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Ballads and Sonnets and Odes, Oh My! An Introduction to the British Romantics WordsworthByron Blake ShelleyColeridgeKeats.

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Presentation on theme: "Ballads and Sonnets and Odes, Oh My! An Introduction to the British Romantics WordsworthByron Blake ShelleyColeridgeKeats."— Presentation transcript:

1 Ballads and Sonnets and Odes, Oh My! An Introduction to the British Romantics WordsworthByron Blake ShelleyColeridgeKeats

2 Neo-Classic or Romantic? Delacroix’s Raft of the Medusa

3 Neo-Classic or Romantic? David’s The Oath of the Horatii

4 Neo-Classic or Romantic? Know then thyself, presume not God to scan; The proper study of Mankind is Man. ~ Alexander Pope All good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings. ~ William Wordsworth

5 Neo-Classic or Romantic? On the dissection of “A Coquette’s Heart” from Joseph Addison’s The Spectator, No. 281. “… several of those little nerves in the heart which are affected by the sentiments of love, hatred, and other passions, did not descend to this before us from the brain, but from the muscles which lie about the eye. Upon weighing the heart in my hand, I found it to be extremely light, and consequently very hollow…”

6 Neo-Classic or Romantic? “Poetry is not like reasoning, a power to be exerted according to the determination of the will. A man cannot say, ‘I will compose poetry.’ The greatest poet cannot say it; for the mind in creation is as fading coal, which some invisible influence…awakens to transitory brightness…and the most glorious poetry that has ever been communicated to the world is probably a feeble shadow of the original conceptions of the poet.” From A Defence of Poetry by Percy Bysshe Shelley

7 Romanticism in the Arts For painters – dynamic motion slashing/crossing colors passion, drama For musicians – range of dynamics and tone color emphasis on tension (unstable chords), rather than balance and resolution self-expression and individuality of style

8 Romanticism in the Arts For Poets – Neo-Classic literature (1660 – 1798) dominated by prose = essays and biographies rooted in reality, literary criticism and satire the novel becomes increasingly popular Romantic literature (1798-1837) new emphasis on – * emotion * imagination * individualism * personal voice

9 British Romantics Who Are They? Wordsworth Byron Blake Shelley Coleridge Keats 1757-1827 1770-1850 1772-1834 1788-1824 1795-1821 1792-1822

10 The British Romantics What were they writing? Lyrics and Ballads and Sonnets and Odes, Oh My!

11 Lyrics Not so much a poetic form as it is a manner of poetry. Brief focus on a single, unified impression. Encompasses imagination, melody and emotion. Individual and personal emotion of the poet. Includes ballads, sonnets, odes, elegies...

12 Ballads Verse (metrical composition) to be sung. Simple, dramatic episode presented in narrative form. Based on oral tradition. Includes supernatural, physical courage, love, and the common people. 4 line stanza, abcb, lines 1 and 3 are four feet and lines 2 and 4 are three.

13 Sonnets Challenges the artistry of the poet unlike any other form. Unparalleled technical skill. 14 line lyric, iambic pentameter Petrarchan (Italian) – Octave and sestet abbaabbacdecde Shakespearean (English) – 3 quatrains and a couplet ababcdcdefefgg Both develop an idea – Petrarchan solves it in the sestet Shakespearean gives a statement of clarity in the couplet

14 Odes Single, unified strain of exalted verse Directed to single purpose, one theme Dignified language Imaginative and intellectual tone Keats: combined heroic quatrain (English ABAB) with the Italian sestet (Petrarchan CDECDE)

15 British Romantics How will I know a Romantic poem when I see one? Use of Imagination Reference to nature and natural objects Intimate self-revelation of the poet Direct expression of strong, personal emotion Vivid imagery Spontaneity/naturalness of diction and syntax

16 “Ode on a Grecian Urn” (Keats) 1)Who/what is addressed? 2)What is the image created? 3)Any words that stand out? 4)Any diff. between the quatrain and sestet? 5)What is it saying about silence? time? beauty? Finally for Romantic elements…


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