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CHAPTER TWO THEORIES IN DEFENCE OF POETIC DRAMA AND DRAMATIC POETRY CHAPTER TWO THEORIES IN DEFENCE OF POETIC DRAMA A1«ID DRAMATIC POETRY It can be said that the success and universality of the ancient drama is due to the fact that poetry has been the permanent means of dramatic expression from the Greeks through the Elizabethans for about two thousand years. The greatest dramatists^ like Aeschylus, Sophocles, Europides and Shakespeare, were poetic dramatists. All through these ages, poetry and drama were quite inseparable. But since the eighteenth centuiry, there has been an increasing separation between the living stage and poetic art. As Robert Speaight points out; For more than three hundred years, ever since the death of Shakespeare, poetry and drama have been steadily drifting and developing apart.1 Both poetry and drama have suffered from this divorce, since poetry has tended to become academic and drama dismally prosaic. William Archer in his book. The Old Drama and the New, hails this separation, saying that the two elements of the old drama, viz., imitation and lyrical expression at last culminated in this divorce. According to him, for lyrical satisfaction people 39 40 attend operas and musical plays, and for interpretation of life through imitation, they go to the modern realistic plays. But on the other hand the fact cannot be denied that the emergence of verse drama in the twentieth century, as a self-conscious movement, is a reaction against this rigid separation. It was not until late nineteenth century that a group of verse dramatists attempted to revive verse diama for the English stage, searching for a lively form which could ensure a meaningful relationship between content, structure and language, Byron, Shelley, Tennyson and Swinburne wrote poetic plays; but their plays were not suitable for being staged. In fact,attempts of the verse dramatists of the twentieth century conceal a nostalgia for the romantic approach amidst the tide of the modern realistic attitude, for, as Peter Brook says. a verse play is half-way between prose and opera, neither spoken nor sung, yet with a higher charge than prose — higher in 2 content, higher somehow in moral value. Therefore, it can be said, that the revival of the poetic drama served a useful pxirpose: it assisted in the rebirth of the magical power of the spoken word on the stage.. Simultaneously, tensions and frustrations of life in the industrial society encourage flight to a world of fantasy and ronance. Perhaps, the romantic spirit is essential to art, and it is our primitive imagination that provides us with the power and urge of creation 41 As the contemporary theatre could not satisfy the playgoer's desire to break away from the monotonous life, the revival of verse drama was a breath of fresh air in this atmosphere. Arnold Hinchliffe in his book. Modern Verse Drama, draws attention to the fact that. this present time needs the useful reminder of verse drama, that words count as much as scenery or even directors.3 C. Hassal points out that there are two reasons for the revival of interest in poetic plays: the prolonged war, which rendered people more dissatisfied with the mere appearances of things; and they were bored with the passive enjoyments of the 4 realistic theatre. The validity of verse drama has been challenged by some critics, and others are not sure whether verse drama would remain or disappear. Nevertheless, many critics assert that the success of the poet-dramatists,particularly of writers like T.S. Eliot and C. Fry is there to stay. For in the hand of such masters it can not only hold the attention of the audience, but can also answer to the deepest needs and aspirations of the modern man. In other words, expressive drama requires a communicative medium which would bind the characters to the general theme, illustrate action, and reveal profound ideas. So, no other means than dramatic verse is completely satisfactory to meet the exigencies of a meaningful theatre. 42 Poetic drama is not simply imposing poetry on the structure of the drama; it is a fusion of the two elements, creating a new entity. To support this, Eliot reminds critics in his article "A Dialogue On Dramatic Poetiy"; We should expect a dramatic poet, like Shakespeare, to write his finest poetry in his most dramatic scenes. And this is just what we do find; What makes it most dramatic is what makes it most poetic.5 To James Noose-Evans, the experimental theatre should reflect not the everyday reality but "rather those imitations beyond the reach of words," which is, no doxibt, the field of poetry. The illusion of reality created by prose drama is far away from real life, because it displays what is observed on the surface. A. MacLeish avers that: the illusion of the real is indeed the principal business of poetry.7 MacLeish believes that the underlying reality, which we must believe to exist behind the surfaces, is "nowhere divulged and g nowhere made visible." Modern realistic stage does not communicate the real vision man craves to comprehend. It is for this reason that poetic drama is more effective in portraying the inner reality. So, the duty of the poet