1. From the Introduction to The Penguin Book of Romantic Poetry Romantic Poetry Unit

2. Preface ~ the Romantic Period Romanticism belongs to no period. It is an aspiring, a hopefulness – an exalting, and exulting, of the imagination. It is the spirit of the years following the French Revolution (about 2 generations) that have favored the aforementioned type of imagination. From around 1786 to around 1825 is what we can define as the Romantic Period.

3. Origins Many scholars say that the Romantic Period came out the Age of Reason before it. These new attitudes do not form over night, they must evolve gradually. Stem from a reaction to the Age of Reason – sets itself in opposition to it. It is: a reaction in politics against oppression; a reaction in literature against artifice; a reaction in belief against the stereotypes of Christian thinking. Most importantly it is a new sense of optimism that is forward-thinking.

4. Revolution and Romantic Vision Radicals from around the world saw the French as re-enacting the American Revolution and they looked forward to a similar freedom. It is out of this hope that we find many of our early Romantic poets’ vision. Wordsworth is a classic example; his work is described as: Rejoicing, affectation, terror, alienation, glee, confusion and imaginative transcendence take each other’s place in a sequence of vivid, always credible episodes... offers an example both of the continuing power of the Revolution... and of the power of political hope transmuted into art.

5. A New Style and a New Spirit We begin to find the extreme simplicity of language and an openness of emotion in the literature of the time. Attempts in writing to reveal God’s immanent presence in our lives – we may find him in Nature, in ourselves, our relationships, etc.

6. First Generation & A Gap Great romantic poetry was slow to emerge. One of the most accomplished early Romantic poets is Mary Robinson. In 1797 Wordsworth and Coleridge suddenly started writing at their best and greatly influenced one another. Other noted poets – Smith, Burns, Blake, Southey – writing at the height of their careers by the end of the 1790s. Seek earnestly to influence things through their writing, but they have no actual power. The Gap - There is very little major poetry published between the years of 1800 and 1810.

7. The Second Generation Whereas the first generation emerged slowly the second generation flourished. There seems to be a theme of imagination; of the human power that can enable man to perceive and to share in it. The second generation of the Romantic Period came to be about the youth of the age – the young writers, specifically writers whose ideals were youthful.

8. The Sense of an Ending Hemans stands out at the end of the Romantic Period as writing about and for women – sets out to give women their due in an imperfect world. In looking towards the future (as a Romantic would), the Romantic poets paved the way for those like Tennyson and Browning to come upon the stage.