The Romantic Period 1798-1832

Turbulent Times, Bitter Realities 1789: French Revolution Storming of Bastille July 14, 1789 Overthrow of anointed king Triumph of radical principals Democratic idealists (like Wordsworth) exhilarated by events Became disillusioned—1792 “September massacre” Guillotine used indiscriminately (eponym) Napoleon 1832: Parliamentary Reforms of 1832

After Napoleon’s Defeat Industrial Revolution Factories Increase in urban populations Communal land (held by small farmers) becomes private (vast private parks/privately held farms) Lots of landless people

Laissez Faire Let People Do as they Please Economic forces allowed to operate freely without government interference. Rich grew richer, poor suffered even more Children suffered the most Child Labor Laws

London, 1802 Milton! thou shouldst be living at this hour; England hath need of thee: she is a fen Of stagnant waters: altar, sword, and pen, Fireside, the heroic wealth of hall and bower, Have forfeited their ancient English dower Of inward happiness. We are selfish men; Oh! raise us up, return to us again; And give us manners, virtue, freedom, power. Thy soul was like a Star, and dwelt apart; Thou hadst a voice whose sound was like the sea: Pure as the naked heavens, majestic, free, So didst thou travel on life's common way, In cheerful godliness; and yet thy heart The lowliest duties on herself did lay. --William Wordsworth

Rebellion of the Romantic Poets Dedicated to bringing about Change Believed in the force of literature Turned from the formal, public verse of 18th century to more private, spontaneous, lyric poetry. Imagination, rather than mere reason, the best response to the forces of change.

What Does Romantic Mean? A child’s Sense of Wonder (youth/innocence) Human nature being born again Social Idealism Question tradition and authority Imagine better ways to live Adaptation to change Acceptance rather than rigid rejection New Kind of Poetry Lyrical Ballads Mind Poets: sought deeper understanding of the bond between human beings and the world of the senses (creative power that makes things happen: imagination—superior to human reason)

Coleridge says the poet, “brings the whole soul of man into activity” by employing “that synthetic and magical power…the imagination.” Shelley called poets “the unacknowledged legislators of the world.” Keats wrote that a poet is a “physician” to all humanity and “pours out a balm upon the world.”

Wordsworth wrote in The Prelude “…what we have loved, Others will love, and we will teach them how; Instruct them how the mind of man becomes A thousand times more beautiful than the earth On which he dwells, above this frame of things (Which, ‘mid all revolution in the hopes And fears of men, doth still remain unchanged) In beauty exalted, as it is itself Of quality and fabric more divine.” The poet, in sum, is someone human beings and society cannot do without.

Major Romantic Poets Early William Blake William Wordsworth Songs of Innocence Songs of Experience William Wordsworth World is Too Much With Us Samuel Taylor Coleridge Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Other Major Romantic Poets 2nd Generation Percy Bysshe Shelley John Keats George Gordon, Lord Byron