is to reveal the vision of the play vividly 43 by a verbal texture. MacLeish gives an excellent account of poetry's task, "Poetry is not ornament," he says. it is not flowers, is not the pujtiping up of language with metaphor, is not a gaudy embroidered cover drawn across a dirty fact, ... is not a charm to make the mind forget,is not a paint, an enamel, a veneer. Itscjuality is to illuminate from within, not to describe from without.9 Finally, one should admit that reality of prose is a deceptive factor, for it is a replica of the conventional conception of reality:what is true to life and human soul can be revealed only by dramatic poetry exposing real passions and unique feelings. Y. Winters states that a play in prose offers fewer obstacles as regards performance, for the text is closer to normal speech; but such a play offers less to the theatre, for it enjoys the advantages neither of poetic style on the one hand, nor of the prose analysis of the novel on the other; it comes closer to being a mere scenario, dependent for its success .Q upon the mechanical aids of the theatre. In the Preface to his The Indian Emperor, J. Dryden affirms his opposition to the use of prose in drama by pointing out that one great reason why prose is not to be used in serious plays is because it is too near the natxire of converse. J.L. Styan affirms that in a poetic play the image in the audience's mind will be something wider and yet finer, something enlarged 44 and yet more pure than it could be if it were written in prose.11 Verse, even when it looks "sliced-up prose", can also provide dramatic punctuation, which helps, as Gassner says, causing the eye — and what is more important, the ear — to rest on the 12 word that should be dramatically emphatic. The stressed or unstressed syllables produces a pleasure, apart from what verse says, which makes it more than syncopated prose. Ronald Peacock in his book. The Art of Drama^ affirms poetry's range of expression in the following words: Verse makes available to the material of specifically dramatic vision the more highly organised meanings characteristic of poetry generally. It extends its range of expression over that available to prose, for a subtle instrument follows the subtleties of nature.13 But everything in art, one must admit, being a matter of mutual assimilation, the extension of meanings through increased poetic power reacts on the dramatic quality. Nevertheless, the greatest plays have been written in verse. Perhaps their success could be attributed to the fact that the playwrights have realized that poetry is a language in depth, language at its most intense, which makes it an appropriate instrument for drama at its best. In intense situations, verse allows the unfolding of feelings and passions more powerfully and 45 expressively than prose. As Moody Prior says, a concern with sentiments and passions, as aspects of characters, is properly the work of the poet.14 In poetic drama, the actor has a more particular guide to the feelings reqxilred. The tempo of verse lines not only encourages him In deeper breathing to speak the verse as it has been composed; but it also makes both the actor and the author work in close cooperation with each other. Gassner declares. Verse, as Eliot and others have noted, can prove helpful In keeping the actor and the audience attuned to the harmonies of true poetry when they appear, as they should, in climaxes.^^ The harmony of true poetry is due to the rhythm corresponding both to the psychology of everyday life and the psychology of poetic creation, just as Peacock says,dancing begins in the natural overflow of intense feelings, so too does rhythm in poetry. Utterances in verse, in other words, have miraculous properties, for as Bottomley asserts a sound can be a blow, a sound can hurt or kill, a sound can bring to life, a sound can stir the blood, a sound can paralyse or release.17 In other words, sound has a miraculous effect on our nerves and spirit. Psychologists now tell us just how the spell works. 46 how the rhythm absorbs our attention; and how the reiteration of rhythmical sounds stimulates and also relaxes the nervous system. Norris Haughton asserts that in the greatest drama the painful moments are assuaged by sublime poetry; and moments of highest passion and rapture evoke the mightiest melody.18 Verse can not only rise to intense pitch of feeling; but it can also suggest more than it explicitly says. One may grasp this point by juxtaposing Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, with John Van Diruten's The Voice of the Turtle. The scene is the first confrontation of the lovers. As Juliet appears on the balcony, Romeo says: But soft'. What light through yonder window breaks? It is the East, and Juliet is the sun'. Arise fair sun; and kill the envious moon. Who is already sick and pale with grief,... It is my lady; 0, it is my love'.19 When Van Druten's Romeo meets his Juliet, they express themselves thus: - Sally, this is Bill Page, Sally Middleton How do you do? How do you do? May I take your things? (She takes his cap and overcoat and puts them on the desk). - Thanks. - Scotch? - I will.20 In the light of such passages, the views of critics like