Kearns English Final- (Romanticism and Gothic Literature ONLY)

What does Romanticism focus on?

The individual person and emotion. Feelings, nature, supernatural, and individualism.

William Blake

The forerunner of romantic poets, wrote "The Lamb" and "The Tyger".

In 'The Lamb', Who is the speaker, and who is he/she addressing?

The speaker is a young child, and they are addressing the "little lamb".

What is the difference between the first and second stanzas of "The Lamb"

The 2nd stanza gets a bit more urgent in contrast to the calm and sweet tone of the first stanza and starts to talk more about God and how he made them, rather than the first stanza, which talks more about the lamb's physical qualities.

What does the Little Lamb Symbolize in this poem?

It symbolizes innocence and some human qualities, symbolizing human nature (gentleness, kindness, loving, etc.)

What type of stanzas does "The Tyger" feature?

it has quatrain stanzas.

What is the speaker is meditating, or wondering about, in this poem?

He is wondering about the creator and how things that are so bad are created by a good and gentle creator.

What characteristics of the tyger are described in stanzas 2 # 3?

How does the speaker feel about this animal through the description given?

The tiger is a powerful animal, "what dread hand, what dread feet" (dreadful hand, terrifying feet). The speaker shows a bit of fear and talks about how essentially evil the tiger is and its dark heart and fiery eyes.

Consider words like 'furnace,' 'hammer,' and 'anvil'? How are they related? And what metaphor do you think they contribute to?

They are all tools, and they are all used in a way contributing to the making or creation of the tiger in a bad or destructive process. Violent intensity in the making of the tiger, uses the metaphor of a blacksmith beating and shapign the tiger into form, the blacksmith is God, imagined as this violent, powerful blacksmith.

What do you think the tyger symbolizes?

The things that might bring about evil: violence, aggression, power. However, the author also uses the poem to symbolize people: we have both the little lamb and the tiger within us.

The tone of "The Lamb" is soft, gentle, and nursery-rhyme-like.

How about the tone of "The Tyger"?

It is dark, with a sense of being afraid or a scared tone, and maybe even awestruck.

Willliam Woodsworth

Known as the 'father of romanticism' because of his reverence for nature, wrote 'The World is too much with us"

What type of poem is "The World is too much with us"?

A petrarchan sonnet, octave and setset

What problem does the octave present?

the problem that humans are insensitive to nature and its beauty.

WHY are humans insensitive to nature and its beauty?

Humans can be busy and don't have time to notice or enjoy nature anymore. Also, we can often misuse or mistreat nature by littering and other things. We tend to look at nature like "what can we use it for/get out of it?" rather than appreciating it as it is.

What does the speaker wish in the setset?

That he were a pagan worshipping nature and it's gods.

WHY does the speaker wish he were a pagan?

He wants to worship nature itself and believe in the beauty of it. He wants to be a pagan to see the creation of the gods, and view the world as something holy or sacred.

Is "The World Is Too Much With Us" still relevant to us today?

Yes, because humans still tend to be materialistic and not recognize or appreciate nature as much.

What concern does the line "...getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;-" suggest?

Mankind has become obsessed with commercialism.

What concern does the line "We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!" suggest?

Humanity is distracted from our relationship with nature.

What concern does the line "For this, for everything, we are out of tune;

It moves us not." suggest?

Mankind no longer responds to the rhythm of nature.

What concern does the line "I'd rather be A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn; So might I, standing on this pleasant lea, Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn..." suggest?

He feels that as a pagan, he could use his imagination more fully to perceive nature's forces and form an intimate communion with nature.

Lord Byron

Romantic poet who made the "Byronic hero". Wrote "She Walks in Beauty". Was friends with Mary and Percy Shelley.

Enjambment

When a poet continues an idea beyond the end of the line

What is "She Walks in Beauty"'s central simile?

The central simile compares the woman to the night and the different elements of the night.

How does it invite us to view the night in a new light?

This helps us view the night as more of a calm or beautiful thing, which can be seen in the lines "she walks in beauty like the night" and "where thoughts serenely sweet express, how pure, how dear their dwelling-place"

What is the meaning of the word "gaudy"? How does it help us understand Byron's meaning?

"Gaudy" means flashy and extravagant, so Byron is saying that the woman doesn't need to be showy or in your face with her beauty like the day, but she is more of a natural beauty like the night, tender.

How would you describe this unnamed woman who 'walks in beauty'?

A gorgeous woman who is also calm, kind, tender, and quiet. The poem says that she is serene, soft, and eloquent with a beautiful smile and innocent love, which makes her walk in beauty.

What effect does the poet's use of enjambment have on the poem, and its meaning?

It adds meaning to the poem and adds to the constant beauty of the woman, how there is a continuing simile, and it stretches the passion that the author has for the woman. It gives more flow to the poem and emphasizes the flowing beauty of the night itself and the woman.