Talk:The Two Voices

This article was the subject of an educational assignment in Spring 2015. Further details were available on the "Education Program:Oregon State University/ENG 206: The Victorian Period to the Twentieth Century (Spring 2015)" page, which is now unavailable on the wiki.

I think you should discuss the theme in this article, I think adding the theme would be a good idea because it will enhance the readers understanding of what the article is trying to portray. Another good thing to add is critical review of the article, this will give a different perspective and point of view to "The Two Voices". SalenaLC (talk) 23:21, 29 May 2015 (UTC)[reply]

What is this about the poem having no convincing resolution? It's The TWO Voices. The narrator is not the second voice - the second voice is another one that comes along and definitely answers and shuts up the first voice (the one urging suicide). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 138.163.106.72 (talk) 21:25, 6 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The author is having a dialogue with his mind. He is questioning the reason to be, and his place on Earth, he wonders what is his duty and if he should continue to live or not. I want to highlight the elements of this dialogue and understand the reason why the speaker is wondering and has this conflict between pessimism and optimism, hope and despair in his mind. It will be interesting to make some research on the author's background before and while writing this poem to understand it. We know that the poem was written after the death of one of his closest friends. We must investigate their relationship and how it impacts Tennyson. The piece is definitely wonderful and an in-depth work might reveal more than we could imagine. Jonathan isengingo (talk) 22:05, 8 May 2015 (UTC)[reply]

In addition, the majority of the poem is between the poet and the first voice. The first voice argues the universe is too big for any one person to be of any significance while the poet tries to justify his own purpose in life. However, at the end of the poem, a second voice chimes in after the first has disappeared and validates the poet's argument, claiming to "see the end, and know the good." The poet's final musings are on the fact that he was able to more easily converse with the naysayer rather than the more positive influence. Given the tone of the few websites we've seen and how most only address the first voice, it would be beneficial to explore the meaning and implications of this second voice and the final musings of the poet. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kelnera (talk •

contribs) 22:53, 8 May 2015 (UTC)[reply]

It would also be interesting to pull out the bits of argument present in The Two Voices that echoed the (if any) philosophical sentiments of the time--perhaps illuminating the key fears surrounding the Victorian Crisis of Faith. Even the form of the poem itself, so rigidly structured and with a repeating rhyme scheme, can be investigated in how "form follows content" : the idea that the poem isn't just telling us about the conflict, but it's also physically showing us. And overall it might be beneficial to summarize the key points that both voices bring up, and to quote the most telling lines from the poem in which they make their arguments. Raeonaire (talk) 23:46, 8 May 2015 (UTC)[reply]

“Tennyson, in my view, should not be blamed…for failing to find a solution where no solution exists; nor should he be accused of wishful thinking when he asserts…that the Heart has its reasons of which Reason knows nothing.” – Basil Willey (Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge Professor). Pg. 69.

Willey, Basil. More Nineteenth Century Studies. New York: Columbia University Press, 1956. Print.

“Tinged with Satanic irony, the voice of negation, cynical and realistic, puncturing a desperate idealism, forced upon the reluctant ego an awareness of man’s fundamental insignificance.” “‘The Two Voices’ remains intense as the colloquy of denial with doubt in the dark night of the soul.” – Jerome Hamilton Buckley, Pg.76

Buckley, Jerome. The Victorian Temper. Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1951. Print.

“Tennyson’s chief purpose in writing the poem: the creation of a sustained poetic dialogue.” “‘The Two Voices’ as the exploration of a road ultimately not taken in Tennyson’s career, the genre of poetic dialogue.” –Herbert F. Tucker. Pg. 121.

Tucker, Herbert. “Vocation and Equivocation.” Victorian Connections. Ed. Jerome McGann. Charlottesville: University Press of Virgina, 1989. 121-145. Print — Preceding unsigned comment added by Raeonaire (talk • contribs) 20:56, 25 May 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Really strong introduction to your page. I would focus more on the history or critical interpretation because there was not a lot there. Other than that, great start!

Your analysis of the poems structure and the background information are very thorough and well thought out good job! Make sure to add and go in depth on one of either history or critical interpretation because this is a big part of the grade. Other than that make sure to have seven sources! - Madison713

Good job on the article. One thing to watch out for is there seems to be a few instances where opinions creep in rather than delivering unbiased info. The Author section in particular seems to have this problem. Other than that, this looks really good! - Steve — Preceding unsigned comment added by ItisSteve (talk • contribs) 21:13, 29 May 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Content for Analysis[edit]

"There is one remedy for all" - suicide, repeated line in poem (lines 201 and 237).

William R. Brashear "Tennyson's Third Voice: A Note" Argument between Dionysian (emotional human nature) and Socratic (intellectual) Dionysian: "the still small voice" of conscious, subjective fact. It "does not call upon the poet to reason, only to see that "it were better not to be". Socratic: "its optimistic arguments are all objective, utilizing a full assortment of rationales ranging from scientific faith in progress to Platonic ideas of immortality. But...it is feeble and impotent against the subjective fact." The third voice: "Hopeful rather than optimistic" and "simply bolsters the poet against the overpowering vision of futility"^[1]Raeonaire (talk) 21:19, 31 May 2015 (UTC)[reply]

References

^ Brashear, William (Autumn 1964). "Tennyson's Third Voice: A Note". Victorian Poetry. 2 (4): 283–286. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)

Peer Review[edit]

This is a great start guys! The only comment I have is to not use parenthetical citations as you would in an essay (Author, page number) but instead to insert the reference number throughout. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.193.154.2 (talk) 02:11, 29 May 2015 (UTC)[reply]

As stated above, the article is coming along quite nicely. My only recommendation is to possibly remove the section about the author, since you provided a link to a full Wikipedia page on Tennyson already. This is merely a suggestion to avoid redundancy.Blue.goggles (talk) 23:33, 29 May 2015 (UTC)blue.goggles[reply]

Peer Review[edit]

This article is an amazing job well done! There is such great flow to the piece, bringing the introduction right into more information about the structure of the poem being experimental, and not part of Tennyson's normal repertoire, and then going into the history. So much great information was able to be referenced in order to really flesh out the poem. The pictures added were a great touch, giving color and a face to not only the poet himself, but to the one who influenced the poem to be penned. My only suggestion would be to congregate the two sections about the history of the author and to filter them into one section in order to keep it succinct and to the point. Brewerh1 (talk) 01:40, 29 May 2015

[1] Brashear, William (Autumn 1964). "Tennyson's Third Voice: A Note". Victorian Poetry. 2 (4): 283–286. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)

[1]