brit lit

The Lamb

• Who made it: William Blake

• Period: Romantic Period

• General description: A gentle, simple poem that uses a childlike voice to explore innocence, creation, and kindness.

The Chimney Sweeper

• Who made it: William Blake

• Period: Romantic Period

• General description: A poem about child labor and suffering that contrasts innocence with harsh social reality.

The Tyger

• Who made it: William Blake

• Period: Romantic Period

• General description: A powerful poem asking big questions about creation, fear, beauty, and destructive strength.

A Poison Tree

• Who made it: William Blake

• Period: Romantic Period

• General description: A poem about anger that grows when hidden, showing how suppressed emotions can become dangerous.

Expostulation and Reply

• Who made it: William Wordsworth

• Period: Romantic Period

• General description: A poem defending quiet reflection and learning from nature instead of constant book study.

Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey

• Who made it: William Wordsworth

• Period: Romantic Period

• General description: A reflective poem about memory, nature, growth, and how a place can change meaning over time.

Ode: Intimations of Immortality

• Who made it: William Wordsworth

• Period: Romantic Period

• General description: A meditation on childhood, memory, and the feeling that something spiritual fades with age.

The Solitary Reaper

• Who made it: William Wordsworth

• Period: Romantic Period

• General description: A speaker hears a lone person singing and is deeply moved, even without fully understanding the words.

The World Is Too Much With Us

• Who made it: William Wordsworth

• Period: Romantic Period

• General description: A sonnet criticizing materialism and how people become disconnected from nature.

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

• Who made it: Samuel Taylor Coleridge

• Period: Romantic Period

• General description: A supernatural sea narrative about guilt, punishment, and spiritual transformation after a terrible act.

Kubla Khan

• Who made it: Samuel Taylor Coleridge

• Period: Romantic Period

  • General description: A dreamlike, imaginative poem filled with rich images of power, creativity, and mystery.

Christabel

• Who made it: Samuel Taylor Coleridge

• Period: Romantic Period

• General description: A gothic narrative poem involving innocence, unease, and a strange encounter with dark supernatural vibes.

She Walks in Beauty

• Who made it: Lord Byron

• Period: Romantic Period

• General description: A lyrical poem praising a woman’s beauty by blending physical appearance with inner grace.

From Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage: A Romaunt

• Who made it: Lord Byron

• Period: Romantic Period

• General description: A reflective travel-style poem about a wandering figure, melancholy, and emotional responses to places/history.

Don Juan

• Who made it: Lord Byron

• Period: Romantic Period

• General description: A long, witty, satirical narrative poem that mocks society, romance, and heroic traditions.

Ozymandias

• Who made it: Percy Bysshe Shelley

• Period: Romantic Period

• General description: A sonnet about a ruined monument that highlights the temporary nature of power and pride.

To a Skylark

• Who made it: Percy Bysshe Shelley

• Period: Romantic Period

• General description: A poem addressing a bird as a symbol of pure joy, inspiration, and artistic expression beyond human limits.

On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer

• Who made it: John Keats

• Period: Romantic Period

• General description: A sonnet about the excitement of discovering a powerful new literary experience.

La Belle Dame sans Merci: A Ballad

• Who made it: John Keats

• Period: Romantic Period

• General description: A haunting ballad about enchantment, desire, and the emotional ruin caused by a mysterious figure.

Ode to a Grecian Urn

• Who made it: John Keats

• Period: Romantic Period

• General description: A meditation on art, beauty, and time, comparing frozen scenes to real human life.

The Lady of Shalott

• Who made it: Alfred Lord Tennyson

• Period: Victorian Period

• General description: A narrative poem about isolation, art, and desire, centered on a woman separated from direct life.

Ulysses

• Who made it: Alfred Lord Tennyson

• Period: Victorian Period

• General description: A dramatic monologue about an aging hero who refuses to settle and still longs for action and meaning.

Break, Break, Break

• Who made it: Alfred Lord Tennyson

• Period: Victorian Period

• General description: A short lyric poem expressing grief and loss while nature continues unchanged.

Idylls of the King: The Passing of Arthur

• Who made it: Alfred Lord Tennyson

• Period: Victorian Period

• General description: A legendary, emotional ending focused on a fallen leader, decline, and the closing of an era.

My Last Duchess

• Who made it: Robert Browning

• Period: Victorian Period

• General description: A dramatic monologue where a powerful speaker reveals disturbing traits while trying to appear controlled.

Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came

• Who made it: Robert Browning

• Period: Victorian Period

• General description: A dark, symbolic quest poem with eerie landscapes, struggle, and psychological tension.

From The Critic as Artist

• Who made it: Oscar Wilde

• Period: Late Victorian Period

• General description: A prose argument that elevates criticism and artful interpretation, emphasizing aesthetics and intellect.

Preface to The Picture of Dorian Gray

• Who made it: Oscar Wilde

• Period: Late Victorian Period

• General description: A series of sharp statements about art, morality, and beauty that challenge conventional moral judgment.

The Importance of Being Earnest

• Who made it: Oscar Wilde

• Period: Late Victorian Period

• General description: A witty comedy that satirizes social manners, identity, and marriage through absurd misunderstandings.

The Speckled Band

• Who made it: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

• Period: Late Victorian Period

• General description: A detective mystery featuring a strange death, a fearful client, and clues hidden in a country house.