ROMANTICISM IN LITERATURE

• Romanticism was a literary movement that began in the late 18 th century, ending around the middle of the 19th
century—although its influence continues to this day. Marked by a focus on the individual (and the unique perspective
of a person, often guided by irrational, emotional impulses), a respect for nature and the primitive, and a celebration of
the common man, Romanticism can be seen as a reaction to the huge changes in society that occurred during this
period, including the revolutions that burned through countries like France and the United States, ushering in grand
experiments in democracy.
• Romanticism focused on emotions and the inner life of the writer, and often used autobiographical material to inform
the work or even provide a template for it, unlike traditional literature at the time.
• It is a literary movement spanning roughly 1790–1850. The movement was characterized by a celebration of nature
and the common man, a focus on individual experience, an idealization of women, and an embrace of isolation and
melancholy. Prominent Romantic writers include John Keats, William Wordsworth, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Mary
Shelley
BIOGRAPHY OF WILLIAM WORDSWORTH
• William Wordsworth was born in Cockermouth, Cumbria, England, on April 7, 1770. Wordsworth’s mother
died when he was eight—this experience shapes much of his later work. Wordsworth attended Hawkshead Grammar
School, where his love of poetry was firmly established and, it is believed, where he made his first attempts at verse.
While he was at Hawkshead, Wordsworth’s father died leaving him and his four siblings orphans. After Hawkshead,
Wordsworth studied at St. John’s College in Cambridge and, before his final semester, he set out on a walking tour of
Europe—an experience that influenced both his poetry and his political sensibilities. While touring Europe,
Wordsworth came into contact with the French Revolution. This experience, as well as a subsequent period living in
France, brought about Wordsworth’s interest and sympathy for the life, troubles, and speech of the “common man.”
These issues proved to be of the utmost importance to Wordsworth’s work.
• He was an English Romantic poet, and best known for Lyrical Ballads (1667), which he wrote with Samuel
Taylor Coleridge. He and Coleridge helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature.
• William Wordsworth died at Rydal Mount on April 23, 1850, leaving his wife, Mary, to publish The Prelude
three months later.
• Wordsworth is best known for The Prelude, which is a semi-autobiographical poem of his early years that he
revised and expanded a number of times. It was not published during his lifetime, instead published a year after his
death by his wife.
• The Prelude or, Growth of a Poet’s Mind; An Autobiographical Poem is an autobiographical poem in blank verse.
• Lyrical Ballads, collection of poems, first published in 1798 by and William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor
Coleridge, the appearance of which is often designated by scholars as a signal of the beginning of English
Romanticism.
LITERARY WORKS OF WILLIAM WORDSWORTH
 William Wordsworth was a great poet of nature. Nature and its objects get reflection in many of his works.
Below we get great poems written by him
 His remarkable lyrics include in two volumes. They are – The Solitary Reaper, The Greek Linnet, I wandered
lonely as a Cloud.
Other Poems of Wordsworth are:
• We Are Seven • Composed Upon Westminister Bridge, Sept. 3, 1802
• Lines Composed A Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey • The World is Too Much With Us
• Michael • It is a Beauteous Evening, Calm and Free
• Strange Fits of Passion Have I Known • London, 1802
• Ode to Duty • The Solitary Reaper
• My Heart Leaps Up (The Rainbow) • Ode: Intimations of Immortality

“The World is Too Much with Us”

The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers,
For this, for everything, we are out of tune;
It moves us not.—Great God! I'd rather be
A pagan suckled in a creed outworn;
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathèd horn.

• The world is too much with us" is a sonnet by William Wordsworth, published in 1807, is one of the central figures
of the English Romantic movement. The poem laments the withering connection between humankind and nature,
blaming industrial society for replacing that connection with material pursuits. Wordsworth wrote the poem during the
First Industrial Revolution, a period of technological and mechanical innovation spanning the mid 18th to early 19th
centuries that thoroughly transformed British life.
• The poem sees nature as something which can enrich our lives if we forget a close bond with it. But it goes deeper
than this: for Wordsworth, nature possesses the power to enrich and inspire our imaginations, too, summoning the
ancient pagan gods from the sea and putting us in touch with the divine.

"She Was a Phantom of Delight"

She was a Phantom of delight
When first she gleamed upon my sight;
A lovely Apparition, sent
To be a moment's ornament;
Her eyes as stars of Twilight fair;
Like Twilight's, too, her dusky hair;
But all things else about her drawn
From May-time and the cheerful Dawn;
A dancing Shape, an Image gay,
To haunt, to startle, and way-lay.
I saw her upon nearer view,
A Spirit, yet a Woman too!
Her household motions light and free,
And steps of virgin-liberty;
A countenance in which did meet
Sweet records, promises as sweet;
A Creature not too bright or good
For human nature's daily food;
For transient sorrows, simple wiles,
Praise, blame, love, kisses, tears, and smiles.
And now I see with eye serene
The very pulse of the machine;
A Being breathing thoughtful breath,
A Traveller between life and death;
The reason firm, the temperate will,
Endurance, foresight, strength, and skill;
A perfect Woman, nobly planned,
To warn, to comfort, and command;
And yet a Spirit still, and bright
With something of angelic light.
• The poem is about William Wordsworth’s wife, where he writes about her beauty and how much he is mesmerized
by her grace. He depicts three stages of his relationship with her in this poem. The one stage is getting to know her
before marriage and is mesmerized by her beauty. The other one is where he is married to her and feels lucky to have
her in his life, and the third one is where he is spending his life with her, knows her so closely, and is yet mesmerized
by her charm, beauty, and behavior. He calls his wife an angel and a spirit, as he wants to establish that her charms are
unearthly, which is not seen in the common or ordinary women. He describes intricate details of her behavior, even
the smallest thing that he likes about her, which leaves him happy about having her in his life. He describes how there
is a different charm in the way she carries out the most mundane jobs and leaves an imprint in the poet’s mind. She is
a good
housewife, and she works hard to do all her household work. The poet is in deep love with his wife.

