The British Romantic Period “The divine arts of imagination: imagination, the real and eternal world of which this vegetable universe is but a shadow.” William Blake
How and When Did it Start? Spring, 1798 Wordsworth & Coleridge 27 and 25 Sold poems for trip to Germany.
How and when did it start? Lyrical Ballads Literary world turned upside down. Among the most important of the era.
Ending Parliamentary Reforms of 1832 A turbulent time Agricultural to industrial Large & restless working class Death of Robert Burns
So, what is a Romantic poet? Wordsworth: “He is a man speaking to men.” Ordinary man, a democratic concept. Passionate speaking from the heart. “Overhearing” Privy to a private conversation Someone speaking to himself. Language of the heart Keats: “What the imagination seizes as beauty must be the truth whether it existed before or not.”
The Lure of the Gothics Eerie and supernatural. This taste for terror grew from a sensibility called “gothic” set in gloomy medieval castles. Make readers’ blood run cold. Sense of helplessness Forces beyond their control.
Idealists and liberals: exhilarated by the events in France. Even made trips to France HOWEVER, Reign of Terror Instilled fear Sense of betrayal. More conservative Political stability non-existent. Repercussions of Britain’s war with France.
Laissez- Faire Hand-made to factory-made Communal land no more Homeless migrated to cities Many went on the dole Economics NOT controlled by government
Laissez- Faire Children paid biggest price Poets’ response: Reject formal, public verse Private, spontaneous lyrical poetry. Imagination answer to problems.
Characteristics of Romanticism Embraced imagination and naturalness. Personal experiences and emotions Simple, unadorned language. Lyric form Democratic attitude towards audience. Rejected 18th century emphasis on reason and artifice. Rejected the public, formal, and witty works of previous century
Characteristics of Romanticism Past or inner dream world Most believed in individual liberty Sympathized with rebellion Nature transformative Nature & human mind “mirrored” one another.
This Nature Business Embraced nature Prized experiences of beauty and majesty that could be found in nature. Wordsworth, saw “…man and nature as essentially adapted to each other, and the mind of man as naturally a mirror of the fairest and most interesting properties of nature.”
Imaginative experiences powerful and moving. Imagination is: And Imagination? Imaginative experiences powerful and moving. Imagination is: Special faculty of the mind Kind of desire, Motive that drives the mind Learn & know things Versus rational & logical thinking.
Mind moves in mysterious ways Imitate the powers of the Maker. And Imagination? Mind moves in mysterious ways Imitate the powers of the Maker. Create new realities in the mind.
The Big Names William Wordsworth Samuel Taylor Coleridge
The Slightly Smaller (Though Still Really Big) Names William Blake George Gordon, Lord Byron Percy Shelley John Keats