The Hero as Poet - Thomas Carlyle

 

The Hero as Poet   - Thomas Carlyle

Thomas Carlyle was born in 1795 and died in 1881. His genius matured and came to full flowering on the very threshold of the Victorian era. His writings were influenced considerably by the social, economic, cultural, scientific, technological and religious changes which characterize the era. ‘The Hero as a Poet’ is the third lecture in Carlyle’s series of six lectures published in book form as Heroes and Hero-Worship and the Heroic in History’. The lecture is divisible into three well defined parts: in the first part he considers briefly the history of the heroic ideal, and the essentials of a hero, and in part second and third he examines the heroic qualities of Dante and Shakespeare whom he holds out as model hero-poets.

Part I

He begins by pointing out that in the past a hero was treated as a God or a prophet i.e., either as one having the qualities of a God or as one speaking with the voice of God. However, such fallacies are not possible in the modern age. Science does not permit us to believe that a man can be a God or a prophet. In the modern age, a hero appears in the less ambitious character of a poet. A poet is a heroic figure belonging to all ages. He is a heroic character who does not grow old or outdated.

Hero, poet and prophet, philosopher and thinker are different names for great men who differ from each other not in their capacities but according to their different environment. In the opinion of Carlyle, it is differences of age and environment which are of the utmost importance. All heroes whether we call them prophets or poets are essentially Great Men i.e., men of sympathetic hearts and penetrating vision. They all have the seeing  eye and the understanding heart. That is why in some old languages they are both called ‘Vates’.

A vein of poetry exists in all persons; all grow poetic under the stress of powerful passion. When this vein of poetry is more developed in a man than in his neighbours, the man is called a poet. One who rises above the general level of poets is called a Universal poet. However, it should be remembered that most poets are soon forgotten, and the greatest, not even Shakespeare, will be remembered for ever.

Part II

 Dante, an Italian  poet, writer and philosopher. His Divine Comedy, is widely considered as one of the most important poems of the Middle Ages and the greatest literary work in the Italian language. He was instrumental in establishing the literature of Italy. He is described as the "father" of the Italian language. His apprehension of the reality was thorough, and this reality is presented in the three parts of the poem, viz. Inferno, Purgatorio, and ‘Paradiso’. Reality for Dante was not the world in which he lived. He found that the world was full of falsehood as folly, hypocrisy and meanness, and imposters prospered, and honest and sincere people died of starvation. Consequently his eyes were turned heaven-wards where he discovered an eternal truth, a spiritual reality, which promised peace and happiness to the suffering human soul. ‘The Divine Comedy’ is an embodiment of Dante’s vision of spiritual reality. The sinners and the wicked who prosper in life, are thrown in eternal hell. Evil cannot escape punishment, however, great, gaudy, or pompous it may appear to us on the earth. Yet, God gives to the sinners a chance of making amends and improving themselves by sincere penitence. Purgatory is an embodiment of this aspect of God’s mercy. The soul is purged and hallowed by suffering, and ascends to the region of the blessed i.e., Paradise.

Part III

Shakespeare is endowed with a unique intensity of vision. His vision is so keen that it penetrates even to the farthest depth of life. From its penetrating and keen vision no aspect of life remains hidden. ‘Such a calmness of depth; placid, joyous, strength; all things imaged in that great soul of his, so true and clear, as in a tranquil unfathomable sea’. The genius of Shakespeare is shown in his delineation of character. His characterization shows complete command over human psychology. His great soul takes in all kinds of men and objects, a Falstaff, an Othello, a Juliet, a Coriolanus, and sets them all forth us in their rounded perception and completeness. He has a universal sympathy for all and sundry. He portrays the character of people as they really are, without condemning their failings and shortcomings or extolling their virtues. In no other writer do we find such a great catholicity and tolerance as in Shakespeare.

Such are the Carlyle’s views on the heroism of poets. Dante and Shakespeare are used to illustrate his views. Some of his remarks are certainly original and penetrating, and come to us as a revelation, a pleasant surprise. We may not agree with him; still we cannot help admiring him.