David Jones, who assert that poetry in the theatre is only an extra 47 dimension, appear to be lacking in validity, for it is essential to its spirit and the chief means of revealing deeper levels of thought and feeling. To sura up, one may safely infer that the figurative language of verse plays a crucial role in the success of drama since it has a magical force and extraordinary power. The rhythm of poetry in drama is a spellbinding drive lulling our minds, affecting our nerves, and making a psychological impression on our spirit. Now we turn to the individual opinions and critical theories of the modem poet-dramatists like Yeasts, ;s.bercrombie, BottcMnley, Eliot, and Fry, for they provide a most powerful defence of verse drama and dramatic poetry. W.B. Yeats's Theoxry of Dramatic Poetry : Yeats is one of the greatest modem Irish dramatists who was one of the first writers to revive verse drama and as such his critical theories provide a trustworthy evidence both of the achievement of poetic drama and the difficulties facing the modem verse dramatist. On account of his poetic tendency,Yeats considered realism in the theatre an irksome bondage; h\jman soul, and to probe deeper into the he abandoned realistic presentation confined himself to legends and fantasy, of life and p. Thouless asserts that Yeats's aim was not the possivity of the intellect, but the state of trance in which visions of the beauty of the sensory 48 world combine with the shadowy life of legend, 21 ensures a deeper approach to reality. In his theory of the dramatic poetry, he refuted the opinion that "poetry is a criticism of life". Yeats believed that poetry is the revelation of a hidden life. So, the theatre interested him, not as a fonom, but as a temple for mystic beauty, and as an auditorium for spoken poetry. His belief in the theatre as the vehicle of poetry inspired him to work with endless patience. The driving force of his dramatic theory was his nationalism, He is preoccupied mainly with two things: people and their speech; the life of the Irish and the Irish legend and folklore. He believes that the elaborate design of dramatic poetry is expressively embodied in the pastoral primitivism. As R.Williams puts it: He saw his opportunity, not in the interest of a democratic abstraction, but in the existence of a living and organic society of Irish peasantry.22 In fact, Yeat's contribution was not only in the consolidation of a national theory, but in the creation of a genuine dramatic poetry — in the re-marriage of drarna and poetry. For achieving his objective he avoided the nineteenth century tradition of poetic drama as it was more or less divorced from the living stage. Instead, he created a new tradition of modem verse drama which was rooted in legend and history. 49 In some of his plays, Yeats combined prose and poetry; but ultimately he abandoned this practice in the interest of deeper communication. In his Preface to the Collected Plays, he asserts; It is not difficult to construct a fairly vigorous prose play, and then... decorate it with poetry. But a play of that kind will never move us poetically because it does not uncover... that high intellectual, delicately organised soul of man and of an action, that may not speak aloud if it does not speak in verse.23 In short, both Yeats's theories of poetic drama and his contribution as a poet-dramatist stimulated and encouraged several writers, and went a long way in reviving modem poetic drama, particularly in Ireland. L. Abercrombie, a prcaninent poet-dramatist of early twentieth century, evolved his dramatic theory in which he was inspired by Shakespeare. He, in his article "The Drama of J. Drinkwater", states that the burden of the entire play falls on language expressed through the "dramatis personae", and the more explicit expression the more clear the action on the stage turns out to be. Therefore, language should be "suited to drama, ... language in the highest degree, that is to say poetry."24 Abercrombie*s poetic language, as it is seen in The Staircase (1913) is based on the music of common speech of rustic life. As an opponent of prose in drama, he asserts that poetic drama 50 can evoke the deepest feelings of joy and ecstasy. "Characters in a play"# he says. who can speak poetry naturally and inevitably are characters who have in them all the splendour and vigour of life we can imagine,25 He fxorther points out in his book The Theory of Poetry, that colloquialism is full of rapid shades and gleams, and "the expressive irregularities and careless experiments of conversation, "26 He calls this ordinary speech as "savage converse", as a contrast to the civilized talk. He insists that this "savage" speech flowers quite naturally into a sort of raw poetry because it is a series of vivid and concrete images, and what the "savage" can give in a single word, the civilized must build up in a phrase of several words, 27 Abercrombie concludes his theory by affirming that the poetic language embraces a wider range of expression than prose; but, according to him, dramatic poerty is in danger of becoming stilted when poets are afraid of being colloquial in the language they employ, G. Bottomley, another poet-dramatist of