My Science School

Having gone blind in 1652 John Milton, 17th century English poet, wrote "Paradise Lost through dictation with the help of an amanuensis (person employed to write what another dictates) and his friends because he had completely lost his vision. The first version of the epic published in 1667 consists of 10 books with over 10,000 lines of blank verse. It is centred around the biblical story of the fall of man, the temptation of Adam and Eve by Satan and their dismissal from Eden.

Many scholars consider Paradise Lost to be one of the greatest poems in the English language. It tells the biblical story of the fall from grace of Adam and Eve (and, by extension, all humanity) in language that is a supreme achievement of rhythm and sound. The 12-book structure, the technique of beginning in medias res (in the middle of the story), the invocation of the muse, and the use of the epic question are all classically inspired. The subject matter, however, is distinctly Christian.

The main characters in the poem are God, Lucifer (Satan), Adam, and Eve. Much has been written about Milton’s powerful and sympathetic characterization of Satan. The Romantic poets William Blake and Percy Bysshe Shelley saw Satan as the real hero of the poem and applauded his rebellion against the tyranny of Heaven.

Many other works of art have been inspired by Paradise Lost, notably Joseph Haydn’s oratorio The Creation (1798) and John Keats’s long poem Endymion. Milton wrote a companion piece, Paradise Regained, in 1671, which dramatizes the temptation of Christ.

Credit : Britannica 

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Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle  (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for A Study in Scarlet, the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Holmes and Dr. Watson. The Sherlock Holmes stories are milestones in the field of crime fiction.

Doyle was a prolific writer; other than Holmes stories, his works include fantasy and science fiction stories about Professor Challenger and humorous stories about the Napoleonic soldier Brigadier Gerard, as well as plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction, and historical novels. One of Doyle's early short stories, "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement" (1884), helped to popularise the mystery of the Mary Celeste.

While pursuing his degree he made his writing debut with a short story named, The Mystery of Sasassa Valley. Later he wrote Captain of the Pole Star inspired by his adventurous journey on a ship as a surgeon. On his return Doyle relinquished his Catholic faith as he found himself immensely invested in Spiritualism. He practiced medicine as an oculist but as it did not work out for him, he found refuge in writing. It was his studies that facilitated him to emerge as a remarkable writer.

He finally got the much awaited break with the release of A Study in Scarlet, introducing the phenomenal detective Sherlock Holmes. Doyle drew inspiration for this exceptional character from his professor Dr. Joseph Bell. Dr. Bell was a surgeon with an eccentric attribute of reading people by deducing telltale signs in their appearance. Doyle penned down over 50 stories based on the character of Sherlock. Late 19th and early 20th century marked as the height of his writing career as he continued to write Sherlock novels. In order to concentrate on his Spiritual writings he abandoned Sherlock Holmes series by killing off the character. However, later he was made to bring back the character by popular demand.

A prolific writer like Arthur Conan Doyle proved in himself in multifarious genres of writings. His genius was highlighted in his literary works which ranged from poetry, historical fiction, spiritual works, non-fictional writings to sci-fi and fantasy short stories.

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Jules Verne, (born February 8, 1828, Nantes, France—died March 24, 1905, Amiens), prolific French author, novelist, poet and playwright whose writings laid much of the foundation of modern science fiction.

Verne’s father, intending that Jules follow in his footsteps as an attorney, sent him to Paris to study law. But the young Verne fell in love with literature, especially theatre. He wrote several plays, worked as secretary of the Théâtre Lyrique (1852–54), and published short stories and scientific essays in the periodical Musée des familles. In 1857 Verne married and for several years worked as a broker at the Paris Stock Market. During this period he continued to write, to do research at the Bibliothèque Nationale (National Library), and to dream of a new kind of novel—one that would combine scientific fact with adventure fiction. In September 1862 Verne met Pierre-Jules Hetzel, who agreed to publish the first of Verne’s Voyages extraordinaires (“Extraordinary Journeys”)—Cinq semaines en ballon (1863; Five Weeks in a Balloon). Initially serialized in Hetzel’s Le Magasin d’éducation et de récréation, the novel became an international best seller, and Hetzel offered Verne a long-term contract to produce many more works of “scientific fiction.” Verne subsequently quit his job at the stock market to become a full-time writer and began what would prove to be a highly successful author-publisher collaboration that lasted for more than 40 years and resulted in more than 60 works in the popular series Voyages extraordinaires.

Verne’s works can be divided into three distinct phases. The first, from 1862 to 1886, might be termed his positivist period. After his dystopian second novel Paris au XXe siècle (1994; Paris in the 20th Century) was rejected by Hetzel in 1863, Verne learned his lesson, and for more than two decades he churned out many successful science-adventure novels, including Voyage au centre de la terre (1863, expanded 1867; Journey to the Centre of the Earth), De la terre à la lune (1865; From the Earth to the Moon), Autour de la lune (1870; Around the Moon), Vingt mille lieues sous les mers (1870; Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea), and Le Tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours (1873; Around the World in Eighty Days). During these years Verne settled with his family in Amiens and made a brief trip to the United States to visit New York City and Niagara Falls. During this period he also purchased several yachts and sailed to many European countries, collaborated on theatre adaptations of several of his novels, and gained both worldwide fame and a modest fortune.

