Keats - Romanticism Context

General background to Romanticism

When was the period of Romanticism?

1789 to 1832

What were the historical events that bookend the start and the end of Romanticism?

The French Revolution in 1789 and the Reform Act in Britain in 1832 (allowed more men to vote)

How did music change during the Romantic period and how might this be related to Keats’ poetry?

Became more complex and melancholic, more dramatic, starting slower and then building up, more intense as well as being multi-layered with more variation. Keats’ poetry was similarly intense, more layered and of a greater depth.

What was the conception of the poet during the Augustan period? How was this reflected in art/images?

The conception of the poet in the Augustan period was a much more literal vision of the poet, as engaging with modern society at the time, a member of London society and engaging in conversation with other, educated men - based more so on reason and decorum.
- Hogarth’s drawing of Alexander Pope in 1730

How did this conception of the poet change by the Romantic period? How was this reflected in Art?

By the Romantic period, the poet represented a deeper meaning, focused on the power of the poet to a glorified and god-like figure. Emphasis on the relationship of the poet to nature, as part of nature, and importantly, it was a sublime kind of nature - very wild and rugged - the poet as drawing inspiration and information from nature.
- This conception of the poet is seen through the Romantic painter John Martin’s ‘The Bard’ in 1817

Name three different garden designs which show different conceptions of nature prior to and then during the Romantic era?

• Alexander Pope’s design for his garden at Twickenham in 1719

• Capability Brown’s landscape garden design c. 1750

• Gilpin’s transformation of Brown’s design into the picturesque style - early 19th Century

How do these 3 different garden designs each convey different attitudes to nature?

Each garden design reflects the evolving perspectives on nature with Pope’s garden emphasising the control of nature to be ordered and civilised. Brown’s design embraced a more naturalistic aesthetic, though it was still very much controlled while Gilpin’s re-design celebrated nature’s imperfections and allowed for a wild and free growth of nature.

What was the picturesque view of nature versus the sublime?

The picturesque view of nature depict serene and pretty landscapes that are pleasing to the eye, with a sense of harmony and balance. It is easy to understand the beauty of the picturesque - it doesn’t plunge into the depth of the soul. The picturesque generally represents the classic, augustan poets. The sublime is the antithesis of the picturesque, presenting something great and vast and imposing, not something that is conventionally beautiful but something that can excite and frighten at the same time.

What different conceptions of nature are conveyed in Vernet’s ‘Shepherd in the Alps 1788’ versus Turner’s ‘Crossing the Alps’ in 1812?

‘Shepherd in the Alps’ 1788 conveys a mix of the picturesque and the Sublime - it is a very calm and pastoral image in the foreground but pointing towards the clouds is the Sublime - a rocky crag — represents the transition between these two conceptions of nature.

Turner’s ‘Crossing the Alps’ represents chaos and tumultuous weather synonymous with the Sublime - in amongst sublime nature and an exhileration amongst the danger. Links to Keats’ ‘Ode to Autumn’ - Written before he went out in sotms and intense rain, he is exhilerated by it.

What different conceptions of nature are revealed through Wilson’s ‘A Summer Evening Dolbardon Castle’ 1780 and Turner’s ‘Dolbardon Castle’ in 1800? What does Turner’s depiction reveal about the relationship between human ruins and the sublime view of nature?

Wilson’s ‘A Summer Evening’ portrays a serene, harmonious landscape that emphasizes tranquility and the beauty of nature, aligning with picturesque ideals. The castle forms part of the picturesque landscape and is almost glorified - a harmony between human creations and nature.
By contrast, Turner’s depiction from 1800 showcases the sublime, with dramatic lighting and turbulent skies and the human ruins of the castle almost consumed It shows the ruins as part of the sublime - nature taking back its power, re-claiming human endeavors - the past might of humans levelled by nature - universal sadness of things being transient, a truth that is meant to level us. The fading light in the painting associated with time and ruin with old age.

How was nature represented in Pope’s ‘Epistle to Burlington’ 1731? How is this emphasised through the poem’s structure and how does this differ to Keats?

Represents the view of the Augustan poets and in this poem, Nature is expressed as something that is rational and regular, something that can be built up and moulded by men, with the wild parts of nature needing to be concealed - moderate, restrained - to have a sense of measure and restraint (Age of Reason)
- Keats’ style is the antithesis of Pope’s - Burlington is the kind of poem that Keats was reacting to — the poem is perfectly structured in a rational form
Reflects the tensions between Classic and Romantic
- Advice on how to improve garden - classical garden grounds - ordered and symmetrical

“To build, to plant, whatever you intend”
“Nor overdress, nor leave her [Nature] wholly bare”
“conceals the bounds”

Alexander Pope’s ‘Epistle to Burlington’ 1731
- Reflects the Augustan poets view of Nature - something to be moulded by man, to restrain and “conceal” the wild and “bare” elements of nature

How did William Cowper’s ‘The Task; Book 1 ‘The Sofa’ 1785 depict nature?