early twentieth century advocated dramatic verse both for its musicality and its greater expressiveness in the theatre. In his book, A Stage 51 For Poetry/ he points out that if poetry is perfectly spoken in a play, nmch of the action would be in the voice.28 He also claims that poetic drama has two great advantages. Firsts it has a greater degree of freedom arising frcm the absence of realism, and second, it can dispense with 29 of the modem realistic theatre. expensive equipment Bottomley's poetic plays wre attacked for being void of action; but the absence of the physical action in them accords with his theories of verse drama, according to which, dramatic verse itself is a kind of action, for it has an element of surprise and novelty. He further claims that the imagery and reverberations of verse also stimulate the attention. In his later poetic plays he employs the new technique of contemporary speech rhythms. He justifies this practice in one of his essays in the following words: I conceive that if poetry is to regain its right of entry to the theatre, it must learn again to base itself upon contemporary speech rhythms... that is a contemporary sound,30 In other words, according to him, the contemporary rhythms of sound can pave the way for the revival of poetic drama since it would train both speakers and auditors to appreciate the value of melodic utterance. In short, Bottomley is fully committed to his theory of poetic drama which he propounded in his book, A Stage for Poetry, 52 and according to which poetry would live in the theatre provided its practitioners are willing to experiment and refine their technique constantly. _'- T.S. Eliot's Theory of Poetic Drama Eliot is both a lyricist and a dramatic poet like Yeats. But unlike Yeats, who began his dramatic work in a conventional form, and moved towards an experimental form of verse drama, Eliot. D, Gerstenberger says that he began with the unique and experimental and moved towards an increasingly conventional presentation of verse drama. 31 Eliot also wrote a considerable number of critical works on the possibilities of poetic drama. These critical writings include The Four Elizabethan Dramatists, Dramatic Poetry, Drama. A Dialogue on Rhetoric and Poetic Drama, and Ppetry and In these essays his convention is that poetic drama is possible in our modern age. He does not agree with Chalres Lamb who made a plea for the separation of drama from poetry. Eliot thinks that such a separation is harmful for both. In his opinion, poetry is the natural language of man in moments of highest emotional excitements, and as such it is appropriate to drama. But poetry used in drama must be dramatically inevitable, since such poetry can be enjoyed by the audience and yet it raises the drama above the level of mere entertainment. 53 Eliot objects not only to realistic prose on the stage, but also to plays of realistic content, representing social life. In other words, Eliot not only opposes the realism in the language and diction of drama, but also <s.tands against realism in its themes. In his opinion, drama J which seeks merely to portray the problems of social life cannot be regarded as a great work of art. In his lecture on Milton, Eliot declares that poetry should help not only to refine the language of the time but also to prevent it from changing too rapidly. In his opinion, one of the ways out would be that the language is always in action, not on the pulpit^ but in the theatre for a replica of the society, which stands Eliot points out; The ideal medium for poetry, .... and the most direct me^ins of social usefulness for poetry, is the theatre where the pleasures of poetry could be conveyed to larger groups of people collectively,32 In another place, he emphasises that the lyrical verse is the basis of drama, not just one of the tools which may be utilized by the playwrights as an expressive device. But he says that as the contemporary audiences have been conditioned to prose drama, poetic drama would become acceptable only when it comes from the pen of those who have already made their mark as poets. 54 Eliot is a pioneer poet~dramatist in his attempts at finding the basis for a poetic tradition of contemporary drama. He is in favour of abandoning Shakespearean tradition, for he believes that imitation cannot result in a genuine work of art. He conveys this warning of his in a radio talk saying: The problem for us, therefore is to get away from Shakespeare ... that is not so easy. I have found, in trying to write dramatic verse ... whenever my attention has relaxed, I have been writing bad Shakespearean blank verse,33 Another point, though Eliot does not mention it^is that a form which has been perfected by one age cannot be copied exactly by the writers of another age. It belongs to its own age. So, in his own work, Eliot evolved a dramatic verse which has a different flavour, and for that very reason, was effective on the modern stage. He further elaborates his point in his lecture. The Three Voices of Poetry, saying: We should aim at a form of verse in which everything can be said that has to be said but if our verse is to have so wide a range that it can say anything that has to be said, it follows