Victorian and Japanese Poetry

(and reading journals)

Victorian Literature

From the 19th century

Victorianism

The Victorian era covers two-thirds of the 19th century, from 1840-1900.

It is named after Queen Victoria of England, who ruled from 1837-1901.

Victorian Literature

Literature in the Victorian era formed a kind of link between the earlier Romantics and the later writing of the 20th century.

Many novels came from this time period. They were usually about hard work and perseverance paying off in the end, the good guy winning, and the bad guy being punished.

Children’s literature was also invented during this time.

Victorian Literature Authors you might know…

Charles Dickens

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

(he wrote Sherlock Holmes)Joseph Conrad

(Have you seen Apocalypse Now? He wrote the book.)

Bram Stoker(he wrote Dracula)

A.E. Houseman

(wrote Ms. Spiceland’s

favorite poem)

Alfred, Lord Tennyson(Morte d’Arthur)

Lewis Carroll(Alice in Wonderland and

Through the Looking Glass)

H.G. Wells

(the father

of science fiction)

The Kraken Today we’re reading “The Kraken” by Alfred, Lord

Tennyson (your favorite author!)

• In legends, the Kraken is a giant monster that lives in the sea.•You may know of the Kraken from Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest

The Kraken Below the thunders of the upper deep;Far, far beneath in the abysmal sea, His ancient, dreamless, uninvaded sleepThe Kraken sleepeth: faintest sunlights fleeAbout his shadowy sides: above him swellHuge sponges of millennial growth and height; And far away into the sickly light, From many a wondrous grot and secret cellUnnumbered and enormous polypiWinnow with giant arms the slumbering green.There hath he lain for ages and will lieBattening upon huge sea-worms in his sleep,Until the latter fire shall heat the deep;Then once by man and angels to be seen,In roaring he shall rise and on the surface die.

The Kraken Now that we’ve read and talked about this

poem, we’re going to do some writing on about it.

Get out a sheet of paper…

Reading Journals

Reading Journals First, write the title of the poem at the top

of the sheet. Now, write the Works Cited entry for the

poem. The format for the Works Cited entry for

poems in our textbook is on the next slide. COPY DOWN THE FORMAT! You will need

it!

Author Last Name, First Name. “Title of Poem.” Literature: Language and Literacy. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2010. Page number.

Author Last Name, First Name. “Title of Poem.” Literature: Language and Literacy. Trans. Translator name. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2010. Page number.

Regular poem:

Poem with a Translator:

Reading Journals Important Note! If the poem does not

have a title, use the first line as the title.

Next, write three quotes from the poem. I know – the poem is short! They don’t have to be very long quotes (5-10 words, up to one line)

Don’t forget to include the parenthetical citation!

Now, write a paragraph that summarizes the poem. Explain any characters (or monsters) and what’s going on.

Reading Journals Finally, write a paragraph analyzing the

poem. You’ll want to write about how the author uses his writing to get his point across. For example, the Kraken is supposed to be

super scary. Tennyson uses words like “sickly light” (l. 7) and “In roaring he shall rise” (l. 15) to get that across.

You should use one or two literary terms, such as…

MetaphorSimilePersonification

ImageryHyperboleSynecdoche

AlliterationAllusionRhyme

Tanka Poems

Traditional Japanese Poetry

You have probably heard of haiku before. They’re those little Japanese poems that are three lines long

Here’s my favorite:Haiku are awesomeBut sometimes they don’t make senseRefrigerator

Haiku have a specific format: Three lines long 5 syllables in the first line, 7 in the second, 5 in the

third. Traditional Japanese haiku are usually about

nature.

Tanka Poems

Tanka Poems Tanka poems are

similar to haiku, but it is a much older form.

Tanka poems are longer than haiku. While a haiku goes 5-7-5, a tanka goes 5-7-5-7-7.

Tanka Poems Tanka poems are often translated from

Japanese to English. Sometimes, the syllable counts change in the translation.

Because they are so short, tanka poems usually focus on a single, strong image or statement.

Tanka poems also do not have titles.

Tanka PoemsThe clustering clouds –Can it be they wipe awayThe lunar shadows?Every time they clear a bitThe moonlight shines the brighter.

-Minamoto no ToshiyoriTranslated by Donald Keene

When I went to visitThe girl I love so much,That winter nightThe river blew so coldThat the plovers were crying.

-Ki no TsurayukiTranslated by Geoffrey Bownas

One cannot ask lonelinessHow or where it starts.On the cypress-mountain,Autumn evening.

-Priest JakurenTranslated by Geoffrey

Bownas

Was it that I went to sleepThinking of him,That he came in my dreams?Had I known it a dreamI should not have wakened.

-Ono KomachiTranslated by Geoffrey Bownas

Tanka Poems The tanka poems and “The Kraken” both

used strong imagery and descriptive language.

Other than length, what differences do you see between the tanka poems and “The Kraken”?

What similarities do you see?

Reading Journals Grab a sheet of paper from your notebook

and write “Tanka Poems” at the top! We’re going to follow the same format for

this journal as we did for “The Kraken.” Here are the parts you need to have:

Works Cited entry Three quotes with parenthetical citations One paragraph summarizing the poem One paragraph analyzing the poem (using

literary terms)