1. Literary Highlights Wordsworth and Coleridge publish Lyrical Ballads in 1798. Thus starting the Romantic Era. Romanticism arises as a response to social and economic changes caused by the Industrial Revolution. Keats, Byron, and Shelley write their greatest poems in the early nineteenth century. The Romantic Period: 1798–1832 Fast Facts

2. English conservatives worry that revolutionary fever will cross the Channel to England. Because the French king has been overthrown by a democratic mob, the French Revolution is radical and frightening to English ruling classes.French Revolution History of the Times Until the violence and terror escalate, English liberals support the French Revolution’s ideals of “liberty, fraternity, equality.” Key Concept: Revolution Spreads

3. Literature of the Times The Romantic poetsRomantic poets were dedicated to political and social change believed in the power of literature thought imagination—not reason—was the best response to forces of change created private, spontaneous lyric poetry Key Concept: Conservatives Clamp Down

4. Some Romantic Poets But to the eyes of the man of imagination nature is imagination itself. As a man is, so he sees.... To me this world is all one continued vision of fancy or imagination. —William Blake George Gordon, Lord Byron John Keats Key Concept: Conservatives Clamp Down William Blake Percy Bysshe Shelley

5. Themes of Romantic Poetry Spread of democratic ideals through the American and French Revolutions and disillusionment after failure of French Revolution Reactions against harsh living and working conditions created for urban poor by the Industrial Revolution Fascination with nature and country life, which seemed a blissful retreat from city slums Influences on Romantic Poetry

6. Themes of Romantic Poetry Invited readers to feel power and passion A New Focus in Poetry Romantic Period Restoration Era Order had just been restored. Society needed social change. Poets celebrated order, hierarchy, and enlightened rule. Poets wrote about personal feelings, supported individual rights, and used everyday language. Tried to capture personal experience

7. Romantic poets wrote about personal experiences and emotions, often using simple language Themes of Romantic Poetry embraced imagination and naturalness instead of reason and artifice saw nature as transformative; focused on the ways nature and the human mind mirrored each other’s creative properties Percy Bysshe Shelley A New Focus in Poetry

8. Themes of Romantic Poetry Many say the Romantic movement began in 1798 when Wordsworth and Coleridge published Lyrical Ballads. Imagination: The Inspired Guide The Romantics are often considered nature poets. However, they are really “mind poets” who sought to understand the bond between humans and the world of the senses.

9. Forms of Romantic Poetry Expresses the emotions and concerns of an individual as well as of society Varies the structure of traditional forms to suit a poem’s purpose Focuses on a poet’s personal connection to nature Characteristics of Romantic Poetry

10. Function over Form Romantic Poets Poetry was a playground of feelings. Form seems more important than function. Poets experimented with forms and expressed feelings in natural language. 18th Century Poets Poetry was a strictly defined literary genre. Poets used formal language and structured traditional forms such as odes and sonnets. Function seems more important than form. The Romantics took poetry in a new direction. Forms of Romantic Poetry