that it will not be poetry all the time. It will only be poetry when the dramatic situation has reached such a point of intensity that poetry becomes the natural dramatic utterance... in which the emotions can be expressed at all.33 55 We may now turn to Eliot's main arguments in favour of verse drama. He points out that the tendency of prose drama is to emphasize the ephemeral and the superficial. He says that if one wants to get at the permanent and universal he tends to express himself in verse.34 Coleridge affirms that. depth/ concentration and unity in the drama can be better achieved in a verse play than prose because of the nature of poetic expression.35 In other words, if verse fails to give richness and unity, it fails in its very purpose. This view of the role of poetry in drama finds its echo in Eliot's pronouncement: The poetic drama must unity... it must have and if this be strong hetrogeneous ^notions reinforce it.36 have an emotional a dominant tone; enough, the most may be made to He adds that poetry should help us to penetrate beneath the surface of reality: It is a function of art to give us some perception of an order in life by imposing an order upon it.37 Moreover, as pointed above, he asserts that poetry should serve a dramatic purpose. In his "Dialogue on Dramatic Poetry", one of the characters says of Shakespear's dramatic verse: 56 What makes it most dramatic is what makes it most poetic. No one even points to certain plays of Shakespeare as being the most poetic and to other plays as being the most dramatic. The same plays are the most poetic and the most dramatic.38 As a matter of fact* Eliot's whole theory centres round the nature of dramatic speech. In defence of verse, he asserts; People have tended to think of verse as a restriction on drama. They think that the emotional range, and the realistic truth of drama is limited and circumscribed by verse. Only prose can correspond to actuality. But is not every dramatic representation artificial? And are not we merely deceiving ourselves when we aim at greater realism? I say that prose drama is merely a slight by-product of verse drama. The human soul expresses itself in verse.39 He further affirms that dramatic poetry must be simple and clear on the surface and be simply relevant to the action, but it should also have depth which can only be penetrated by the reader who studies it. "For the simplest auditors", he says, there is the plot, for the more literary, the words and phrasing, for the more musically sensitive, the rhythm; and for the auditors of great sensitiveness and understanding, a meaning, which reveals itself gradually.40 Eliot's theory of dramatic poetry can be safely sximmarised in the following points: 57 1. The greatest drama is poetic drama. 2. Far from being a limitation on the theatre, verse is the true expressive language of drama. 3. Dramatic poetry has a deeper intensity of expression than prose in the theatre. 4. Prose is just as "unreal" as verse, and just as far from everyday speech. 5. Verse is superior to prose as more expressive language not only because it can penetrate and provide richness, but also because it can give a play greater unity of action, emotion and mood. 6. The modern theatre suffers from undramatic poets, and unpoetic dramatists. 7. Three reasons are suggested for the lack of modern poetic drama: 8. a) The lack of an effective tradition. b) The improbability of a nation producing two great perioes of drama. c) The existence of realism in the theatre. A new dramatic verse is required which would be flexible and "transparent" enough to be close to prose, and would meet the modern audiences on their own ground. To sum up, Eliot's defence of poetic drama is based particularly on the greater flexibility and higher communicability of dramatic poetry. At its most intense, he asserts, dramatic poetry approximates to music, for it imposes order on human actions and and music. feelings. This order is both of poetry Eliot avers that poetic drama "brings us to' a condition of serenity, stillness, and reconciliation." 58 Thus Eliot has a well-reasoned theory regarding the nature, function and possibilities of poetic drama in our age Fry's Theory of Poetic Drama Fry's poetic plays are not imitations of Elizabethan verse drama; they are rather responses to the twentieth century need for a new realism appealing to the modern sensibility. On the other hand, he felt that the realistic theatre, dominated by imitators of Ibsen's social problem plays, must be either amplified or replaced by an appropriate poetic theatre which could communicate at a deeper level. He insists that prose has lost touch with reality, and the realistic play is not realistic at all, but just a slice of existence. In an article of his. Fry emphasises: Writing a realistic play is like meeting a hximan being for the first time. The realist would observe that this is Mr. so-and-so, that he has a beard and a mole on his face. But the human being is far more peculiar, ... summed up in the strange sort of mysterious creature that stands before us. 41 Rejecting the "surface realism" of the prose play. Fry attempts at finding a suitable foinm of language for drama, for according to him, certain experiences can be better expressed by poetry than by prose. "No event", observes Fry, 59 is understandable in a prose sense alone. Its eventual meaning... is a poetic meaning.