Singing 'A Tune Beyond Ourselves': An Investigation into the Diverse Voices of Childhood and Poetry

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dc.contributor.advisorMoffat, Kirstine
dc.contributor.authorMasters, Caroline J.
dc.date.accessioned2015-08-05T02:49:43Z
dc.date.available2015-08-05T02:49:43Z
dc.date.issued2015
dc.date.updated2015-03-05T23:17:51Z
dc.description.abstractOver the past 300 years the ‘World of Children’ has evolved and along with it so has poetry written for, and about, children. This thesis focuses on the poetic portrayal of children in Great Britain from 1715 to 1885, specifically the virtues which adults have deemed necessary, ‘desirable, attractive, or interesting in the young’. The poets I discuss — Isaac Watts, William Blake, Charles and Mary Lamb, Charlotte Smith, Anna Laetitia Barbauld, William Wordsworth, Lewis Carroll, Edward Lear, and Robert Louis Stevenson— either view children as little adults, adults in training, or rebel against adult interference in children’s lives. All of the poets strive to protect and advance a particular concept of childhood. The recent scholarship of critics such as Nancy Taylor Coghill, Norejane J. Henrickson, and Mitzi Myers has shown that as the canon of children’s literature has evolved, a progression away from didacticism towards imagination and ‘fun’ is apparent, with the latter being preferred. This thesis explores whether the apparent division of poetry for, and about, children is as clear cut as this. Throughout, I argue that the history of childhood and poetry is variegated and that creativity has not ousted didacticism over time. Instead the two currents have at times co-existed, been merged, or blended with other approaches.
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.citationMasters, C. J. (2015). Singing ‘A Tune Beyond Ourselves’: An Investigation into the Diverse Voices of Childhood and Poetry (Thesis, Master of Arts (MA)). University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10289/9521en
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10289/9521
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherUniversity of Waikato
dc.rightsAll items in Research Commons are provided for private study and research purposes and are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated.
dc.subjectChildhood
dc.subjectPoetry
dc.subjectDidactic
dc.subjectImaginative
dc.subjectIsaac Watts
dc.subjectWilliam Blake
dc.subjectCharles and Mary Lamb
dc.subjectCharlotte Smith
dc.subjectAnna Laetitia Barbauld
dc.subjectWilliam Wordsworth
dc.subjectEdward Lear
dc.subjectLewis Carroll
dc.subjectRobert Louis Stevenson
dc.titleSinging 'A Tune Beyond Ourselves': An Investigation into the Diverse Voices of Childhood and Poetry
dc.typeThesis
pubs.place-of-publicationHamilton, New Zealanden_NZ
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Waikato
thesis.degree.levelMasters
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Arts (MA)
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