The Romantic Period 1780-1830
Sources of Inspiration Examination of inner feelings, emotions, imagination The literature of the Middle Ages
Attitudes and Interests Idealistic Interested in the mysterious and supernatural Concerned with the particular Sought to develop new forms of expression Romanticized the past Tended toward excess and spontaneity Appreciated folk traditions
Social Concerns Desired radical change Favored democracy Concerned with the common people Concerned with the individual Felt that nature should be untamed
Two Generations of Poets 1st Generation included Robert Burns, William Blake, William Wordsworth, and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. 2nd Generation included George Gordon, Lord Byron, Percy Shelley, and John Keats.
Leaders of the Time Robert Burns and William Blake were the forerunners of the romantic literature in their subject matter, themes, and style. Burns published his Poems Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect (1896). Blake produced his companion books, Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience.
The Official Beginning The poets William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge teamed up to publish Lyrical Ballads (1798). This publication marks the official beginning of the Romantic Period in English literature.
Romantic Prose Writers Essayists included Charles Lamb, William Hazlitt, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Thomas De Quincey. Novelists included Mary Shelley, Jane Austin, and Sir Walter Scott