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Queen Victoria (1819-1901) was the first English monarch to see her name given to the period of her reign whilst still living. The Victorian Age was characterised by rapid change and developments in nearly every sphere - from advances in medical, scientific and technological knowledge to changes in population growth and location. Over time, this rapid transformation deeply affected the country's mood: an age that began with a confidence and optimism leading to economic boom and prosperity eventually gave way to uncertainty and doubt regarding Britain's place in the world. Today we associate the nineteenth century with the great change in English literature in particular the area of poetry. Victorian poetry as it’s most commonly referred to, was very much concerned with contemporary social problems. Change rather than stability came to be accepted for the first time as normal in the nature of human outlook. Victorian poetry can be classified as Early (1837-51), Mid(1851-70) and late(1870-1901) saw the progress in poetic style from the Romantic Era to the Modernist Era, it also saw the rise of the popular form of poetry referred to as the Sonnet. Some of the most famous poets of the Victorian era include; Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-82) Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-61) Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-92) Robert Browning (1812-89) Edward Lear (1812-88) Emily Bronte (1818-48) Matthew Arnold (1822-88) Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-82) Christina Rossetti (1830-94) Emily Dickinson (1830-86,) Lewis Carroll (1832-98) Algernon Swinburne (1837-1909) Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-89) As mentioned previously the Victorian Era was a period in British history where much change occurred not only socially, economically or politically but attitudes and values towards different aspects of society also changed. Therefore attitudes can be described as Victorian if they reflect the values also expressed during this period. One such example is the attitude towards health. Health occupied the Victorian mind more than -- religion, or politics, or improvement, or Darwinism. In the name of health, Victorians flocked to the seaside, tramped about in the Alps, dieted, took pills, sweated themselves in Turkish baths, and adopted different systems of medicines to reflect this. For the sake of health, they invented, revived, or imported a multitude of athletic recreations, and England became, in Sir Charles Tennyson's words, the "world's game master." Literary critics thought of health when they read a new book of poems; social theorists thought of Health when they envisioned an ideal society.
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