The Romantic Period

1. The Romantic Period 1798-1832

2. Historical Context • Response to the rationalism of the Enlightenment • Response to the French Revolution (1789) • The revolutionaries in France fought for “liberty, equality, and fraternity” • Ideas of the French Revolution influenced writers in England – they were inspired by the fight for democracy and the common man • Response to industrialism • Longing for nature and simplicity

3. Literary Context • British Romantic writers responded to the political and social climate of the time • Idealized nature, simplicity, and innocence in response to the ugliness of industrialization • Greater emphasis on the imagination • Compare to values of Englightenment-17th/18th Century Writers • Influenced by philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau • Rousseau believed that society was a force that imprisoned human nature • “Man was born free, and everywhere he is in chains.” • Most important genres were poetry and novels • Gothic novels (Frankenstein) and Historical Romances (Sir Walter Scott)

4. Pre-Romantic Poetry • Combination of forms of Neoclassical poetry (think Ben Jonson and his balanced, classical style) with a thematic focus on nature and the life of common folk • Emphasis shifts toward the expression of heightened feeling • Thomas Gray (1716-1771) • “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” (1762) • Setting • Imagery • Emotion

5. William Blake: A Pre-Romantic(1757-1827) • A visionary and genius – he was ahead of his time (and largely unappreciated while he lived) • Known for both poetry and art – made engravings to accompany his writing • Major books of poetry: • Songs of Innocence and of Experience • Explores themes of childhood and innocence • Shows darker side of human nature, disillusionment that comes with age • The Marriage of Heaven and Hell • America A Prophecy • Europe A Prophecy • The First Book of Urizen • Blake saw the world in necessary opposites

6. Blake’s Artwork

7. Blake’s Artwork

8. Ancient of Days

9. Newton

10. Blake’s Poetry • “The Lamb” p. 640 • “The Tyger” p. 641 • “The Chimney Sweeper” p. 643 • “Infant Sorrow” p. 644

11. “The Chimney Sweeper” • http://www.blakearchive.org/exist/blake/archive/object.xq?objectid=songsie.z.illbk.37&java=yes

12. Romantic Poetry • 1798 marks the beginning of Romantic poetry w/ publication of Lyrical Ballads • Lyrical Ballads - volume of poetry by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge • In the preface, they define good poetry as “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” • Poetry also “takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility” • These ideas about poetry were revolutionary and brought about new ways of writing

13. Characteristics of Romantic Thought and Poetry • Increasing interest in Nature, and in the natural, primitive and uncivilized way of life • Growing interest in wild and untamed scenery • Association of human moods with “moods” of Nature • Emphasis on a need for spontaneity in thought and action and expression • Power of imagination • Power of the individual and the need for freer and more personal expression

14. William Wordsworth • 1770-1850 • Grew up in the Lake District of England, spent childhood exploring the outdoors – loved nature from an early age

15. The Lake District

16. The Lake District

17. Wordsworth • Graduated from Cambridge in 1787 – spent time afterward traveling in France and embraced the ideals of the French Revolution • Shows these ideals in his poetry by rejecting conventional rules about language and form • Poetry features ordinary people, uses more natural language

18. “Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey” • Written in 1798 during Wordsworth’s 2nd visit • Expresses a deep joy in returning to Tintern Abbey and how his first visit sustained him over five years • Look for key ideas of romanticism

19. Bellringer – January 24th • Considering the intellectual and artistic interests of the Romantics, why does fantasy and the fantastical figure so prominently in their works?

20. Samuel Taylor Coleridge • 1772-1834 • Poet of fantasy and the imagination • Co-author of Lyrical Ballads w/ Wordsworth • Coleridge focuses on the strange and exotic • Both poets share same goal – to express essential truths about the human soul

21. Samuel Taylor Coleridge • As a child was an avid reader, had a very active imagination • Attended Cambridge • Health problems required him to take painkillers – became addicted to opium • Became friends w/ Wordsworth in 1795 • Friendship dissolved in 1810

22. “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” • Considered to be Coleridge’s masterpiece • Published in Lyrical Ballads • Basis of the poem was a friend’s dream • Wordsworth helped him elaborate on the dream – suggested that the poem be centered around a crime that happens at sea

23. George Gordon, Lord Byron • 1788-1824 • 2nd generation Romantic poet • Family was aristocratic but poor • Inherited his great-uncle’s title and became Lord Byron • Attended Cambridge, traveled in Europe and Middle East after graduating • Known for being wild and reckless from a young age

24. George Gordon, Lord Byron • First work, the book-length poem Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, made him famous overnight • Lived the life of a “celebrity poet” • Pet bear • “Mad, bad, and dangerous to know.” • Byronic hero – combination of Byron himself and his characters • A dark, brooding hero • Mysterious, passionate, irresistibly attractive

25. Percy Bysshe Shelley • 1792-1822 • 2nd generation Romantic poet • Born into a wealthy family • Attended Oxford • got expelled for writing an essay supporting atheism • Saw society as corrupt • Married to Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (2nd wife) – author of Frankenstein • Was good friends w/ Lord Byron • Died in a boating accident at age 29

26. John Keats • 1795-1821 • 2nd generation Romantic poet • Unlike Byron and Shelley, born to working-class parents • Studied medicine in London but gave it up to write poetry

27. John Keats • 1818 – brother dies of TB but John meets the love of his life, Fanny Brawne • John and Fanny become engaged in 1819, he begins to get very sick w/ TB • Moves to Italy, dies in Rome in 1821- -he was only 25 • His legacy: • Lyric poetry • One of the best poets in the English language • Deeply devoted to the art of poetry • Very sensitive to beauty, time, and the contradictions of life (ex: sadness mixed with joy)

28. John Keats • “Here lies One Whose Name was writ in Water” • Epitaph on Keats’ tombstone in Rome

29. John keats • “When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be” p. 748 • “Ode on a Grecian Urn” p. 754 • Ode: a lyric poem that pays respect to a person or thing, usually addressed directly by the speaker