Abstract
This paper will deal primarily with Thomson's interesting dual perspectives employed in portraying the Victorian life's crises depicted in his masterpiece The City of Dreadful Night. Each of these perspectives will be analyzed according to its face value first, and then according to what might a gifted writer, like Thomson, had in mind and yearned symbolically to declare by adopting such a method in writing the poem. The City of Dreadful Night has earned justly the Victorian poet James Thomson (B. V.) a distinct place in English literature. It is a unique poem in its insightful earnestness, force of thought and its pointed verses; that turned it into a truly remarkable poem, deserving to be considered a predecessor to T. S. Eliot's The Wasteland. The City of Dreadful Night is an extremely intriguing poem; not just for the dark vision of humanity and its future the poem presents, but precisely for the multiplicity of levels with which its poet handles such an enigmatic topic.
Highlights
Some of James Thomson's Victorian contemporaries deliberately denied the existence of certain social, religious and intellectual dilemmas, or at least turned a blind eye to them
Upon exploring the world of The City of Dreadful Night, we will recognize the wide scope of Thomson's genius, his extremely imaginative power, his vibrant descriptions and his comprehensive human sympathies
Publishing in the secularist National Reformer gave Thomson the freedom to write what his liberal thoughts inspired him, without being forced to abide to any conventional opinion. This modification in his life and mood was interpreted as corresponding to the new characteristics of his second poetic period (1860-1874); that manifested themselves plainly in the reduction of ornament and elaboration, adjustment of thoughts, boldness of expression, pessimism and the speculative mood that culminated in writing The City of Dreadful Night
Summary
Some of James Thomson's Victorian contemporaries deliberately denied the existence of certain social, religious and intellectual dilemmas, or at least turned a blind eye to them. The letters Thomson exchanged with his friends were of considerable importance, not merely in exploiting traits of his character, but in throwing light on his literary taste, his outstanding clarity of expression, his exceptional intelligence and his varied sympathies.(4) During his early period of writing poetry, which dates from the mid fifties until 1862, Thomson's poetry was packed with the sweetest idealistic visions, vibrant natural colours and the tenderest dreams of love. Publishing in the secularist National Reformer gave Thomson the freedom to write what his liberal thoughts inspired him, without being forced to abide to any conventional opinion This modification in his life and mood was interpreted as corresponding to the new characteristics of his second poetic period (1860-1874); that manifested themselves plainly in the reduction of ornament and elaboration, adjustment of thoughts, boldness of expression, pessimism and the speculative mood that culminated in writing The City of Dreadful Night
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