Romanticism Notes

Romanticism

Definition

  • Also called the Romantic era or the Romantic period.

  • A style of art, literature, and music in the late 18th and early 19th century in Europe.

Context

  • It was a reaction to the aristocratic social and political ideas of the Age of Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution.

  • It was also a reaction against turning nature into a mere science.

  • It showed itself most strongly in arts like music and literature.

Core Tenets

  • Romantic writers looked to nature for their inspiration.

  • They idealized the distant past.

  • They celebrated the individual.

Key Figures in English Literature

  • William Wordsworth

  • Samuel Taylor Coleridge

  • John Keats

  • Lord Byron

  • Percy Bysshe Shelley

  • William Blake

William Blake (1757-1827)

  • An English poet, painter, and engraver.

  • Created a unique form of illustrated verse.

  • His poetry, inspired by mystical vision, is among the most original, lyric, and prophetic in the language.

Songs of Innocence (1789)

  • Fresh, direct observations notable for their eloquence and simplicity.

  • Includes "The Lamb"

Songs of Experience (1794)

  • Employs the same lyric style and much of the same subject matter as in Songs of Innocence.

  • Includes "The Tyger"

William Wordsworth (1770-1850)

  • An English poet whose Lyrical Ballads (1798), written with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped launch the English Romantic movement.

  • "The World Is Too Much With Us, Late And Soon"

Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822)

  • An English poet, considered by many to be among the greatest, and one of the most influential leaders of the Romantic Movement.

  • His lyrics are especially noted, including:

    • "To a Skylark" (1820)

    • "To the West Wind" (1819)

    • "The Cloud" (1820)

  • Also admired are shorter love lyrics, including "I arise from dreams of thee" and the sonnet "Ozymandias" (1818).

"Ozymandias"

  • Explores themes of power, legacy, and the transience of human achievements.

  • The poem describes a ruined statue in the desert, with an inscription: "My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings: Look upon my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"

  • The surrounding decay emphasizes the ultimate futility of earthly power.

John Keats

"Ode on a Grecian Urn" (1819)

  • Examines the close relationship between art, beauty, and truth.