THE ROMANTIC PERIOD (1798-1832)

The Quest for Truth and Beauty-

“The divine arts of imagination:Imagination, the real & eternal

worldOf which this vegetable universe

Is but a faint shadow.-William Blake

Group: Jamie Calderon, Danny Hannegan, Logan Whitmore

Definition for “Romantic”

Form of writing taken from medieval literature genres (“romance”) in a attempt to go back beyond the refinements of neoclassical literature.

Allowed poets to explore more psychological aspects of the human experience.

Three Useful Meanings

A Child’s Sense of Wonder- fascination with youth and innocence

Social Idealism- emphasizes the view of the cyclical development of human societies-breaking tradition for a new way of life

Adaptation to Change- an acceptance of change rather than a rejection of it

Romantic Lyric forms

Sonnet- traditional type of occasional poem written on an important subject (Italian or Shakespearean sonnet)

Ode-self conscious use of classical form which uses impassioned language to address an object

Meditative Poem- an artful illusion in which was to imagine a person speaking (personally or otherwise)

Gothic Elements

Literature of the Romantic Period was filled with elements of the supernatural to create emphatic feelings of fear and terror.

Ex: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and Percy Bysshe Shelley (husband and Romantic poet)

The Brothers Grimm- Grimm’s Fairy Tales (1812)

Important Events The Industrial Revolution-caused

poets to write against the standards of the new cold and mechanized society

Labor Reforms in England-caused poets to seek more idyllic forms of life away from the rigors of labor and monotonous tradition

Napoleonic Wars- caused writers and poets to publish their inner thought advocated the diverse effects of war and society in their poetry.

Events Imagery

Important Poets/Authors

William Blake (1757-1827) John Keats (1795-1821) William Wordsworth (1770-1850) Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834)

William Blake (1757-1827)William Blake, though well known today as a Romantic poet, went heavily unnoticed during his lifetime and maintained a mundane love life. When he started to achieve more attention he was viewed as weird, confuse, or mad by many of his peers and critics. Yet his energetic and eclectic descriptions in his poetry allowed him to become one of the most notable Romantic poets of his time. Some of his most notable works include “The Tyger” and “The Lamb” from his collection of works, “Song of Experience”.

John Keats (1795-1821)

John Keats was plagued by troubles throughout his life and lacked the advantages and resources a typical poet needed to get started (finances cut). Though in an ironic turn of events, John Keats had accomplished enough in his rather short life to become one of England’s major poets. Some of his most notable works include “Ode to a Nightingale”, “When I Have Fears”, and “Ode on a Grecian Urn”.

William Wordsworth (1770-1850)

William Wordsworth was driven to poetry by the collapse of his radical hope of perfecting society due to the his experiences with the Napoleonic Wars. Wordsworth eventually became a notable Romantic poet due to his delight in the mind’s capacity to shape everyday experience into something lasting and poetic. Some his most notable works include “The World Is Too Much with Us” and “Lyrical Ballads”.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge-(1772-1834)

Samuel Taylor Coleridge was originally an advocate for the immaterialized dream of a utopian society before he started to truly delve into poetry and romanticism. Coleridge was seen by his long time friend and essential, William Wordsworth, as “the most wonderful man [he] [had] ever known” and helped him write most of his best poems. Some of his most notable works include “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” and “Kubla Khan”.