English Romanticism (Uuna, Edda, Kiia)

Romanticism in England

So where does the word actually come from?

The word “romantic” was commonly used in English as an adjective to praise natural phenomena (such as landscapes, forests or sunsets). In French and German “roman” means novel. It is only in the 1820’s that Romanticism was known by its name over the world.

When and where?

The Romantic Period started in the late 18th century and ended in the early 19th century. The exact years are identified differently by different people. Generally, the publication of the Lyrical Ballads in 1798 marked the beginning of Romanticism. Lyrical Ballads was a collection of poems by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Romanticism spread to the whole world. However, England, France and Germany were the leading countries when it came to Romanticism.

Historical context of romanticism: what was happening at the time?

·    Age of Enlightenment:

Romanticism was partly a revolt against aristocratic, social and political norms of the Age of Enlightenment and a reaction against the scientific rationalization of nature. This greatly affected the literature of the time.

The French Revolution:

A majority of the English population was greatly in favor of this as the working class had been suffering oppression for many years.According to Albert Hancock, in his book The French Revolution and the English Poets: a study in historical criticism,

“The French Revolution came, bringing with it the promise of a brighter day, the promise of regenerated man and regenerated earth. It was hailed with joy and acclamation by the oppressed, by the ardent lovers of humanity by the poets, whose task it is to voice the human spirit.”

      Industrial revolution:

The industrial revolution also affected romantic literature, and was quite a common topic in poems and prose.

Some poets (such as William Wordsworth) were very much against the industrialization of his country: He wanted to keep nature the same. This can be seen in this extract of his poem

“The world is too much with us; late and soon,

Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers,

Little we see in Nature that is ours;

We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!”

(The world is too much with us, Wordsworth)

Major characteristics of romanticism

The defining characteristics of the Romantic Movement of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries has often been debated and argued over, on account of its being a varied literary period in terms of style, themes and content. However, one of the most clearly prevailing ideas at the time was the importance of individuality and individual imagination.

Poetry was the main genre of the Romantic Period and there were arguments about what is good poetry, and what should be the aim of poetry. However, at that time other genres started to flourish, for example, novels became more popular. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is one of the most famous novels written during the Romantic Period.Romantic poets like Wordsworth and Shelley  also wrote using a poetic form called “blank verse”, where the stanzas were unrhymed but the poetry was still rhythmic and can be found in some of Wordsworth's Lyrical Ballads.

Poems often dealt with feelings and emotions. Topics included love, passion and melancholy and these feelings were presented through nature. For example, if the poet wanted to portray sadness, it would be raining in the poem.  So nature and its beauty were the thing of the Romantic Period, making one of the most popular subjects country life, known as pastoral poetry.

Altered states of consciousness were often sought out in order to improve creative abilities and aid inspiration. Writers who used opium in England during the nineteenth century include Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Thomas de Quincey (who wrote Confessions of an English Opium-Eater) and Percy Shelley. Percy Shelley supposedly took laudanum to “dampen his nerves” and believed that opium allowed the individual to question societal norms and beliefs.Coleridge is also said to have written in a letter to his brother “Laudanum gave me repose, not sleep; but, you, I believe, know how divine that repose is, what a spot of enchantment, a green spot of fountain and flowers and trees in the very heart of a waste of sands!” ← also a good example of Romantic writing.

John Keats

John Keats is known as one of the main writers of the Romantic period.

He was born in Finsbury Pavement near London on October 31st, 1795. When he was eight years old, his father was killed in an accident. Seven years later, in 1810 his mother died of tuberculosis, and he was left to his grandmother with his siblings. He studied to be a surgeon, and he described himself to be "ambitious of doing the world some good.” However, his headmaster from his previous studies encouraged him to become a poet. According to him Keats was born to do this: "From his earliest boyhood he had an acute sense of beauty, whether in a flower, a tree, the sky, or the animal world”

He only published 54 poems, which varied between many types: the sonnet, spenserian romance, miltonic epic, and many more. He was also very known for his odes. His best-known works are 'The Eve of St Agnes', 'Ode to a Nightingale' and 'To Autumn'.  His many influences include Wordsworth, Shakespeare and Spenser, the latter being his huge inspiration especially in the beginning of his career. One of the main themes in Keats’ poetry was the inevitability of death, possibly because of the number of deaths his family faced. This can be seen in his poem “On Seeing the Elgin Marbles”:

“My spirit is too weak—mortality

Weighs heavily on me like unwilling sleep,

And each imagined pinnacle and steep

Of godlike hardship tells me I must die”

 

Regardless his tragic life, many of his poems also praise the beauty in the world. His poems also contained a lot of dry ironic wit, poetic self-consciousness, vivid imagery and control of conflicting perspectives and forces, as well as his political views. The conservative reviewers did not appreciate his work and he got a lot of negative criticism. Keats died in 1821 due to tuberculosis, just like his mother and brother.

Regardless all the criticism he faced during his time, he is considered one of the greatest English poets and a key figure in the Romantic movement. He has become the epitome of the young, beautiful, doomed poet.

William Wordsworth

William Wordsworth (1770-1850) was a British poet. He is one of the most significant authors of the Romantic Period. Wordsworth had a rough childhood: his parents died when he was young. However, Wordsworth said that he got a lot of inspiration from his home and especially the scenery there. Wordsworth wrote about childhood in many of his poems.

Wordsworth’s writing style corresponds perfectly to the characteristics of the Romantic Period. Nature and its beauty are present in every poem. Feelings and emotions are expressed through vivid description of nature. These characteristics become very apparent in this extraction of his poem I wandered lonely as a cloud.

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils,

Beside the lake, beneath the trees

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the Milky Way,

They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

Other authors

Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) was a major poet of the Romantic Period, although he gained more recognition after his death. He was famous for his radical views on politics, society and religion. He was an atheist, which at the time was not as common. In fact, many of his works dealt with topics such as religion, freedom and ideal love. He was married to Mary  Shelley (1797-1851), author of Frankenstein and one of the first best-selling female authors. The couple famously stayed with Lord George Gordon Byron (1788-1824), an influential English poet, where Mary found inspiration for Frankenstein.

Works cited:

Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 04 May 2014.

"John Keats." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 03 May 2014.

"John-Keats.com." John-Keats.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 May 2014.

Keats, John. "On Seeing the Elgin Marbles." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 04 May 2014.

Quincey, Thomas De. The Confessions of an English Opium-eater, and Other Essays. London: Macmillan, 1924. Print.