Romantic poetry

It is generally supposed that the English Romantic Movement began in

1798 with the publication of the "Lyrical Ballads" but it is not a sudden
outburst but the result of long and gradual growth and development. The
term 'Romanticism' (the Romantic Movement) is a literary movement
which took place in Britain and throughout Europe roughly between
1770 and 1848. Politically, it was inspired by the revolutions in America
and France.

Emotionally, it expressed an extreme assertion of the self and the value

of the individual experience together with the sense of the infinite and
the transcendental. The stylistic keyword of ‘Romanticism’ is intensity
and its watchword is ‘Imagination’. In Britain, Romantic writers of the
first generation included Wordsworth and Coleridge (Lyrical Ballads,
1798), Blake and Burns, though introspective 18th century poets such as
Gray and Cowper show pre-Romantic tendencies. The second generation
of British Romantics- Byron, Shelley and Keats absorbed these
tumultuous influences, wrote swiftly, travelled widely and died
prematurely. Their life stories and letters became almost as important for
Romanticism as their poetry.
Romanticism does not mean any one thing or one characteristic. It is, in
fact, a collective term to mean certain features and characteristics, such
as
mysticism,
humanism,
supernaturalism,
 escapism,
love of beauty,
love of nature,
love of equality,
alienation,
fanciful,
melancholy,
wonder,
emotional intensity,
rich imagination,
subjectivism,
simple diction,
sensuousness,
love for medievalism, etc.
It wanted to free literature from tyranny of the rules of the ancients.
English romanticism is both a revolt and a revival. It is a revolt against
18th century traditions and conventions; it is a revival of medievalism
and old English meters and masters of poetry. The chief characteristics
of romantic poetry are as follows:
Subjectivity: All romantic literature is subjective. It is an expression of
the inner urges of the soul of the artist. The poet gives free expression to
his feelings, emotions, experiences, thoughts and ideas and does not care
for rules and regulations. The emphasis is laid on inspiration and
intuition.
Love of Nature: Zest for the beauties of the external world characterizes
all romantic poetry. Romantic poetry carries us away from the
suffocating atmosphere of cities into the fresh and invigorating company
of the out of door world. All poets were lovers of nature and looked at
the beautiful aspects of nature. To them, nature was a friend,
a lover,
a mother,
sister
and a teacher. To Wordsworth, nature was both mother and sister.
He spiritualizes nature, Shelley intellectualizes nature and Keats is
content to observe nature through his senses.
Spontaneity: Romantic poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful
feelings. Poetry to romantic poets is not a craft but inspiration. The poet
does not care for the perfection of form or clarity of expression.
Melancholy: Most of the romantic poets in English are full of
melancholy and pessimism. A romantic is dissatisfied individual. He
may be dissatisfied with the circumstances of his own, with his age, with
literary conventions and traditions of the day, or with the general fate of
humanity.
Supernaturalism and Mysticism: Romanticism was a revival of
medievalism. The romantic is extraordinarily alive to the wonder,
mystery and beauty of the universe. The unseen world is more real for
him than the world of the senses. Romantic poetry is mystical and is
removed from the everyday experiences of life.
A Revolt: Romantic Movement in literature is a revolt. It was a revolt
against the 18th century poetic style of artificiality.
Imagination and Emotion: The romantic poets laid emphasis on
imagination and emotion. The 18th century neo-classical poets had
emphasized on reason and intellect.  
For example, we can take Wordsworth’s romantic poem “I Wandered
Lonely as a Cloud” which deals with subjects of creative imagination,
childhood memories, beauty of nature, the role of nature as a guiding
spirit .The poem “I Wanderd Lonely as a Cloud” is not only a typical
romantic poem, but it also tells us how a poem is written in the romantic
sense. This poem is romantic is in its subject and theme, and in its
expression and word game. The subject is that of the poet’s personal
experience in nature. The expression is emotive and imaginative. The
nature is personified. The poet felt that the daffodils were dancing
better than the sea waves. They were happy like the children. Now, as
 the poet is sitting at home, the daffodils revisit him in his mind’s eye,
and he writes the poem. The poem is, therefore, not only romantic, but
also satisfies Wordsworth’s idea of what poetry is and how it is written.
This is typically as a poem based on the poet’s emotions recollected in
tranquillity.
Main Features of Romantic Poetry
 Back From Set Rules
The poetry of the Romantic Revival is in direct contrast to that of
Neoclassical. In the 18th century, poetry was governed by set rules and
regulations. There were well-prepared lines of poetic composition. And
any deviation from the rules was disliked by the teachers of poetic
thought. The first thing that we notice in the poetry Romantic age is the
break from the slavery of rules and regulations. The poets of Romantic
Age wrote poetry in freestyle without following any rules and
regulations.
 Interest in Rural Life
The poetry of the 18th century was concerned with clubs and coffee
houses, drawing rooms and social and political life of London. It was
essentially the poetry of town life. Nature had practically no place in
Neo-classical Poetry. In the poetry of Romantic Revival, the interest of
poets was transferred from town to rural life and from artificial
decorations of drawing rooms to the natural beauty and loveliness of
nature.

Nature began to have its own importance in the poetry of this age.
Wordsworth was the greatest poet who revealed the physical and
spiritual beauty of nature to those who could not see any charm in the
wildflowers, green fields and the chirping birds.
 Presentation of Common Life
Romantic Poets started taking interest in the lives of the common
people, the shepherds and the cottages and left the gallant lords and gay
butterflies of fashion to the care of novelists. A renewed interest in the
simple life marked the poetry of the poets of Romantic Age. A feeling of
humanitarianism coloured the poetry of Wordsworth, Shelley and
 Byron. Thus Romantic Poetry was marked by intense human sympathy
and a consequent understanding of the human heart.
 Love of Liberty and Freedom
In Romantic Poetry, the emphasis was laid on liberty and freedom of the
individual. Romantic poets were rebels against tyranny and brutality
exercised by tyrants and despots over humans crushed by poverty and
smashed by inhuman laws.