^^ In his attempt to create a viable verse drama which could suit the stage in all its dimensions. Fry is, in fact, echoing the message of Eliot to restore the rightful position to the verse drama in the modern theatre. He believes that a verse play is not a prose play which happens to be written in verse. It has its own nature... The dramatist must view the world of his play and the people of that world with great precision. 43 He wants a particular kind of verse drama in which structure, symbols, and verse are mutually connected. In such a piece, the audience would listen carefully to the verse, and consequently would be oriented to accept verse as a reasonable substitute for prose in contemporary theatre. In an article. Pry clarifies that in his verse drama he is not concerned with the superficial themes but with reality, experiences, and perceptions, that are deep-rooted in hximan psyche.44 And again, he insists in his article, "Why Verse?", that there is another kind of realism, which is far more realistic. To attain this "reality", he uses all the traditional methods for overcoming the false realistic presentation by employing a dazzling language of figurative speech. He reveals his prejudice against the "impotent prose". "In prose," he claims. 60 we convey the eccentricity of things; in poetry, their concentricity, the sense of relationship between them. 45 The new realism of his plays concentrates on the underlying significance expressed by verse, for he believes, that what we call reality is a false god, the dull eye of custom... but the truth, surely, the greater reality is the province of poetry.46 Therefore, in Firy's opinion, the pursuit of poetry is "an apprehension of truth beyond the power of rational thought".47 Henceforth, he concludes, that; in exploring and recreating life in terms of the stage, we should use languages fully charged and as pliant as we can make it.^® Thus, to restore the poetic vision of life. Fry's poetic drama employs moving poetry and lively stage technique, and thus, action and poetry are fused together. They are inseparable, for "the poetry is the action, and the action is the figure 49 of poetry." AS Derek Stanford says: In Fry, then, poetry and drama are not at war; the first diminishing the sense of situation, the second detracting from the beauties of speech.50 One may deduce that Fry wants a theatre where man and events turn round an old truth; not the everyday life of the 61 people, iaut the poetic truth. In a letter. Fry expresses the span of the old truth thus: The use of verse in the modern theatre... comes, I think from a certain spiritual searching which is part of our troubled times.51 So, Fry's old truth is indeed the mysterious world of hximan psyche. This reality, he thinks, enables man to enjoy the miracle of life,by exploring its inner dimension. Thus, his theory denotes that dramatic poetry is as natural as our senses Fry says: Poetry is the language in which man explores his own amazement. It is the language in which he says heaven and earth in one word... It has the virtue of being able to say twice as much as prose in half the time... We can say that poetry is the language of reality.52 In an interview with the reporter of The Nevj York Times, Fry's theory of the dramatic poetry is further elaborated: I lay the acceptance of poetry in the theatre to two things. One is that reaction to the long hold of surface realism. The other is that... poetry provides something people lack and wish for, a richness and reaffirmation.53 It would not be out of place to point out that his practical proficiency in the theatre is, perhaps, the reason 62 why he avoids extreme positions taken by Eliot and Yeats, who are primarily poets* V, Sherry points out: The dramatic theory and practice of C.Fry's represents a mid point in the twentieth century verse drama, betv;een (.. extremes represented by Eliot and Yeats. But Fry is conscious of the decline of poetry in a chaotic world dominated by the anti-romantic people who are absorbed in topicalities "which are acting", as Cecil Day Lewis // says, 55 upon the mind to reduce it to a state of almost savage torpor." Modern people in such, a state of lulled consciousness need a motive which would shake their torpor and compel them to listen to the melodic sound of verse. Fry has always emphasised that the language of the common people, however brilliantly recorded, is not sufficient for the imaginative theatre.56 While Eliot and some other poet-dramatists have attempted juxtaposition of verse and prose in the theatre. Fry approaches it in a much bolder manner. He seems to be modifying or even correcting the position held by Eliot, as G. Bullough asserts: In theatrical ease, lightness of touch, general attitude to life. Fry's works seemed at first sight a revolt against Mr. Eliot's own.57 Fry avers that the powerful dramatic poetry is the only possible vehicle for the presentation of human's instinct, and the 63 mystery of the universe. According to his tenet, the theatre would be too poor without poetry to express man's true emotions. 