What emotions are being expressed in this painting?

Learning Objective Introduce Romantic literary time period and the ballad through John Keats “La Belle Dame Sans Merci.” Students will be able to identify key aspects of Romanticism.

The Romantic Period: 1798–1832

What started it all….Maybe The French Revolution – End with the Parliamentary Reforms of 1832 which laid the foundation for Modern Britain Reaction to the literature and, especially, the thinking and practice of the 18th century. The 18 th century Age of Enlightenment: John Locke and Isaac Newton. Romantic period begins in 1798 with publication of Lyrical Ballads, with a few other poems, a collaboration by two young poets, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth.

Industrial Revolution England is the first nation to experience the effects of the Industrial Revolution. Swelling urban populations create desperate living conditions. The era’s misery and poverty are justified by an economic policy called laissez faire. Production moves from homes to factories in the cities Communal land is taken over by individuals. Landless poor migrate to cities for work.

Who is the Romantic Poet? According to Wordsworth, “He is a man speaking to men.” speaker is an ordinary man, a democratic concept. speaking in lyrical poetry is a passionate speaking from the heart. A language of the heart According to Keats, “What the imagination seizes as beauty must be the truth whether it existed before or not.”

Driven by civic duty were dedicated to political and social change believed in the power of literature thought imagination—not reason—was the best response to forces of change created private, spontaneous lyric poetry Beginning of feminist thoughts in literature

Major Figures England: William Blake George Gordon Byron Samuel Taylor Coleridge Percy Bysshe Shelley Elizabeth Barrett Browning William Wordsworth John Keats Christina Rossetti Mary Robinson

Key Aspects of Romantic Poetry 1)Romanticism turned away from 18 century emphasis on reason. Embraced imagination and nature. 2)Rejected the public, formal, and witty works of previous century. Preferred poetry that spoke of personal experiences and emotions. 3)Lyrical style viewed as the best form to express feelings, self- revelations, and the imagination. 4)Wordsworth urged poets to adopt a democratic attitude towards their audience. Poetry for everyone. 5)Many turned to a past world that they saw as picturesque. 6)Most believed in individual liberty and sympathized with those who had rebelled against tyranny. 7)Thought of nature as transformative; fascinated by the ways nature and the human mind “mirrored” one another.

The Ballad Narrative 4 line stanzas Meter: Common Meter iambic tetrameter alternating with iambic trimeter Rhyme abab or abcb Refrains: exact or incremental repetition Traditional motifs: Lost love Death Supernatural seducers Political protest

Reading Questions 1.In the beginning of the poem, the speaker has encountered a knight. What does this knight look like in stanza one and stanza three? 2.The third and fourth line describes the setting of the poem. Where are the speaker and the knight standing? What season is it? What is the condition of nature in this time and place? 3.After you've read the entire poem, come back to look at lines 3-8. Why (symbolically) should this be the setting in terms of time and place? 4.In stanza four, we hear the knight's response to the speaker's questions. What did the Knight encounter in the meads (meadows)? What did this creature look like? 5.In stanza five, what gifts did the knight make for this creature? How did this creature look at the knight afterward, and what sounds did the creature make? 6.hen the knight falls asleep, what does he see in a nightmare? 7.Who are all these pale kings, princes, and warriors? (The poem never tells us explicitly, but what do we suspect?) 8.The knight had fallen asleep in an "elfin grot" with the maiden, but where does he awaken? Why symbolically is this location "cold"?