Begins with the publication of the poetry collection Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge in 1798

Romanticism  In the British literary tradition, Romanticism refers to a period of time dominated by six poets:  William Wordsworth  William Blake  Samuel Taylor Coleridge  Lord Byron  Percy Bysshe Shelley  John Keats

Romantic Poetry  Focuses on the beauty and power of nature  Focus on strong emotions and imagination  Wrote lyrical poems about their own experiences, desires, hopes and dreams  Believed the common man and his experiences are worthy of poetry

Characteristics of Romantic Poetry  Reflected on the experiences of childhood, primitive societies, and the common man  Celebrated intense passion and vision  Sought a more natural poetic diction and form  Believed in Spontaneity of thought and actions experimentation

Neoclassical Poets  Earlier poets focused on the greater world and society as a whole – politics and religion.  Focused on concerns of the ruling class  Believed in order and tradition  Wrote in the classic form following rules and using proper diction  Stressed reason and common sense

Big Difference!  Romantic poets believed the experiences and feelings of the common man about his own life were worthy of being written about. This was a big shift from the neoclassical poets who focused on big picture issues and the ruling class.  Romantic poets wrote about nature and imagination. Neoclassical poets wrote about politics and religion.  The Romantics stressed a much freer and looser way of thinking and writing.

Nature  Many people think of nature as a prominent subject for Romantic poetry. But nature is simply a jumping off point for inspiration. Rarely would a Romantic poet simply write about the appearance of nature, but would instead use the nature to describe his own feelings.

Celebrated the Ordinary  Romantic poets found inspiration in common people and experiences (rather than royalty or nobility) and common things such as a rose bush, the change of seasons, or a walk in the park.

William Wordsworth  Defines poetry as a, “Spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings”  Went to Cambridge and took a walking tour of Europe in his senior year.  The Romantics felt earlier poetry was inauthentic because it was too formatted and strict. They valued emotional outbursts and letting the imagination run wild.

William Wordsworth  “His romantic philosophy valued imagination and emotion over reason and stressed the importance of the individual.”  Lived near poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge and co wrote Lyrical Ballads which marks the beginning of the Romantic Period.

John Keats  Very short life full of tragedy  Both parents died when he was a child and he was apprenticed to a surgeon  Gave up medicine to be a poet  Tuberculosis at age 23 (brother died around the time he was diagnosed)  Fell in love but couldn’t be with her due to illness and poverty  Epitaph “Here lies one whose name was written in water”

Percy Bysshe Shelley   Chaotic and brief life/From a wealthy family/bullied as a child  Believed in atheism which angered his family (and got him expelled from Oxford University)  Abandoned his pregnant wife in order to marry someone else  Drowned at the age of 30