The second phase, from 1886 until his death in 1905, might be considered Verne’s pessimist period. Throughout these years the ideological tone of his Voyages extraordinaires began to change. Increasingly, Verne turned away from pro-science tales of exploration and discovery in favour of exploring the dangers of technology wrought by hubris-filled scientists in novels such as Sans dessus dessous (1889; Topsy-Turvy or The Purchase of the North Pole), L’Île à hélice (1895; The Floating Island or The Self-Propelled Island or Propeller Island), Face au drapeau (1896; Facing the Flag or For the Flag), and Maître du monde (1904; Master of the World). This change of focus also paralleled certain adversities in the author’s personal life: growing problems with his rebellious son, Michel; financial difficulties that forced him to sell his yacht; the successive deaths of his mother and his mentor Hetzel; and an attack by a mentally disturbed nephew who shot him in the lower leg, rendering him partially crippled. When Verne died, he left a drawerful of nearly completed manuscripts in his desk.

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What is William Wordsworth known for?

William Wordsworth was one of the founders of English Romanticism. He is remembered as a poet who always emphasised on the importance of Nature to a person's intellectual and spiritual development. He was a fierce advocate of using the vocabulary and speech patterns of common people in poetry. The son of John and Ann Cookson Wordsworth, William was born on April 7, 1770, in Cockermouth, Cumberland, located in the Lake District of England.

Wordsworth began writing poetry as a young boy in a grammar school. Before graduating from St. John's College, he went on a walking tour of Europe, which deepened his love for Nature and his sympathy for the common man. He is best known for Lyrical Ballads, which he co-wrote with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and The Prelude, a Romantic epic poem that chronicles the 'growth of a poet's mind.

It was with the publication of Lyrical Ballads in 1798 to great acclaim that the Romantic Movement in poetry was born.

Romanticism

This European intellectual movement gained traction across art, music and literature in the 18th Century.

Romanticism is best understood as a reaction to the birth of the modern world and its key features such as industrialisation, secularisation, and consumerism. It simply refers to the birth of a new set of ideas.

This era was thematically characterised by individualism and spirituality, an enhanced appreciation of the beauty of Nature and an exaltation of emotion over reason.

Literature from this time was preoccupied with the idea of conflict between oneself and society.

Wordsworth: A Nature poet

In the "Preface" to the second edition of Lyrical Ballads published in 1800, Wordsworth described poetry as "the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings," which became the manifesto of the English Romantic movement.

His poetry returns to the simplistic image of Nature as the base. Throughout his works, he laid emphasis on the noble impact of the natural world on mankind. From the highest mountain to the simplest flower according to him, the natural world inspired passionate emotions in those who observe them.

To him Nature was a source of joy and solace. The same is exemplified by the following lines from his poem Daffodils:

"For oft, when on my couch I lie

 In vacant or in pensive mood,

 They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

 And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils."

Celebrations in place

7th April 2020 marked the 250th birth anniversary of Wordsworth. This significant occasion is being commemorated nationwide and internationally with celebrations of the poet's life, work, and legacy.

The project, Wordsworth 250, got delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. His descendants have come up with a range of celebrations to mark the poet's birth anniversary in the Lake District.

With the aim to build a living archive of the poet's writing, the public was asked to send in recorded recitations of their favourite Wordsworth poems.

What initially started as a family memorial turned into a global celebration of the poet's legacy as a host of actors and celebrities joined forces and participated in the celebration.

A record of youth

An undergraduate at St John's College, Cambridge from 1787 to 1791, Wordsworth is arguably the College's most famous alumnus. An exhibition was held to honour his memory at his alma mater. It showcased items from the Library's Wordsworth Collection, which included portraits and artefacts as well as his signed manuscripts and printed books. Here one could view the poet's face (as cast from life by artist Benjamin Robert Haydon) and his breakfast tea cup which was a gift from his art patron Sir George Beaumont, alongside letters to his eminent contemporaries and first-edition copies of his greatest works.

Cumbria Festival Chorus

Cumbria Festival Chorus and Orchestracelebrated the occasion with a concert featuring two new choral commissions by local composers, both based on Wordsworth's poetry: "Child of the Clouds" by Roland Fudge, based on The River Duddon Sonnets, and "Influence of Natural Objects" by Jonathan Millican, based on the poem by the same name. The programme was complemented by the British composer Gerald Finzi's performance of the poet's Intimations of Immortality.

Is he still relevant?

Wordsworth's genius was his reaction to the changing time and the developing modernity. His work highlighted the loss of innocence that accompanied the Industrial and technological revolutions. His words lament the disrupted bond between Nature and mankind, emphasising the need to look inward. His accessible poetry challenged the traditional poetic diction by grounding itself in the rustic life of the countryside.

Literary critics praise his analysis of the cultural practices of the time and credit him with laying the foundation for media theory and the modern cultural discourse.

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