58 In other words. Fry seems to share Wordsworth's experience that poetry is something "felt in the blood, and felt along in the heart".59 This emphasis on feeling, which is the main aspect of Fry's theory, is also maintained by A. Hinchliffe in his book. Modern Verse Drama; Apart from the utilitarian question of language, I believe the need for poetry is an essential part of the human condition.60 To sum up Fry proved, that poetry need not have an isolated existence in printed poems, but it can also be brought to life by actors on the stage, and this type of poetry is the differentia of modern poetic drama. In this uncomprondsing attitude in his theory of the dramatic poetry. Fry stands aloof from other poet-dramatists. As a conclusion to the defence of poetic drama by outstanding poet-dramatists, let us admit that in spite of the successjEul revival of the verse drama, its opponents claim that whatever efforts might have been exerted in this direction, the last word must be in favour of prose. Kenneth Tynan reminds us that it has taken a long time to make prose respectable in the theatre, and it has extensive potentialities, for "prose is the most flexible weapon the stage has ever had, and still 64 60 shining new." And no doubt, it is true that prose can also provide concentrated action and subtle insights as the works of Ibsen, Shaw, Chekhov, and other masters of modern drama have proved. But in view of the function of the verse on the stage, its vivid influence on the audience, and facilities provided both to the author and the actor, we can say that poetry is a more impressive medium for the stage. As Abercrombie points out: I shall only enquire whether the assumption that prose is the natural and straightforwarded medium for a play be not profoundly mistaken; whether, on the contrary, it be not poetry that is the natural and straightforwarded medium.62 And Eliot affirms that the dramatist who is not a poet much the less a dramatist. is so And H,. Read says that in English, only the use of verse on the stage can elevate it to the level of a serious novel for which prose is the natural medium. Against these positive views in favour of verse drama, some of the modern dramatists and critics assert the superior claims of realistic prose drama. P. Thouless, an advocate of realism in the theatre, points out in her book. Modern Poetic Drama, that the writer of realistic drama tries to bring together the various threads of life, to make the connection between the stage world and our own a close one.65 But it can be asserted, that the "threads of life" could be brought together 65 without realistic prose, for acute and expressive language is the indespensable constituent of the poetic dramaturgy. S. Spender asserts: Poetry is naturally a dramatic medium, and drama naturally poetic. Most poems are statements made within an impled dramatic situation, by a speaking voice... within a poem itself, there is a system of relationships between rhymes and patterns of rhythm, which resemble dialogue. So, a poem in many ways, is like a play in miniature.66 Thouless sums up her negative point of view claiming that it is the wish of the poet-dramatist not to bring his characters close to us, not to impress upon us the concrete realities of the world, but to distance us from them. It deprives us from 67 the pleasure of seeing a replica of it on the stage. The motive of the modern verse-dramatist,to be sure, is that he honestly employs verse not "to rouse in us unfamiliar associations"; but he wishes by traditional methods to make us feel the reality of profound inner life in a series of harmonious actions on the stage. Coming to a moderate compromise, one may claim that modern theatre is not only a free field for realistic tendency. should cater to all tastes in order to produce a desired equilibrium. Hunter in a letter supports this point: In a live and healthy theatre, there should be room for everything; the open stage and the proscenium, the play of commitment and It 66 the frivolous force, realistic tragedies, comedies, historical and pastoral drama.68 In other words, if we believe in the dictum that variety is the spice of life, it seems quite true that the theatre should conform to the tastes of society it reflects. On the other hand, it is undeniable that man cannot separate his passion from his mind, and it is not possible to eliminate the instinctive inclination towards romanticism, which only poetry can satisfy. To press home an argument, if one accepts the idea that we are in a period dominated by realistic drama, then it follows that perhaps in a way the poet-dramatists are wasting their energies in rebelling against prose and asserting the superemacy of poetic drama. But on the other hand, greater interest evident in figurative language, experimental styles, and sophisticated forms employed by several contemporary prose dramatists indicates a revival of the poetic approach in prose drama itself which in a way justifies the arguments of the poet-dramatists in favour of poetic drama. 67 NOTES 1 Robert Speaight, Drama Since 1939, Longmans and Co., Ltd., London, 1947, p.33. 2 Peter Brook, The Empty Space, Penguin Books, London, 1968, p.43. 