‘The Task’ was also about creating ideal gardens and about controlling nature, referencing walking through rural lanes that are “close cropped”
“Thorny boughs” however, seems to link the sublime, anticipating the romantic idea of nature - in its more dangerous and wild form
- Landscape is relation to how the person will live their life and individual growth — moving beyond the rules — “a ramble on the banks of Thames” - to taste the landscape ina very individual way. The poem ends by going beyond the bounds - entering new phase of his life.
- Perhaps showing the beginnings of the transition from the Classical poets to the Romantic poets (pre-Romantic ideas)

How does Wordsworth’s The Prelude Book 2 ‘School-time’ 1799 present nature?

“Cataracts” - A feature of the landscape, often in ice landscapes — a sublime landscape where wind creates a natural sound or tone
Wordsworth talks to nature directly through personification, perhaps with respect as a higher order - “O Nature!” “Ye winds” “Ye mountains!”
“thou hast fed My lofty speculations” — connection being drawn between sublime landscape and the mind - a sublime enquiry versus purely emotion

How is Nature presented in Wordsworth’s ‘Tintern Abbey’ 1798?

• There is an ambiguity of emotion attached to nature - a mixture of joy and disturbance - a pleasure that comes out of disturbance - “a presence that disturbs me with the joy”

• Nature conveys the “sad music of humanity” which has “ample power to chasten and subdue” - the power of nature to level humanity and human emotion

• Nature as inspiring deeper and philosophical thinking - “the joy Of elevated thoughts”

• Nature as within man and in all things - “in the mind of man, A motion and a spirit, that impels All thinking things, all objects of all thought, And rolls through all things.” - Nature drives the evolution of human beings, compels us to be greater than we were at birth - nature enters our mind and shapes our mind and intellect
  - This mind of man is not seperate from nature but part of it (Keats’ ideas in opposition to this e.g. ‘In Drear Nighted December.’)

• Nature as a guide for man - “The anchor of my purest thoughts, the nurse, The guide, the guardian of my heart”

How is nature presented in Coleridge’s ‘Kubla Khan’ 1798?

The danger related to sublime nature — “chasm” “slanted” “A savage place!”
- Refers to settings he invents through a mixture of various sublime landscapes, similar to some of the paintings of Turner
- ‘Romantic chasm’ and ‘savage’ - fused together - more so a romantic temperament - deep and penetrating thought

How is nature presented in Byron’s Childe Harold Canto 1, verse 19?

Mixes the Sublime and the Picturesque — the dangerous beauty and obvious beauty of nature are wrapped up together
Sublime - “horrid crags” “toppling convent”
Picturesque - “willow branch” “mountain-moss” “clothe the shaggy sheep”
Both - “the torrents that from cliff to valley leap” “the tender azure of the unruffled deep” “Mix’d in one mighty scene”

How is Nature presented in Keats’ Endymion 1817?

The beauty of nature lies in the fact that it always endures and is always there — “a thing of beauty is a joy for ever; Its loveliness increases; It will never pass into nothingness”
Nature able to take away some of the pain of humanity, personal catharsis of Nature - “Some shape of beauty moves away the pall from our dark spirits.”
There is a comfort in death of being amongst nature that has made a safe space for us
In spite of misery and melancholy, flowers enable us to keep connected to the Earth - beauty in the sun and moon and flowers lifts us out of melancholy spritis - “a flowery band to bind us to the Earth”

How is Nature presented in Keats ‘Epistle to Reynolds’ 1818?

The poem feels irregular and sporadic, the punctuation is erratic and chaotic, much like the surroundings he is describing
“I saw Too far into the sea” “too distinct into the core” — Could it be Nature just revealing the truths of the world?
- Unsettled by the magnitude of the expansive power of Nature
- Tries to reconnect with nature - “gathere’d young spring leaves, and flowers gay” but “Still do I that most fierce destruction see”
Nature feeding on those weaker and smaller - “the shark at savage prey” “the gentle robin…ravening a worm”
Gothic elements to this poem?
Seems to be a multi-layered and inconsistent portrayal of Nature - at times e.g. Endymion, it is personal catharsis but at other times it is more of a dangerous force