The Victorian period was a sustained period of peace in British history.  It is during this peace that domestic problems could be both addressed and solved.  And there were many domestic issues--the cities were filthy;  the Thames river was polluted with raw sewage; unemployment was high since England was in the midst of economic depression; people were so poor that it was not uncommon for ten to twelve people to live in a single room in slums that had two toilets for every 250 people; children worked in slave conditions in coal mines and factories.   Victoria becomes queen when she is quite young, seventeen or eighteen years old and rules England for the next sixty years, until 1901.  Imagine at the age that you are now, having these kinds of serious problems to contend with.  It kind of puts picking out the right prom dress in perspective, doesn't it?

The idea of progress became important during Victorian England, and progress meant that people's lives were improved in material ways.  Have you ever taken for granted small things?  For example--streets are named and houses are numbered not just so that Domino's can find your house, but also so that an ambulance can find it.  Garbage is collected, and sewage is moved away from people's houses and is treated.  We have police forces that keep us safe from those who would take what we have worked hard for.  Most people can read enough to fill out an employment application.  Sometimes it feels like people have always had these "essentials."  Not true.  These improvements happened like everything else--as a result of thought, planning and hard work. 

Progress also had moral implications.  The Victorian era is synonymous with sexual prudery in literature that remained with us for years to come.  Even in the 1950's the word "pregnant" was not heard on television.  "I Love Lucy" was "infanticipating," not pregnant.  Through the 1960's women were told they could not work when their pregnancies began to "show."  As you can see, many of the pruderies were targeted at women.  Women were castigated for lower moral behaviors, but men could do the same things without fear of criticism.  The double standard had been born, and as we see even in the 21st century, it still lives.

Intellectual progress was also an important concern.   People made progress in the understanding of the earth on which they lived and the laws of nature that governed it.  Problems could be understood by human intelligence and then solved.  The answer was in increased knowledge.  We continue to look to education as being the vehicle that will take people out of poverty and need, that will solve the problems created by past generations.

The cost of progress was also a consideration.   When people gain, there are those who also lose.  Writers like Dickens and Browning attack the hollow superficiality of Victorian wealth.  At the same time Tiny Tim hobbled in poverty, Ebenezer Scrooge hoarded his wealth and felt superior to those he employed.  The murderous Duke in "My Last Duchess" was also an example of this feeling of financial superiority equaling social and/or moral superiority.  Do we still struggle with this today?  How do we measure the success of a person?   "That man is a success who. . ."  Poets have given some answers to that question.  What is ours?

"Tears, Idle Tears" by Tennyson
Have you ever experienced tears coming to your eyes and not really known the reason for the tears?  This is the idea behind Tennyson's poem.   He then goes on to analyze the cause of the tears and concludes that the tears come from thinking of the "days that are no more."  Even at age 18 you have "days that are no more"--the days when you could run free and play in your neighborhood with few complications, the days when a kiss from your mom could soothe all hurts, the days when nothing could hurt you because you were safe in your father's lap.   Imagine what a man would look back on as he approaches his later years.  How much more would "the days that are no more" contain?  The last stanza is my favorite in terms of the way that the author uses the language.  There is a yearning for something that is remembered but will never again happen--"remembered kisses after death"--and a sense of regret that he did not do things in life that he could have/should have done--"deep as first love, and wild with all regret."   What are the things that he looks at that call these tears to his eyes?  What are the things he appears to be thinking about?

Flowers in a Crannied Wall
Sometimes the smallest things make us most aware of the miracles of life.  The speaker picks a flower growing from a rocky area.  The roots and all are pulled up.  He wonders at the miracle of life from this small flower. Do you ever think about how miraculous you are? Look at you hand. Imagine what a person's hand can do. It can perform microsurgery. It can murder a child. It can write beautiful poetry. It can write libelous and malicious material that destroys an honest man.  Read this poem and tell me what you think.

Scenes from a Modern Marriage
There are marriages of the 21st century that seem almost Victorian with the husband making all the decision and calling the shots. How can it be that two people of the Victorian period have such equality in their marriage? Read the poems written by these two talented people and tell me what you think about their talent.

"Sonnet 43" by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
This is the most famous love poem ever written, the most famous sonnet ever written.  "How do I love thee?  Let me count the ways."  And the speaker proceeds to do exactly that.  How does the speaker love this person?   What are the words that she uses that express the infinity of her love for him?   When will the love that she feels for this man end?  To me this is the kind of love that all of us want to achieve.  And I think that is what makes this poem enduring.  It is the standard-bearer for what true love is.