“I wandered Lonely As A Cloud”

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch
I lie In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

SUMMARY OF I WANDERED LONELY AS A CLOUD

This poem is a wonderful literary piece of nature’s description. It was first published in 1807 in Poems in Two
Volume. It was written as a lyric poem to capture the bewitching beauty of the wildflowers and express a deeper
feeling and emotions of the poet. It has become an eternal classic for describing nature and its scenic beauty.
The speaker says that, wandering like a cloud floating above hills and valleys, he encountered a field of daffodils
beside a lake. The dancing, fluttering flowers stretched endlessly along the shore, and though the waves of the lake
danced beside the flowers, the daffodils outdid the water in glee. The speaker says that a poet could not help but be
happy in such a joyful company of flowers. He says that he stared and stared, but did not realize what wealth the scene
would bring him. For now, whenever he feels “vacant” or “pensive,” the memory flashes upon “that inward eye / That
is the bliss of solitude,” and his heart fills with pleasure, “and dances with the daffodils.”
CHARACTERS
The only human character in the poem “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” by William Wordsworth is the speaker, who
is an alter-ego of the poet himself. Through personification, the daffodils themselves and the waves of the lake
become characters in the poem.
LITERARY DEVICES
• Simile is a device used to compare one object to another to help readers understand or to clarify the meanings using
‘as’ or ‘like’. There are two similes used in this poem. “I wandered lonely as a cloud.” He compares his loneliness
with a single cloud. The second is used in the opening line of the second stanza, “Continues as the stars that shine.”
Here Wordsworth compares the endless row of daffodils with countless stars.
• Personification is to attribute human characteristics to lifeless objects. The poet has personified “daffodils” in the
third line of the poem, such as, “When all at once I saw a crowd.” The crowd shows the number of daffodils. The
second example of personification is used in the second stanza as, “Tossing their heads and sprightly dance.” It shows
that the Daffodils are humans that can dance. The third example is in the third stanza such as, “In a jocund company.”
Here he considered the daffodils as his buoyant company.
• Alliteration is the repetition of the same consonant sounds in the same lines of poetry, such as the use of /g/ sound
in “I gazed and gazed” and the use of /w/ sound in “What wealth the show to me had brought.”
• Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /a/ in “Ten thousand I saw at a
glance” and /e/ sound in “They stretched in never-ending.”
• Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds such as the sound of /t/ in “what wealth the show to me had
brought” and /n/ sound in “in vacant or in pensive.”
• Metaphor. Wordsworth uses one metaphor in this poem in the last stanza “They flash upon that inward eye.” Here
“inward eye” represents the sweet memory of daffodils.
• Imagery: The use of imagery makes the reader visualize the writer’s feelings and emotions. Wordsworth has used
images appealing to the sense of sight, such as “lonely as a cloud”, “ a crowd”, “never-ending line”, ”milky way” and
“jocund company.” These descriptions help the reader to imagine or feel the same joy felt by the speaker.
Here is an analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.
Stanza: A stanza is the poetic form of some lines. In this poem, there are four stanzas with six lines in each stanza.
Rhyme Scheme: The poem follows the ABABCC rhyme scheme, where the first line rhymes with the third and the
second line rhymes with the fourth lines.
MAJOR THEMES
The Beauty of Nature
• The speaker introduces himself as lonely. “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”. However, with the presence of the
elements of nature: clouds, hills, lake, trees & stars, his sadness suddenly fades away as soon he comes across a field
of daffodils.
City Life vs Nature
• Firstly, he complains about the corrupted world which lacks of cooperation and harmony. So he wanders lonely and
hopeless. He prefers to get away from people because being with them brings him sadness. However, seeing the
yellow daffodils cheered him up because they welcomed him.
Memory and The Past
• The theme is presented when the circumstances changed into the speaker’s bedroom when he lying on the couch
where he recalls what was previously been through and brings to his mind the view of the dancing daffodils.
• The poet can always draw on his imagination: to reproduce the joy of the event, to remember the spiritual wisdom of
the past. Through the power of imagination/memory.
SYMBOLS
The Daffodils
• In “I wandered lonely as a Cloud,” the daffodils are like little yellow people who keep the speaker company when he
is feeling lonely. The happiness of the daffodils can always cheer him up, and he can tell that they are happy because
they dance.
Cloud
• Is a symbol, which represents loneliness. Moreover, the cloud is naturally incompatible with the earth surface or
human beings but the poet’s close identification with the cloud reveals his loneliness, isolation, and desolation from
the world around him. In the second stanza, he compares the distance between the clouds, valleys, and hills, which
means he is aware but not happy with his separation from the immediate world.
CONCLUSION
In this moment of solitude, the poet concludes on the experience of the daffodils as the way to happiness. The
daffodils represent—natural beauty, happiness, merry, and bliss. This experience of nature and humanity fills the
poet’s life with blessings and contentment.

Prepared by:
Krizzy Joyce E. Alacre
BSED English 2