1. Guide to Romantic Poetry

2. Where we’re coming from: Neoclassical Period
“New Classical”
Imitated the Greeks and Romans
Architecture
Literature
Education
Thought man was superior to nature (so should control it)

3. Features of Neoclassical Period
Formal, public verse
Emphasis on REASON and intellect
Built on standards/traditions
Belief in class system and reliance on aristocracy
Believed in moderation and self-restraint
Focused on technology/industry

4. Romantic Poetry is not about Romantic Love!
Love of NATURE in all of its aspects
Concern and sympathy for the common people
Interest in the world of imagination (especially dreams and the supernatural)
Interest in childhood

5. Romantic Poetry is not about Romantic Love!
Involvement with the lonely and melancholic
Especially in contemplation of eventual death
Interest in past legends (esp. local)
Rebellion against tyrannical control
Rebels against industry (esp. factories)
Focus on FEELINGS, not INTELLECT.

6. Neoclassical or Romantic?
Man controlling nature
Emphasis on order, design
Probably belongs to a member of the upper class
Influence from Greek/Roman architecture/design

7. Neoclassical or Romantic?
Wild/Overgrown
Nature is its own force
(not controlled by man)
Spontaneous
Looks more Medieval (b/c it’s untamed)
Dark/Emotional

8. Which do you prefer?

9. Romantic Poetry Centers on nature
Uses nature as a vessel through which to express emotions
Explores common people
Fights industry or civilization

10. Romantic Poetry Settings
Usually in Nature (or observing nature)
Sometimes in “ruins”– where nature has reclaimed something that used to be part of civilization
Tintern Abbey
Sometimes in cities, but longing to get away (many of Blake’s poems)

11. Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Born October 21, 1772 –
Ottery St. Mary, Southwestern England
Died July 25, 1834 – London
One of the founders of Romanticism (with William Wordsworth)
Major influence on American Transcendentalism

12. Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Famous for his poems “Kubla Khan”, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”, and “Christabel”
Took laudanum (pure opium + alcohol + sugar) in order to cure childhood sicknesses
Eventually became an opium addict, which influenced his work

13. “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”
First published in 1798 in “Lyrical Ballads” (collection by both Coleridge and Wordsworth)
Early example of modernism – goes against literary norms
Rhyme scheme borrowed from old English ballads like “Sir Patrick Spens” – ABCB, alternating between iambic tetrameter (4 feet per line) and iambic trimeter (3 feet per line)

14. “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”
Sin and redemption/forgiveness
Do the crime, do the time?
Allegory of Jesus
Does it represent Jesus saving mankind?
Conservation/Respect for Nature
Self-Portrait of Coleridge
Coleridge was a lonely man – mariner’s isolation could be a symbol for poet’s feelings

15. “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”
Symbols
Sun/Moon – God
Ancient Mariner – Adam/Sinner
Literary Devices
Internal Rhyme
Inversion
Enjambment
Anaphora
irony