1. Lecture 3 Romantic Writing Presented by: Dr. Chekra Allani

2. Ballads ( from Bedford Guide of Crit. and Lit. Terms ) Ballad: a narrative poem (tells a story) that was originally designed to be sung and was passed down orally through the generations. Traditionally associated with the common man (“folk ballads”) and makes use of everyday language.

3. How to Identify a Ballad Written in ballad stanza (four-line stanza, usu. with an abcb rhyme scheme, where the first and third lines usually have eight syllables and the second and fourth usually have six). Abrupt transitions between stanzas. Use of a refrain. Dialogue between characters (dialect) Themes: love, physical courage, the supernatural; domestic settings; characterized by deep feeling

4. Lyric Poetry Term comes from the Greeks (a poem composed to be sung to the accompaniment of a lyre) A broad category of poetry that includes such genres as the ballad, the ode, the sonnet. Usually a short, intensely felt poem in which the speaker speaks in the first person, often presenting his/her private thoughts.

5. William Wordsworth Childhood in Lake District 1790s, visited France and sympathized with Revolutionaries After War between England and France, he was conflicted 1804, Rise of Napoleon and Wordsworth becomes a Royalist (accused of apostasy) Preface to Lyrical Ballads, 1798, with Samuel Coleridge

6. Lyric Poetry Part of an emerging democratic ethos: From Rousseau & the two recent revolutions: Declaration of Independence, and Declaration of the Rights of Man Part of a gathering educational ambition: educate all the children of all the people Wordsworth, a kid from the northern Lake District; a rural area, orphaned at 13; mediocre student at St. John’s college, Cambridge (but he graduated)

7. Lyric Poetry A second edition was published in 1800, in which Wordsworth added additional poems and a preface detailing the pair's avowed poetical principles. Wordsworth rejected the learned and highly sculpted forms of eighteenth century English poetry and brought poetry within the reach of the average man by using normal, everyday language in his poetry (leveling of language). He places an emphasis on the vitality of the living voice that the poor use to express their reality. This helps point out the universality of man's emotions.

8. Anecdote for Fathers Shewing how the practice of Lying may be taught I have a boy of five years old, His face is fair and fresh to see; His limbs are cast in beauty's mould, And dearly he loves me. One morn we stroll'd on our dry walk, Our quiet house all full in view, And held such intermitted talk As we are wont to do. My thoughts on former pleasures ran; I thought of Kilve's delightful shore, My pleasant home, when Spring began, A long, long year before. A day it was when I could bear To think, and think, and think again; With so much happiness to spare, I could not feel a pain. ABABCDCDEFEFGHGHABABCDCDEFEFGHGH

9. Anecdote for Fathers In “Anecdote for Fathers”, Wordsworth portrays the characteristics of Romanticism. He strongly asserted feeling into his writing. This description of the setting is vivid and depicts the real image as in sculpture when artists use their imagination. He glorifies beauty and the importance of nature.

10. Anecdote for Fathers Romanticism placed a large emphasis on a person’s individuality; man was thought to be ‘good-natured’, but civilization corrupts him. J. J. Rousseau. These expressions represent the mind-set of Romanticism. Both locations, Kilve and the Liswyn farm, are illustrated to be picturesque. The poem itself describes the point of view of a father who has been strongly influenced by his child’s thoughts. ) “The green earth echoed to the feet of lambs that bounded through the glade, From shade to sunshine, and as fleet From sunshine back to shade.

11. Anecdote for Fathers The clear yet detailed description gives the reader a good idea about the setting. According to Wordsworth, a poet is a reflective man who recollects his emotion in tranquility. There is a conflict in the poem as to where the boy wanted to live versus where the father wanted to. (In the Romantic era, a descriptive setting would have been a foremost element of the text.

12. Songs of innocence and experience The Chimney Sweeper Sound of “weep weep weep weep” reminiscent of the swishing sound of a broom Older boy soothes younger boy, whose head is shaved so it won’t get as dirty from the soot Innocent Tom has a dream: coffins are the chimneys and a symbol of death at same time; The natural paradise of a river and green plain and Sun shine are all opposed to the real life of the children They “wash” in the river; literally, to clean away the soot, and metaphorically, to be purified of sin

13. Songs of innocence and experience Pure and clean and white, they ascend to heaven: “rise upon clouds, and sport in the wind.” The Angel tells Tom that if he is good, God will be his father and he will not lack for joy Of course, in the morning the boys awake and go back to work The moral is that if they do their duty, ie., work, God will look out for them.

14. William Blake (1757-1827) Primarily a painter and designer Later “discovered” as poet Saw his work as visionary and imaginative

15. Nurse’s Song Blake - a nurse(maid) is usually an authority figure for children, the person who is "in charge“, but here the nurse gives in to children; the children get their own way - the nurse is happy to let the children follow their desires, and so there is no need to overthrow her authority, rather there is mutual agreement that one can do what one wants - Desire is not threatening, the outer world is not frightening - the poem presents a vision of correspondences, of harmony - first, between the nurse and the children: we hear the voices of both the nurse and the children, in dialogue - secondly, between the children and the landscape (the hills echo their laughter) - Here green is a positive image of fertility and life - movement is open, sounds are unrestrained ("shouted") - old and young; human and natural are unified

16. Romantic Poetry English Romantic Poets believed in the power of the poet to shape the moral fiber of society In the case of Wordsworth, this power took the form of transcending the divide between Man and Nature Overriding Themes: Nature, Emotion, Desire, children, Appreciation of Beauty and Sympathy for the world and fellow man