Jul 13, 20223 min read

Explore significant British poets of the Victorian Era

Updated: Sep 16

The Victorian Era was a transformative period for British poetry, marked by the emergence of influential poets like Alfred Lord Tennyson, Robert Browning, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and Matthew Arnold. These Victorian poets shaped English literature with their exploration of themes such as love, faith, industrialization, and societal change. Their works reflect the complexities of the 19th century, blending Romantic influences with new, modern ideas. Through rich language and vivid imagery, these British poets left an indelible mark on the literary world, becoming pillars of Victorian literature and poetry.

Alfred Tennyson was another English poet whose well-known poems included “The Charge of the Light Brigade” and “Crossing the Bar.” Tennyson stood as the summit of poetry in England for nearly half a century. He was the voice of people expressing a range of emotions and beliefs from doubt and faith to grief and triumph in his work. Excellent fusion of romantic and realist styles of writing. It was the era of materialistic urges, class consciousness, political reforms, industrial revolution, scientific advancement, battle of religion versus science, educational expansion, empire building, and popular Victorian architectures (Gothic Revival, Italianate, Second Empire, Stick Style, Romanesque Revival, and Shingle Style).

Gothic Revival Building

Italianate Architecture

Shingle Style Architecture

It is a well-known fact that poetry was a popular type of literature. We have witnessed the rise of influential poets who have left their mark on the world. The Victorian Age gifted us with two great poets Robert Browning and Alfred Lord Tennyson. Robert Browning was an English Poet and playwright who was famous for his mastery over dramatic verse and his best known twelve books long form blank poem “The Ring and the Book”. He was a lover of music, the first to introduce dramatic monologue and mostly Browning was known to be an undying optimist.

The 19th century saw the emergence of several prominent female poets who laid the groundwork for the rise of women in this field. The leading 19th-century female poets were Elizabeth Barrett Browning, George Eliot, and Christina Rossetti. Christina Rossetti wrote a variety of poems with different themes which included religion, feminism, romance, and death. Her poems are songlike and tend to have short and irregular rhyme schemes. Moreover, Rossetti was viewed as a typical Victorian poet due to her poetry which reflected her Anglican faith and her thoughts about love and faith. Her poem “Remember” is a deep and ironic poem that has ideas about love, death, and remembrance.

The 19th century saw the emergence of several prominent female poets who laid the groundwork for the rise of women in this field. The leading 19th century female poets were Elizabeth Barrett Browning, George Eliot, and Christina Rossetti. Christina Rossetti wrote a variety of poems with different themes which included religion, feminism, romance, and death. Her poems are songlike and tend to have short and irregular rhyme schemes. Moreover, Rossetti was viewed as a typical Victorian poet due to her poetry which reflected her Anglican faith and her thoughts about love and faith. Her poem “Remember” is a deep and ironic poem that has ideas about love, death, and remembrance.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning was another prominent English poet who contributed greatly to the English poetry. In her work, she devotedly shed light on several social issues such as child labor, slavery, and the oppression of women. She is known for the poems like “Sonnets from the Portuguese” and “Aurora Leigh”.

Mary Ann Evans, known by her pseudonym George Eliot, was an English poet, novelist, translator, and journalist. She used male pen names to break the stereotype of female writers to publish lighthearted works in those days. Her works are known for their psychological insight, realism, and detailed description of the countryside. Eliot’s poem “A London Drawing Room” describes an imagined view from the window of a grand house in an opulent part of London where the poet watches people hurrying up without paying attention and beyond this tide of humanity are the houses stretching across the street as far one can see. There are numerous English poets of the Victorian era which we can explore and introduce to their views of the world.