The Narratological Analysis of Lyric Poetry: Studies in English Poetry from the 16th to the 20th Century (Narratologia, 7)

This study offers a fresh approach to the theory and practice of poetry criticism from a narratological perspective. Arguing that lyric poems share basic constituents of narration with prose fiction, namely temporal sequentiality of events and verbal mediation, the authors propose the transgeneric application of narratology to the poetic genre with the aim of utilizing the sophisticated framework of narratological categories for a more precise and complex modeling of the poetic text. On this basis, the study provides a new impetus to the neglected field of poetic theory as well as to methodology. The practical value of such an approach is then demonstrated by detailed model analyses of canonical English poems from all major periods between the 16th and the 20th centuries. The comparative discussion of these analyses draws general conclusions about the specifics of narrative structures in lyric poetry in contrast to prose fiction. Preface 1 Introduction: The Theory and Methodology of the Narcological Analysis of Lyric Poetry 2 Sir Thomas Wyatt: "They flee from me" 3 William Shakespeare: Sonnet 107 4 John Donne: "The Canonization" 5 Andrew Marvell: "To His Coy Mistress" 6 Jonathan Swift: "Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift" 7 Thomas Gray: "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" 8 Samuel T. Coleridge: "Kubla Khan" 9 John Keats: "Ode on Melancholy" 10 Robert Browning: "The Bishop Orders His Tomb at Saint Praxed's Church" 11 Christina Rossetti: "Promises like Pie-Crust" 12 Thomas Hardy: "The Voice" 13 T. S. Eliot: "Portrait of a Lady" 14 W. B. Yeats: "The Second Coming" 15 D. H. Lawrence: "Man and Bat" 16 Philip Larkin and Thomas Hood: "I Remember, I Remember" 17 Eavan Boland: "Ode to Suburbia" 18 Peter Reading: "Fiction" 19 Conclusion: The Results of the Analyses and Their Implications for Narratology and the Theory and Analysis of Poetry 1. Introduction : The Theory And Methodology Of The Narratological Analysis Of Lyric Poetry / Peter Huhn And Jorg Schonert -- 2. Sir Thomas Wyatt : They Flee From Me / Jens Kiefer -- 3. William Shakespeare : Sonnet 107 / Peter Huhn -- 4. John Donne : The Canonization / Jens Kiefer -- 5. Andrew Marvell : To His Coy Mistress / Peter Huhn -- 6. Jonathan Swift : Verses On The Death Of Dr. Swift / Jens Kiefer -- 7. Thomas Gray : Elegy Written In A Country Churchyard / Peter Huhn -- 8. Samuel T. Coleridge : Kubla Khan / Peter Huhn -- 9. John Keats : Ode On Melancholy / Peter Huhn -- 10. Robert Browning : The Bishop Orders His Tomb At Saint Praxed's Church / Peter Huhn. Peter Hühn, Jens Kiefer ; Translated By Alastair Matthews. Includes Bibliographical References. Review text: "Der Band von Hühn und Kiefer ist zum einen jedem wärmstens zu empfehlen, der an Lyriktheorie und an narratologischen Ansätzen interessiert ist. Zum anderen lässt die starke Ausrichtung auf die Analyse von Beispieltexten den Band aber auch als Arbeitsbuch für einführende Lyrikseminare geeignet erscheinen."Marion Gymnich in: KULT_online 11/2006