Thomas carlyle the hero as poet sparknotes. Hero as poet 2022-12-15
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Thomas Carlyle was a 19th century Scottish philosopher and historian who is best known for his belief in the idea of the "hero." In his view, the hero was an individual who possessed exceptional qualities and abilities, and was able to use these to inspire and uplift others.
Carlyle believed that the hero was a vital force in society, and that the world would be a better place if more people were able to embody the heroic ideals of courage, strength, and leadership. He argued that the hero was not just a historical figure, but rather a timeless archetype that could be found in all cultures and periods of history.
According to Carlyle, the hero was also a poet, in the sense that they were able to use their words and actions to express the deepest truths about the human experience. The hero was able to capture the essence of what it meant to be human, and to inspire others to strive for greatness.
One of the key themes in Carlyle's work was the idea that the hero was a source of moral guidance and inspiration for others. He believed that the hero's example was crucial in helping people to navigate the challenges and difficulties of life, and to find meaning and purpose in their own lives.
In addition to his belief in the power of the hero, Carlyle was also known for his critique of the industrial revolution and the impact it was having on society. He argued that the rise of mass production and the increasing reliance on machines was eroding the sense of individualism and creativity that was so essential to human flourishing.
Overall, Carlyle's ideas about the hero as a poet have had a lasting impact on the way that we think about leadership and the role of the individual in society. His emphasis on the importance of the hero as a source of inspiration and guidance continues to resonate with people today, and his belief in the power of the individual to make a positive impact on the world remains as relevant as ever.
Hero as poet
Let us try if, leaving out both the quack theory and the allegory one, and listening with affectionate attention to that far-off confused rumor of the Pagan ages, we cannot ascertain so much as this at least, That there was a kind of fact at the heart of them; that they too were not mendacious and distracted, but in their own poor way true and sane! The Cow Adumbla, "licking the rime from the rocks," has a kind of Hindoo look. One day, it had risen sternly benign on the scathed heart of Dante, that he, wretched, never-resting, worn as he was, would full surely die; 'that Destiny itself could not doom him not to die. They seem to have seen, these brave old Northmen, what Meditation has taught all men in all ages, That this world is after all but a show,--a phenomenon or appearance, no real thing. Withal it is a silent pain too, a silent scornful one: the lip is curled in a kind of godlike disdain of the thing that is eating out his heart,--as if it were withal a mean insignificant thing, as if he whom it had power to torture and strangle were greater than it. All inmost things, we may say, are melodious; naturally utter themselves in Song. New York: The Modern Language Association of America. Correspondence Between Goethe and Carlyle.
We take him first for a god, then for one god-inspired; and now in the next stage of it, his most miraculous word gains from us only the recognition that he is a Poet, beautiful verse-maker, man of genius, or such like! Florence thou shalt never see: but Hell and Purgatory and Heaven thou shalt surely see! ETD Collection for University of Nebraska - Lincoln: 1—201. Carlyle finds no one around him acting in a way to set his own age right; given to commercialism and self- gratification, the people of nineteenth century Europe lack the will or the leadership to make something worthwhile of their lives. They dwell apart, in a kind of royal solitude; none equal, none second to them: in the general feeling of the world, a certain transcendentalism, a glory as of complete perfection, invests these two. Carlyle's audiences appear to increase in number every time. It is strange, after our beautiful Apollo statues and clear smiling mythuses, to come down upon the Norse Gods "brewing ale" to hold their feast with Aegir, the Sea-Jotun; sending out Thor to get the caldron for them in the Jotun country; Thor, after many adventures, clapping the Pot on his head, like a huge hat, and walking off with it,--quite lost in it, the ears of the Pot reaching down to his heels! The former explains what to do and the latter explains what to love. How could the rude Earth make these, if her Essence, rugged as she looks and is, were not inwardly Beauty? Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1984. It was a simple habitation; one large hall, altogether empty.
His view of the Universe once promulgated, a like view starts into being in all minds; grows, keeps ever growing, while it continues credible there. . Vates bring such things to the light of people. The word signifies Divinity, he says, among the old Saxon, German and all Teutonic Nations; the adjectives formed from it all signify divine, supreme, or something pertaining to the chief god. They too are "Normans," Northmen,--if that be any great beauty! It must have been a great solacement to Dante, and was, as we can see, a proud thought for him at times, That he, here in exile, could do this work; that no Florence, nor no man or men, could hinder him from doing it, or even much help him in doing it. In this sense, Carlyle disagrees with his intellectual successor, Friedrich Nietzsche, who argues that the hero can, by sheer force of will, determine the course of events in his or her own life and in society.
