1. The Romantic Period
1780 to 1830

2. Introduction
The publication of a collection of poems called Lyrical Ballads began the Romantic period in England
William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge were the writers of the Lyrical Ballads.

3. Turbulent Times, Bitter Realities
Romantic period started with the French Revolution in 1789 and ended with the Parliamentary reforms of 1832.
Parliamentary reforms laid the political foundations for modern Britain
During this time period England moved from an agricultural society to an industrial nation.

4. Era dominated by six poets:
William Blake
William Wordsworth
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Percy Bysshe Shelley
John Keats
George Gordon, Lord Byron

5. Turbulent Times, Bitter Realities
1776- America gains independence from England
England looses the thirteen colonies
a great economic loss
Loss of prestige and confidence
The French Revolution instilled fear in people living in England (thought it would happen to them)

6. Turbulent Times, Bitter Realities
In France, Napoleon Bonaparte emerged as a dictator and then emperor.
England began to take measures to stop Napoleon, eventually in 1815 defeated Napoleon.

7. The Tyranny of Laissez Faire
Cities grew because of the Industrial Revolution.
Farm land went from being communally owned to being individually owned.
Number of people increased who didn’t own land  migrated to cities.

8. The Tyranny of Laissez Faire
Economic philosophy that kept the misery going.
“let (people) do (as they please).
Government and economics should NOT interfere with each other.
Rich grew RICHER  Poor grew POORER
Romantic poets grew frustrated with the conditions!

9. The Tyranny of Laissez Faire
Writing moved from public verse of the 18th century to a more private, spontaneous lyric poetry.
Belief was that imagination rather than reason was the best response to the forces of change.

10. What does “Romantic” Mean?
Three (3) useful meanings:
A fascination with youth and innocence
Growing up, trusting our emotions, etc.
Applied to a stage in the development of societies
When people question tradition and authority in order to imagine better
Western society’s necessity for industrialization.

11. Poetry, Nature and the Imagination
Poetry should be an overflow of powerful feelings dealing with commonplace subjects for a particular purpose.
“There is nature, and there are human beings to experience nature”
Romantic poets were intrigued by the ways that nature and the human mind act upon each other

12. The Idea of the Poet We don’t hear lyric poetry, we overhear it.
As if someone were eavesdropping
Romantic poetry is called true voice or feeling, or language of the heart
This exploration of the emotional experiences of ordinary people was revolutionary.