaundiced viewpoints . Assent and demurring too are see accordingly. Geometric patterns of Picassos art can be the best yardstick to measure and finally explain all the meanings of sanity and genuine insanityLangston Hughess I,Too portrays the modern world in rather clear terms unlike the previous poems. Here with Harlem Renaissance looming large in the background, the poet stages a protest against the discriminations the glum community of America falls victim to. Naturally, the boy brooking all humiliations, goes to the kitchen, gobbles , gets strong and next time faces the opponent as an equal and dazzles his eyes with his handsome looks. Here, the contemporary separatism tantrums are spoken of in clearest possible terms.Modern-day American litterateurs harp upon a theme Alienation. This theme has various forms of treatment in various works of literature. Naturally, if a thesis statement has to emerge out of close readings of these works , it must have a direct connection with modern partnership ,to be precise. Man is nothing but a small island in ocean of modern day world.In Stephen Cranes short written report The Open Boat, the shipwreck has different connotations to the four survivors Billie, the oiler, the Captain, the Cook and the unnamed Correspondent. All of them believe that they are to be rescued and again they begin to ponder over the situation in their own way. The cook is chatty, while the oiler and the Correspondent are more cogitative ones. This schism is there in the modern world and the alienated thoughts portrayed by Crane in the four characters are befitting to the modern day multilayered existence. They are alienated though stay cooped unneurotic in the open boat.In William Carlos Williamss poem Danse Russe , the present day alienation is pictured in simple possible terms. The poet stealthily sneaks into his north direction when the sun shines softly over the trees and his wife an d child are fast asleep. He takes off his shirt and starts dancing madly in front of the reflect crooning all by himself, I am lonely, lonely/I was born to be lonely/I am best so. Unlike Coleridges ancient mariner, he enjoys this self-created alienation issuing out of loneliness and he feels himself to be a happy genius of his household. This is peculiar characteristic of the modern era. self-centred feelings lead on to alienation which in turn intoxicates human beings.The same happy preoccupation with oneself is seen in Walt Whitmans poem I saw in Louisiana a Live Oak Growing. The poet is out to define manly make do in these trying times. He is astonished to find a solitary Oak tree proliferating joyous leaves of dark green even when his lover or friend is not there in proximity. How is it possible? thinks the poet. For him, it would have been next to impossible But to his utter dismay he notices that modern man as Erich Fromm the sociologist claims in his book The Sane Society is most plenteous when he is alienated or friendless.Robert Frostss Mending Wall, talks about gaps that are made between both. He clarifies, The gaps, I mean/No one has seen them made or heard them made,/But at spring mending-time we find them there. What are these gaps? These are, no doubt, the chinks of alienation which stand tall between men, which keep two men to unite , to exchange ideas and views , which prevents two men from being friends. At what point of time can a man say to another man, lenify where you are until our backs are turned Without having any clear notions of walling in and walling out, two neighbors begin to think, Good fences make good neighbors. It is because modern men love alienation.T.S. Eliot in his The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock emphasizes the theme of alienation .In the previous poems, this theme is surprisingly shown to have a few positive implications. A separate face is to put up to meet the faces that you meet. No better example of alienatio n can be put forward These days the modern alienated man rightly thinks, Do I dare/Disturb the universe? A big why stares on the readers . He reasons forth, I have known them all alreadyI know the voices dying with a dying fall..The over-familiarity with the known universe makes him sick and tired of it and he naturally gets alienated. Lastly, he dies for a change of ambience. This monotony of modern day existence is again a reason behind such alienation. The line I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each, is heavy(predicate) with meaning. Alienation has several facetssometimes it is positive in effect, sometimes just the opposite. Again, the society is in flux. Alienation is a natural unavoidable outcome. It has to be accepted and stride along .