THE HERO AS INDIVIDUAL TALENT: THOMAS CARLYLE, T.S. ELIOT AND THE PROPHECY OF MODERNISM on JSTOR
No: neither unpatriotic, though he says little about his Patriotism; nor sceptic, though he says little about his Faith. Nature is still divine, the revelation of the workings of God; the Hero is still worshipable: this, under poor cramped incipient forms, is what all Pagan religions have struggled, as they could, to set forth. That battle of Agincourt strikes me as one of the most perfect things, in its sort, we anywhere have of Shakspeare's. That is all; it is not we, it is altogether different from us. In the secret heart of these people it still dimly reveals itself, though there is no accredited way of uttering it at present, that this rustic, with his black brows and flashing sun-eyes, and strange words moving laughter and tears, is of a dignity far beyond all others, incommensurable with all others. While others forget it, he knows it;--I might say, he has been driven to know it; without consent asked of him, he finds himself living in it, bound to live in it.
His greatness has, in all senses, concentered itself into fiery emphasis and depth. For the major part of his life, Dante was a hopeless wanderer, poor, banished, without any home, friend or hope. Henry Crabb Robinson heard Carlyle at dinner in 1837 speak approvingly of slavery. This Odin, in his rude semi-articulate way, had a word to speak. Hero, Prophet, Poet,--many different names, in different times, and places, do we give to Great Men; according to varieties we note in them, according to the sphere in which they have displayed themselves! This faith, dubious enough under restrictions of law and order, not to mention the existence of great women, becomes even more dubious as handled by Carlyle. The one we may call a revealer of what we are to do, the other of what we are to love. He knows accurately and well what lies close to him; but, in such a time, without printed books or free intercourse, he could not know well what was distant; the small clear light, most luminous for what is near, breaks itself into singular chiaroscuro striking on what is far off.
Xylem of English Language and Literature: The Hero as Poet. Dante: Shakspeare. by Thomas Carlyle
American Academy of Arts and Sciences. A great thought in the wild deep heart of him! In some old languages, again, the titles are synonymous; Vates means both Prophet and Poet: and indeed at all times, Prophet and Poet, well understood, have much kindred of meaning. They understood in their heart that it was indispensable to be brave; that Odin would have no favor for them, but despise and thrust them out, if they were not brave. Victorian Keats and Romantic Carlyle: The Fusions and Confusions of Literary Periods. He was not necessarily false; he was but mistaken, speaking the truest he knew. This, for reasons which it will be worth while some time to inquire into, is an age that as it were denies the existence of great men; denies the desirableness of great men. The Arabian Caliph, in so far only as he did something, was something.
Saipedia: The Hero As Poet: Shakespeare by Thomas Carlyle summary, British Literature
A touch of womanhood in it too; she speaks of ' questa forma;' — so innocent; and how, even in the Pit of woe, it is a solace that he 'will never part from her. His life was from 1265 and spanned a mere56 years, into the next century, which was squarely in the Dark Ages. Durham, North Carolina: 978-0822303404. The great soul of Dante, homeless on earth, made its home more and more in that awful other world. Burkhardt, Frederick; Smith, Sydney eds.
Precisely as we love the true song, and are charmed by it as by something divine, so shall we hate the false song, and account it a mere wooden noise, a thing hollow, superfluous, altogether an insincere and offensive thing. Text established by Michael K. By 1960, Carlyle had become "the single most frequent topic of doctoral dissertations in the field of Victorian literature". So is it always in these things. In this way the balance may be made straight again. Retrieved 24 July 2022. However, it is not found in any of the six published accounts from 1824.
He is associated with the Victorian literature. Emblemed: and yet, as I urged the other day, with what entire truth of purpose; how unconscious of any embleming! We have no room to speak of Shakspeare's individual works; though perhaps there is much still waiting to be said on that head. The light which enlightens, which has enlightened the darkness of the world; and this not as a kindled lamp only, but rather as a natural luminary shining by the gift of Heaven; a flowing light-fountain, as I say, of native original insight, of manhood and heroic nobleness;--in whose radiance all souls feel that it is well with them. His education was the best then going; much schooldivinity, Aristotelean logic, some Latin classics, — no inconsiderable insight into certain provinces of things: and Dante, with his earnest intelligent nature, we need not doubt, learned better than most all that was learnable. New York: Burt Franklin published 1968.
