American Romanticism Approximate years: 1790-1860

Romantic Escapism Two Types of Romantics in America Type II: Natural Romantics Consisted of Romantic Poets, James Fenimore Cooper and Transcendentalists Typical romantic poem: speaker focuses on some object in nature which brings about some insight for the speaker Cooper introduces the American Romantic Hero—The Frontiersman Transcendentalists were philosophers who believed Nature was the doorway to the spiritual world

Fireside Poets Wanted to prove that American poets were as capable and sophisticated as European poets Proved this by copying European literary traditions Used English themes, meter and imagery Who were the Fireside Poets? Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Greenleaf Whittier, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and James Russell Lowell

Fireside Poets Most popular group of poets in American History Traditionalists who relied on past literary forms Subject Matter of Poetry? Love, patriotism, nature, family and religion Why called Fireside Poets? Poems were read aloud at the fireside for family entertainment

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1807-1882 Most popular American Poet of the 1800s Experimented with adapting traditional European poetic forms to uniquely American topics Ex: “Song of Hiawatha”, “Paul Revere’s Ride” Idealized America’s early history and democratic ideals

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow “The Song of Hiawatha” Long, narrative poem (tells a story) based on the legend of the Ojibway Tribe Historically, Hiawatha was an Iroquois chief who helped to unite the Iroquois Contains over 20 sections telling of the adventures of Hiawatha

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Literary Devices Meter: the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry Foot: basic unit of meter; consists of one stressed syllable and one or more unstressed syllables Iamb—one unstressed syllable, followed by one stressed syllable u ` u ` Be/hold; de/stroy Trochee—one stressed syllable, followed by one unstressed syllable ` u ` u Ha/ppy; dou/ble One stressed syllable per line=monometer Two stressed syllables per line=dimeter Three stressed syllables per line=trimeter Four stressed syllables per line=tetrameter Five stressed syllables per line=pentameter What is the meter in “Song of Hiawatha”?

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow The meter of a poem can affect the mood of the poem Mood: the emotional quality that a reader feels when reading a poem How does the meter (trochaic tetrameter) add to the intensity of the poem? Trochees create a drum like rhythm, which reflects Native American subject

Oliver Wendell Holmes 1809-1894 Descendent of first American poet, Anne Bradstreet During medical school, wrote “Old Ironsides”—saved USS Constitution from destruction Wrote poetry for fun; worked as a physician

Oliver Wendell Holmes Content of his poetry Literary devices Generally light and comic Patriotic Observations/Musings on Nature Literary devices Apostrophe: a direct address to an object or to someone who is not present

William Cullen Bryant 1794-1878 Inspired by European Romantic Poets William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge Also inspired by Deist belief that God can be found in Nature Wrote “Thanatopsis” at age 16, after the death of a friend

William Cullen Bryant “Thanatopsis” Subject: the natural cycle of life—birth, growth, death, rebirth Title origins Thanatos—Greek for death Opsis—Greek for seeing

William Cullen Bryant “Thanatopsis” Original poem was only lines 17-72 Lines 1-17 and 73-81 were added 10 years after original publication Lines 1-17: Address the subject of death and tells how the reader can find the answers Lines 17-30: Speaker changes—THE VOICE OF NATURE: those who die become part of nature's rebirth Lines 31-72: we are not alone in death; our resting place will be magnificent; and we will lie down with the great of past generations Lines 73-81: returns to original speaker who advises the reader to live life so that they will be able to accept death