THE AGE OF ROMANTICISM began in 1800 to1850

 It is THE SECOND CREATIVE PERIOD OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. Also, The first half of the
nineteenth century records the triumph of Romanticism in literature and of democracy
in government; and the two movements are so closely associated,
 We understand this age of popular government by remembering that the chief subject
of romantic literature was the essential nobleness of common men and the value of
the individual.

HISTORICAL SUMMARY.
 The period we are considering begins in the latter half of the reign of George III and
ends with the accession of Victoria in 1837.
 King George recognized the independence of the United States of America, he
unconsciously proclaimed the triumph of that free government by free men which had
been the ideal of English literature for more than a thousand years;
 The Reform Bill became the law of the land, which England herself learned the lesson
taught her by America, and became the democracy of which her writers had always
dreamed.
 The storm centre of the political unrest was the French Revolution, that frightful
uprising which proclaimed the natural rights of man and the abolition of class
distinctions.
 Patriotic clubs and societies multiplied in England, all asserting the doctrine of Liberty,
Equality, Fraternity, the watchwords of the Revolution.
 The causes of this threatened revolution were not political but economic. By her
invention in steel and machinery, and by her monopoly of the carrying trade, England
had become the workshop of the world.
 The invention of machinery at first threw thousands of skilled hand workers out of
employment; in order to protect a few agriculturists, heavy duties were imposed on
corn and wheat, and bread rose to famine prices just when labouring men had the
least money to pay for it.
 England increased in wealth, and spent vast sums to support her army and subsidize
her allies in Europe. Fathers sent their wives and little children into the mines and
factories, where sixteen hours’ labour would hardly pay for the daily bread
 The long Continental war came to an end with Napoleon’s overthrow at Waterloo, in
1815; and England, having gained enormously in prestige abroad
 The destruction of the African slave trade; the prevention of child labor; the freedom
of the press; the extension of manhood suffrage; the abolition of restrictions against
Catholics in Parliament; these are but a few of the reforms which mark the progress of
civilization in a single half century.
 When England, in 1833, proclaimed the emancipation of all slaves in all her colonies,
she unconsciously proclaimed her final emancipation from barbarism.

LITERARY CHARACTERISTICS OF THE AGE.

 literature at first reflected the political confusion of the age; and then, when the
turmoil was over literature suddenly developed a new creative spirit,
  Patriotic enthusiasm suggests the Elizabethan days, and whose genius has caused their
age to be known as the second creative period of our literature.
 The essence of Romanticism was that literature must reflect all that is spontaneous
and unaffected in nature and in man, and be free to follow its own fancy in its own
way.
 And other writer of the age, he invests the common life of nature, and the souls of
common men and women, with glorious significance
 These two poets, Coleridge and Wordsworth, best represent the romantic genius of
the age in which they lived, though Scott had a greater literary reputation, and Byron
and Shelley had larger audiences. The second characteristic of this age is that it is
emphatically an age of poetry.
 It was during this period that woman assumed, for the first time, an important place in
our literature.
 The French Revolution stirred all Europe to its depths, and during the following half
century every great movement in literature, as in politics and religion, was
characterized by strong emotion; which is all the more noticeable by contrast with the
cold, formal, satiric spirit of the early eighteenth century.
 The age produced a new type of novel which seems rather hysterical now, but which in
its own day delighted multitudes of readers whose nerves were somewhat excited,
and who reveled in "bogey" stories of supernatural terror.
 Mrs. Anne Radcliffe (1764- 1823) was one of the most successful writers of this school
of exaggerated romance. Her novels, with their azure-eyed heroines, haunted castles,
trapdoors, bandits, abductions, rescues in the nick of time, and a general medley of
overwrought joys and horrors
 In this age literary criticism became firmly established and At first their criticisms were
largely destructive, criticism assumed its true function of construction.

