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American Romanticism Approximate years:
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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”?
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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
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Longfellow “The Cross of Snow”
Romantic poets use nature to mirror or express painful emotions this poem is an expression of Longfellow’s grief over the death of his wife What images in nature can be used to describe grief? Grief is__________________________
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Longfellow “The Cross of Snow” Sonnet Rhymed 14 line poem
Usually written in Iambic Pentameter (10 syllables per line) Five Iambs (syllables) are stressed, five are unstressed
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Longfellow “The Cross of Snow” Sonnet: Two Types
Shakespearean (Elizabethan) 3 groups of 4 lines each—quatrains Followed by two final rhyming lines—couplet Rhyme Scheme abab,cdcd,efef,gg Italian (Petrachan) First 8 lines are grouped together—octave Last 6 lines are grouped together—sestet Rhyme scheme abba, abba, cde, cde Which type of Sonnet did Longfellow use for “The Cross of Snow”?
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Longfellow “The Cross of Snow” Italian sonnet
Octave—what is the subject of the first 8 lines? Poet’s sleepless nights and memories of his dead wife Sestet—what comment is made on the subject of the octave? The changeless cross of snow has become the symbol for the grief he feels over his wife’s death
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Oliver Wendell Holmes 1809-1894
Descendent of first American poet, Anne Bradstreet During law school, wrote “Old Ironsides”—saved USS Constitution from destruction Wrote poetry for fun; worked as a physician
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Oliver Wendell Holmes Content of his poetry Literary Devices
Generally light and comic Commentaries on social and intellectual shortcomings of other poets Literary Devices Apostrophe: a direct address to an object or to someone who is absent or dead
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Oliver Wendell Holmes “The Chambered Nautilus”
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Oliver Wendell Holmes “The Chambered Nautilus” Metaphor in Stanza 1?
“ship of pearl”=nautilus Allusion? Siren Sings Allusion to Greek mythology; sirens songs would lure sailors to their deaths Paraphrase? This is the nautilus, which sailed the ocean. Its purple tentacles have been to enchanted gulfs and coral reefs. Its known mermaids and sirens. Pretty cool.
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Oliver Wendell Holmes “The Chambered Nautilus” Stanza 2
The nautilus is dead on the shore Rent means? Torn or ripped open Paraphrase? The nautilus is “wrecked” (extending the ship metaphor from 1st stanza). The shell is cracked and the speaker can see inside where the creature lived. The mysteries of the shell are revealed.
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Oliver Wendell Holmes “The Chambered Nautilus” Stanza 3
Year after year, it grew. It built more shell as it outgrew each chamber. When the new chamber is done, the animal crawled into the new chamber and walled off the old chamber and never went back
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Oliver Wendell Holmes “The Chambered Nautilus” Apostrophe
Where does the apostrophe in “The Chambered Nautilus” begin? Stanza 4: he addresses the nautilus Thanks the nautilus for the “heavenly message” Personification? Her lapwhose lap? The ocean’s/the sea’s Allusion? Triton= sea god The message from the nautilus is “heavenly”, and it is louder and clearer than the Sea God’s horn, so this must be a really important message
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Oliver Wendell Holmes What is the message of this poem, which the speaker learns from the nautilus? Throughout our lives, we outgrow things and move on to new ones: as we learn more about ourselves and the world, we are challenged to widen our perspectives The speaker is now the nautilus, and it is addressing the poet, or the speaker in the previous stanzas
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Oliver Wendell Holmes Literary Devices Extended Metaphor
A comparison between two unlike things that is developed throughout several lines or an entire work What is the extended metaphor in this poem? The creature building its nautilus shell is a metaphor for the human soul striving to be better.
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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
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William Cullen Bryant “Thanatopsis” Title origins
Thanatos—Greek for death Opsis—Greek for seeing A view of death or A way to look at death
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William Cullen Bryant Shroud Pall Narrow house Sepulcher
The cloth a dead body is wrapped in Pall Cloth that covers the coffin at a funeral Narrow house The coffin itself Sepulcher A small room in which a person is buried How do these contribute to meaning? They are meant to remind you how scary and final death is.
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William Cullen Bryant Is this poem about life or death?
It’s about both… “Yet a few days and thee the all beholding sun shall see no more…” (Yep, you’re gonna die soon) “So live, that when they summons comes….thou go not like the quarry slave at night…” (So live your life, so that when your time comes, you don’t fear death)
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William Cullen Bryant Tone Part I: lines 1-30 Part II: lines 31-71
Instructive—it’s telling you when you are sad about death or thinking about dying and scared, go to nature. Ex: The oak shall send his roots abroad and pierce they mold Part II: lines 31-71 Tone shifts to become hopeful and comforting Yet not to thine eternal resting place shalt thou retire alone. Part III: lines 72-end Tone is upbeat and encouraging Live life to the fullest now, so that when it’s time to die, you can view death as a nap with your favorite blanket
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William Cullen Bryant The speaker is telling us that we should take comfort in that fact that all the beauty of nature is our grave. The hills rocked ribbed and ancient as the sun… The venerable woods… Are but the solemn decorations of the great tomb of man
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William Cullen Bryant How is this poem an example of Romantic Poetry?
Looks to the wisdom of the past Thou shalt lie down with patriarchs of the infant world… Finds truth/knowledge in Nature Nature is the speaker in lines and is the one comforting the lover of nature
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William Cullen Bryant As an elegy?
The speaker is saying when you feel sad about death, to go to nature to feel better…it implies that the speaker must be in a state of mourning the loss of someone which sends him to nature.
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William Cullen Bryant “Thanatopsis” Original poem was only lines 17-72
Lines 1-17 and 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
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