"My Last Duchess" by Robert Browning
These two people were married to each other--the one who wrote Sonnet 43 and the one who wrote "My Last Duchess."  After reading both poems, you will see how amazing their partnership must have been.  Both poems are well-written.   Both have endured years of study.  And the two poems are as different as the night is from the day.  Whereas Elizabeth's poem is traditionally romantic, Robert's poem is narrative.  And the story he tells is anything but romantic.  Read it and look for the arrogance of the speaker.  At what point do you find out what this man has done?  Does he express any regret or remorse for his actions?  What kind of woman was his last duchess?  Why can the man that he is speaking to see a picture of the duchess, but he cannot meet her face-to-face?  What happened to the last duchess  What is the speaker trying to achieve by talking to this man?  Would you want your daughter to be a candidate for his next duchess?  "My Last Duchess" tells a story--be able to tell me what this story is about.  This poem also is an excellent example of dramatic monologue, a form Browning uses often in his writing.

Dover Beach by Matthew Arnold
This is a love poem and a poem that makes us think about the world in which we live. What do we see when we look out into the ocean? The ocean is both infinite and relentless. When we are long gone, the ocean will still be there doing what it has done and sheltering the creatures that it has sheltered for thousands of years. How do we reconcile what we believe with what we learn from science? Does science shake our faith? But two people become an island of security for each other while the world falls apart around them.

Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave by Thomas Hardy
We are so important, aren't we? When we die, the world will stop, right? But it didn't stop for this woman which might lead us to believe that it won't stop for us either. She wonders who is digging on her grave.  Is it her husband? Her dearest kin? Her enemy? Who does it turn out to be? Read the poem and tell me if the digger is remembering her.

"When I Was One and Twenty" by A. E. Housman
I love the comment by Mark Twain when he talks about how dumb a father is when his son goes off to school and how much the old man learned during the four years the son was gone.  This poem is reminiscent of that.  People try to tell us things in our youth that will help us with our lives.  What is our usual response to their advice?  And then what do we learn later on?  This is a sweet poem, easy to memorize, and one that you will take with you through your life.  The poem also teaches how important our hearts are--more important that money or jewels.  But our hearts are the things we give away most easily while guarding our money. Why is there no use talking to someone who is "one and twenty"?  Is there any use in giving advice of any kind to anyone?  Do we listen?  Why are we so intent on making all the mistakes that our elders have made and then making even more of our own?   Do we then try to pass the lessons we have learned to other people?  What is their response to us?

"To an Athlete Dying Young" by A. E. Housman
Marilyn Monroe, John F. Kennedy, Princess Diana, Martin Luther King, Jr.--all of these people are alive.  If that sounds impossible, then think about how often these people are mentioned even though they died more than thirty years ago.   "Your candle burned out long before your legend ever did."  Think about this comment as we read this poem about an athlete who had been the town hero and is now being brought home for burial.  His legend, his laurels, will live on long after he has died.  Did you know that Marilyn Monroe would be 74 years old if she were alive today?  But in our minds she is always thirty-six, sexy, platinum blonde, and beautiful with a white pleated chiffon dress being blown around her legs.  What would we think about her today if she were alive and still acting in Hollywood?  Would her legend have outlived her, or would she be like Farrah Fawcett, trying to act 25 at the age of 52?  Do you know who Roger Staubach is?  Do you know who Brian Piccolo is?   What is the difference between the two athletes?  Why did Michael Jordan retire when he did?  What is the difference between Jordan's retirement and Barkley's?

"Is My Team Ploughing" by A. E. Housman
I have asked you several times during the course of the year to write about what you want people to remember about you after you are dead.  To be honest we all feel a little self-important.  We all like to think that our lives, and therefore our deaths, would make a tremendous impact on the world in which we live.  In reality we are merely people.  Our lives are only irreplaceable to our families and extremely close friends, and even then we cannot expect their lives to end simply because ours has ended.  This poem is a dialogue between two people--one who has died and one who is alive.  The dead friend asks four questions of his living friend.  Read the poem and find out what these questions are.  Look at the responses of his living
friend.  Does the last stanza seem a little shocking?  Are you surprised that his friend has betrayed him?  Or has he really betrayed him at all?  Look at the four questions very carefully.  Consider the order in which the dead man asks the questions.  What was most important to him, or at least important enough for him to ask about first?  Second?  Third?  Last?  Is the living friend really disloyal, or is he just alive and therefore doing the things of life?  Life is for the living.  And although we mourn the people who have died before us, and we will never forget those who have influenced us and loved us, we also know that life goes on.