The Romantic Age in English Literature

1798 - 1832

Leo Paquette

Literary Highlights
Romanticism arises as a response to social and economic
changes caused by the Industrial Revolution
Wordsworth and Coleridge publish Lyrical Ballads in 1798.
Thus starting the Romantic Era.
Keats, Byron, and Shelley write their greatest poems in
the early nineteenth century

Revolution Spreads
Literature of the Times
In reaction to the ugliness and
turmoil of the times, writers turn to
nature, the past, and a dream
world of imagination.
Romantic period begins in 1798
with publication of Lyrical Ballads,
with a Few Other Poems, a
collaboration by two young poets,
Samuel Taylor Coleridge and
William Wordsworth.

The Romantic Poets

The Romantic poets:
Were dedicated to political
and social change
Believed in the power of
literature
Thought imaginationnot
reasonwas the best
response to forces of
change
Created private,
spontaneous lyric poetry

Literature of the Times

Romantics thought poets were extraordinary people,
necessary to humanity and society.
Keats called poets physicians, Blake called them
teachers, and Shelley thought they were the
unacknowledged legislators of the world.

Themes of Romantic Poetry

Influences on Romantic Poetry
Spread of democratic ideals through the American and French
Revolutions and disillusionment after failure of French Revolution
Reactions against harsh living and working conditions created for
urban poor by the Industrial Revolution
Fascination with nature and country life, which seemed a blissful
retreat from city slums

A New Focus in Poetry

Romantic comes from the
word romance.
A medieval romance is a
tale of high adventure that
idealizes knightly virtues
and has supernatural
elements.
Romantic writers used
elements of romance
to go beyond Restoration
Era formality and explore
psychological and
mysterious aspects of
human experience.

Themes of Romantic Poetry

Romantic poets
Embraced imagination and
naturalness instead of reason and
artifice
Wrote about personal
experiences and emotions, often
using simple language
Saw nature as transformative;
focused on the ways nature and
the human mind mirrored each
others creative properties

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Themes of Romantic Poetry

The Romantics saw imagination
as the link between mind and
nature.
To them, imaginative experiences were especially moving,
perhaps superior to human
reasoning.
The mysterious forces of
Nature inspired them.
All six of the major Romantic
poets had their own ideas about
imagination, but all believed that it
could be stimulated by nature and
the mind.

Themes of Romantic Poetry

For the Romantic poets,
nature was a balm to soothe
the relentless hounding of
an industrialized world.
The poets had a strong
sense of natures
transformative properties.
Poets tried to translate
scenes of natural beauty into
words so that readers might
know the power of natural
forces to shape thought and
feeling.

Characteristics of Romantic Poetry

Imagination
In the words of William Wordsworth, 'poetry is the first and last of all
knowledge'. The phenomenon of imagination is the essence or core of
romantic poetry. According to romantic poets, it is possible to attain a
transcendental experience by means of imagination. It takes us near to
the spiritual truth.

Characteristics of Romantic Poetry

Emotions
When it comes to romantic poetry, reason and logic take a
backseat. The one thing which rules the world of
romanticism is emotion. Romantic poetry is one of the best
means to let loose one's emotions through words. The
overflow of emotions depicted through romantic poetry
transcends the boundaries of logical reasoning.
Spontaneity in romantic poetry arises from an emotional
outflow, and sometimes pain is the inspiration.

Characteristics of Romantic Poetry

Nature

Nature
A romantic poet can let loose his/her imagination in
the process of interpreting natural phenomena. It is
said that romantic poetry associated with nature is
a kind of a meditative process. The rationalists tend
to view or associate nature with some kind of
machine. A romanticist's perception of nature is that
of an organic phenomenon. Nature is also viewed
as a setting or place which offers respite from the
artificial world that we inhabit.

Characteristics of Romantic Poetry

Symbolism
It is a way of expressing so much in so little. The use of
symbolism in literature allows to infer / derive different
meanings from a single expression. Symbolism rouses the
curiosity of readers and also adds a kind of enigma to the
expressions or thoughts of the poet. Representing a
particular thing allegorically, lies at the core of symbolism.
Repetitive presentation of an object or character is one of
the ways in which symbolism is depicted in poetry

Characteristics of Romantic Poetry

Symbolism
It is a way of expressing so much in so little. The use of
symbolism in literature allows to infer / derive different
meanings from a single expression. Symbolism rouses the
curiosity of readers and also adds a kind of enigma to the
expressions or thoughts of the poet. Representing a
particular thing allegorically, lies at the core of symbolism.
Repetitive presentation of an object or character is one of
the ways in which symbolism is depicted in poetry

Characteristics of Romantic Poetry

Individualism
It is one of the important romantic poetry characteristics.
Representation of a hero, a person with exceptional genius,
is of common occurrence in romantic poetry. Heroes are
depicted as personalities which exhibit boldness. This
quality boldness is in contrast with that of restraint depicted
in ancient classics