3 Arnold Hinchliffe. Modern Verse Drama, Methuen, London, 1977, p.75. 4 C, Hassal. "Notes On Verse Drama", in : Masquee No,6m The Curtain Press, London, 1948, p. 3. 5 T.S. Eliot. "A Dialogue on Dramatic Poetry", in : Selected Essays, Faber and Faber, London, 1939, 38-39. 6 Quoted, Arnold Hinchliffe, Op, cit., p, 11. 7 A MacLeish, "The Poet As Playwright", in i Atlantic, 195, February, 1955, p,54, 8 A MacLeish, "A Stage For Poetry", in: A Time To Speak, Paston, 1941, p.79, 9 A MacLeish. "A Stage For Poetry", Op.cit., p.80-81. 10 Y. Winters. "Problems of the Modern Critics of Literature", in: Hudson Review, Vol. IX, 13 Autumn, 1956, p.359, 11 J.L, Styan, The Elements of Drama, Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 1960, p.31. 12 J. Gassner, Directions in Modern Theatre and Drama, Holt, Rinbhart and Winston, E n c , Chicago, 1965, p. 75. 68 13 R. Peacock, The Art of Drama« Routelege and Kegan Paul, London, 1957, p. 225. 14 Moody Prior. "Poetic Draka; An Analysis and Suggestions", in : English Institute Essays, N.J., 1959, p. 14. 15 J. Gassner, O^. cit.,p. 75. 16 R. Peacock. 17 G. Bottomley, A Stage for Poetry; My Purposes With My Plays, Titus Wilso n & Son, Ltd., Kendal, 1948, p. 13. 18 N. Haughtoni The Exploring Stage. (Introduction), Weighbright and Tallen, N.Y., 1973, p. 104. 19 W. Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet, Act II, Scene II, Buchers and Son, London, 1881, p. 403. 20 V. Druten. The Voice of the Turtle, Eyre Metheuen & Co., London, 1975, p. 82. 21 P. Thouless. Modem Poetic Drama, Black Well, Oxford, 1969, p. 139. 22 R. Williams. Drama From Ibsen to Eliot, London, 1967, p. 225. 23 W.B. Yeats. 24 L. Abercrombie, "The Drama of J. Drinkwater", in: Four Decades, 1 (1977), pp. 273-274. 25 L. Abercrombie. "The Function of Poetry in Drama," in: Poetry Review, 1 (1912), London, p. 167. Oj2. cit., p. 226. Collected Plays. Dublin Penguin Books, U.P., 1965, p.7. 69 26 L, Abercrombie. The Theory of Poetry, Martin Seeker, Ltd., London, 1926, p.142. 27 Ibid., p.143. 28 C. Bottomley. A Stage For Poetry, Kindal, 1959, p.19. 29 G. Bottomley. "Poetry and the Contemporary Theatre", in: Essays and Studies, XIX, Oxford, 1934, p. 166. 30 Ibid., p. 145. 31 D, Gerstenberger. "The Complex Configuration: Modem Verse Drama", in: Poetic Drama, Salzbury Univ. press, 1973, p.41. 32 T.S. Eliot. The Use of Poetry and the Use of Criticism, Faber & Faber, London, 1933, p.153. 33 T.S. Eliot. Selected Prose, edited by Supra, London, 1947, p.84. 34 T.S. Eliot, The Sacred Wood, Faber & Faber, London, 1920, p.42. 35 S.T. Coleridge. Biographia Literaria, Chapter 18, Cambridge University Press, 1960, p.250. 36 T.S.Eliot. "Phillips Messenger", in: Selected Essays, Faber & Faber, London, 1955, p.214. 37 Introduction to G. Wilson Knight. The Wheel of Fire, Oxford Univ. Press, 1930, p.IV. Winston Press, 70 38 T.S. Eliot. "A Dialogue on Dramatic Poetry", in: Selected Essays, Paber & Paber, London. p,43. 39 Ibid., p. 64. 40 T.S. Eliot. Poetry and Draroa, Paber & Faber, London, 1960, p.82. 41 Quoted. D. Gerstenberger, 0£. cit., p. 98. 42 c. Pry. 43 C. Fry. 44 C. Pry. "How Lost, How Amazed, How miraculous We Arel", "Why Verse?", in: Vogue, CXXV, (March 1, 1955), p. 162. "Why Verse?", O2. cit., p.102. in: Theatre Art, August 23, 1962, p.73. 45 C. Pry. "Why Verse?" ©£. cit., p. 137. 46 47 Quoted. W. Arrowsmith. "English Verse Drama: C.Fry", in: The Hudson Review, vol. Ill, Suimier, 1950, p. 208. C. Fry. "Why Verse?", Op.cit., p.37. 48 C. Pry. "The Author Explains", in: World Report, IV (June, 1949), p.332. 49 C. Pry, "Poetry in the Theatre", in: Saturday Review, XXXVI (March 21, 1953), pp. 26-27. 50 D. Stanford. C. Pry: An Appreciation, Peter Nevil, London, 1955, p. 48. 51 Fry's l e t t e r t o M.P. Sangal, Published in his thesis "C. Fry and T.S. E l i o t " , sutanitted to Agra university, 1966, p.127. 71 52 C. Pry, "The Author Explains", Og, clt., p.331. 53 C. Fry, "Poetry in the Theatre", Op.cit,, p.18. 54 R.C. Sherry, "A Certain Apparent Irrelevance: Genre, Theme, and Technique in the Drama of C. Pry", in: D.A.I., Brown University Press, Chicago, 1968, P.293-A. 55 C D . Lewis. A Hope Por Petry, Press, 1935, p.14. 56 C. Fry. 57 G. Bullough. "Poetry in Modem English Drama", in: Cairo Studies in English, Cairo, 1960, p.58. 58 C. Fry. 59 W. Wordsworth. "Tintem Abbey", in : Collected Works of W. Wordsworth, Oxford University Press, London, 1960,p.228. 60 A. Hinchliffe. Modern Verse Drama, Methuen, London, 1977, p.63. 61 K. Tynan, "Notes On a Dead Language", in: Tynan On Theatre, Stunner, 1955, p. 25. 62 L. Abercrombie. "The Function of Poetry in Drama", in: The Poetry Review, March, 1920, p,18. 63 T,S. Eliot. Oxford University "Talking of Henry", in: The Twentieth Century, 169, February, 1961, London, p. 188. "Author's Struggle", in: The New York Times, February 6, 1955, p.II, 3:1. "A Dialogue On Dramatic Poetry", p.25. 72 64 H. Read. "Toward The Cocktail Party", in: The Listener, 10 May, 1951, p.26. 65 P. Thouless. Modem Poetic Drama, p.46. 66 S.Spender. "Modem English Poetic Drama", in: Britain Today, January, 1952, p.24. 67 P. Thouless. 02* cit., p.46. 68 N.C. Hunter. Modem Trends in the Theatre, University Swansea, Wales, 1969, p.21.