ROBERT SOUTHEY (1774-1843)

 He was born at Bristol, in 1774;

 Closely associated with Wordsworth and Coleridge;
 Known as Lakers, account of their residence in the northern Lake District by the
Scottish magazine reviewers.
 Southey holds his place in this group more by personal association than by his literary
gifts.
 He considered himself seriously as one of the greatest writers of the day, and a
reading of his ballads–which connected him at once with the romantic school
 Southey wrote far better prose than poetry, and his admirable Life of Nelson is still
often read.
 Southey was made Poet Laureate in 1813, and was the first to raise that office
 The beauty of Southey’s character, his patience and helpfulness, make him a worthy
associate of the two greater poets
 One of his poems is The scholar

The Scholar

My days among the Dead are past;

Around me I behold,
Where'er these casual eyes are cast,
The mighty minds of old:
My never-failing friends are they,
With whom I converse day by day.

With them I take delight in weal

And seek relief in woe;
And while I understand and feel
How much to them I owe,
My cheeks have often been bedew'd
With tears of thoughtful gratitude.

My thoughts are with the Dead; with them

I live in long-past years,
Their virtues love, their faults condemn,
Partake their hopes and fears,
And from their lessons seek and find
Instruction with an humble mind.

My hopes are with the Dead; anon

My place with them will be,
And I with them shall travel on
Through all Futurity;
Yet leaving here a name, I trust,
That will not perish in the dust.

From my point of view;

 1. The poet says that his days are passed in the company of people who are dead and
gone from this world.
2. He loves to spend his time by reading the books written by the popular authors of the
past.
3. Every time, the poet looks around him, his eyes fall upon the huge collection of books
which have been stacked on bookshelves in his house. These books reflect the
thoughts and intelligence of the people who wrote them.
4. Those authors are no more alive now. They are his constant companions because he is
often immersed in the depths of their thoughts and feelings. He feels as though he
talks to the dead authors daily, because he’s reading their books all the time.
5. The poet feels happy in the company of these dead writers. Their writings give him
intense joy. During bad times, he digs into their books to seek peace and comfort. The
words of these dead people heal his wounds and sorrows.
6. He can feel his tears flow down his cheeks as he remembers the writers with gratitude.
7. The poet says that he is continuously thinking about the dead authors, while reading
their experiences shared in the books, he feels as though he has been transported to
the by gone years .
8. He does not hesitate to criticize their faults. Their writings convey their hopes and
insecurities. He feels hopeful every time they send a positive message, and their fears
make him insecure too.
9. The lessons learnt from their books give him guidance. He can figure out what steps to
take next.
10. The desires of the poet are now similar to the hopes and aspirations of people who are
no longer alive.
11. The poet is aware of his mortality. He knows that he is going to die soon. He would be
buried just as these dead writers lay buried, and it would be a long period of rest. He
would be sharing new experiences with the dead people once he has departed from
this world.
12. The poet hopes that his writings would be read by the future generations, and that
people would keep him in their thoughts. He prays that his name would not be
forgotten by the people who have read his works

TRADUCCION

El erudito

Mis días entre los Muertos han pasado;

A mí alrededor veo,

Dondequiera que se echen estos ojos casuales,

Las poderosas mentes de antaño:

Mis amigos infalibles son ellos,

Con quien converso día a día.

Con ellos me deleito en el bienestar

y busca alivio en la aflicción;

Y mientras comprendo y siento

cuanto a ellos les debo

Mis mejillas han estado a menudo empapadas

Con lágrimas de pensativa gratitud.

Mis pensamientos están con los Muertos; con ellos

Vivo en años pasados,

Sus virtudes aman, sus faltas condenan,

Participa de sus esperanzas y temores,

Y de sus lecciones busca y encuentra

Instrucción con una mente humilde.

Mis esperanzas están con los Muertos; luego

Mi lugar con ellos será,

Y yo con ellos seguiré viajando

a través de todo el Futuro;

Sin embargo, dejando aquí un nombre, confío,

Eso no perecerá en el polvo.