Modernism and Cities (Assignment, again.)

A modernist comparison and analysis of Beautiful City by Lord Alfred Tennyson and The City by Constantine Cavafy

           

Constantine Cavafy an Egyptian-Greek poet in the late 19^th century at the beginning of the era of modernism wrote the poem called The City. It is a poem of helplessness, longing, one of despair and a desperate desire to escape and find meaning. Looking at this poem from a modernist theory, one can sense the alienation that the poet feels from the places that he lives in, as he is left to wander around from city to city in desperate search of meaning. We can find in the poet’s confusion as he finds himself unable to escape his dreadful reality, as he runs away from it time and again. His hopes of escaping the black ruins of his life, a place where he destroyed his years completely, are shattered as he realizes that no matter where he goes the city will always pursue him. A sense of fragmented self can be felt in the lines of the poem as he longs to feel whole and complete. A feeling of alienation and confusion leads this man on a journey to discover himself and find meaning in his life. Only to later realize that he is unable to escape the city as the city lives within him. The city is not just a physical place but something that pursues him, everywhere he goes so does the city. The city here is a symbolism for all of the anguish, failures and pain of the poet which he first associates to a physical place only to later realize that it is indeed his tormented soul that bears the weight of this anguish. And that no physical movement can help his escape this reality. The traces of modernist theory that was brought about as a reaction to the rapid industrialization and urbanization of the society which eventually led to a feeling of dislocation and individualistic alienation, can be found in this poem. As we look at the city as a physical place, the author is rendered helpless as no amount of physical distance can aid in him escaping the city. Every city that he goes to, is the same.

Looking at the poem Beautiful City by Lord Alfred Tennyson from a modernist theory, is a critique against industrialization and urbanization. Modernism presents a pessimistic view of society in decay. In the poem Tennyson calls out the European City, that he deems the center city of decay and confusion. Being not only one of the main cities of the world, but the world power at the time, Europe was the world capital during the time of colonialism. He talks about the beautiful city that is the crater for and center of confusion. The city shrieks for equality and care for humans, but those cries are not heard by anyone. The ruthless city cares for no one as the cries and shrieks of people are lost in the deafening roar of industrialization. As the number of buildings start to match the number of people in the city, the city becomes more and more ruthless. The number of people in the city keeps increasing, but the humanity decreases more and more. The people become alienated from each other and the world A feeling of isolation starts to spread in the beautiful city filled with beautiful people. In the poem, Tennyson writes employing concrete diction in an attempt to question the progression of the French revolution. As the city starts to develop and modernize, Tennyson through his poetry portrays to the reader this flaw in society which prevents progression. The revolutions that happen in the city that were mean to be for the sake of the people, help no one and only create chaos and mess for the people. The revolution then prevents evolution of people. Modernists look at the world and see it in a chaotic mess, in the poem Tennyson talks of how the revolution and has turned the city into a chaotic meaningless mess. A city filled with people, but there is no connection between the people. A city of masses of people who are together and yet feel isolated and distant from each other and the world. A city with futile and meaningless relationships. A city where everyone feels lost and there is no sense of purpose. The beautiful city then, that was supposed to help the people grow and evolve, help them progress and united, only makes them more distant and alienated from each other. The beautiful city then is a chaotic mess, the tides of evolution rolled back on itself and as the tide ebbed, it left pure and utter civic insanity.

Comparing the two poems, we can see that both the poems talks about a feeling of isolation, loss of sense of purpose and meaninglessness in a city. People are unable to catch up with the fast paced city. As the city rushes and starts developing, the people are left behind, feigning meaning and purpose. Modernism talks about despair and a society that experienced loss. A loss of faith, a loss of meaning and a society that has suffered a loss of connection. In the first poem, we can feel such loss felt in the words of the poem, as he travels from city to city trying to fill the void in him. The despair felt by the poet is very internal and thus cannot be solved by any external thing, changing cities will not help him find meaning in his life. The poet walks around the place where the ruins of his life lie “my heart lies buried like something dead”, he feels a sense of hopelessness and a despair. In beautiful city, Tennyson talks about this exact feeling. We can connect the two poems, as Tennyson’s poem can be seen as one that is talking about the narrator of Cavafy’s poem. Tennyson talks of the people living in a chaotic mess and the narrator of Cavafy’s poem seems to be living in a chaotic mess where his life was in ruins. The old gray houses can be seen as a metaphor for the colorlessness in the poet’s life. No matter where people go one cannot escape the city, the city always follows. As Tennyson puts it, the city is the center of confusion. Here, the city is not just on single city but can be seen as a representative of the urbanized and industrialized society as a whole. With progression of the city there seems to be a regression among the people. As the society starts to grow, people grow apart. Tennyson describes how society has tried changing yet fails to actually change its standards using the explicit meanings of evolution and revolution. In which he says “in the tides of civic insanity”, to convey that human’s chaotic nature has bought upon them this detrimental flaw. Cavafy meanwhile, talks of how everywhere we turn, we will find the same mess, and now that our lives have been ruined, the lines between the ruins of the city and the ruins of their lives have been blurred. In beautiful city that the two poems talk about, we find the worst of humanity, and from the modernist lenses, a city of despair, chaos, confusion, meaninglessness and without human connection.