Romantic poetry:

Romanticism in England expressed itself especially in poetry. (Novels were mainly of two
kind: realistic/fantastic (the Gothic novels; no Drama)

New ideas and new sensibility:

Reaction against Enlightenment

Influenced by the ideas of the French revolution

Emphasis on individual experience (intensity, imagination); imagination is the highest human

faculty and it is the most direct, effective way to achieve truth

Nature is a source of inspiration; feeling of the Sublime (The sublime, a notion in aesthetic and
literary theory, is a striking grandeur of thought and emotion; its meaning includes not only
literature, but any aesthetic phenomenon -- even including nature itself, particularly mountains or
desolate and striking landscapes -- that produced sensations of awe or even of pain in its
audience. John Baillie describes this effect in his Essay on the Sublime (1747), "Vast Objects
occasion vast Sensations, and vast Sensations give the Mind a higher Idea of her own Powers."
A Greek writer called Longinus defines literary sublimity as "excellence in language," the
"expression of a great spirit," and the power to provoke "ecstasy."
The most important English work on the sublime is Edmund Burke's Philosophical Inquiry into
the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful (1756). Burke writes:
Whatever is in any sort terrible ... is a source of the sublime; that is, it is productive of the
strongest emotion which the mind is capable of feeling.)
Augustan vs Romantic

Reason and order feelings and intuition

Control of emotion and imagination free play of imagination, desire to go

beyond human limits

Society more important than individual; Importance of the poet’s inner life; he is
a rebel but also a prophet

Sophisticated, literary language Everyday language (esp. Wordsworth)

References to Classical world Observation of nature and everyday

situations; reference to the Middle-Ages and
Greek mythology
The first generation of Romantic Poets:
William Blake: he created his own symbolic system, based on his theory of complementary
opposites. In his opinion, the Church made too straight a division between bad things and good
things. He was convinced that the opposites co-existed in all the things of the world. He thought
that from the constant interaction of complementary opposites it’s possible to obtain a real
progress. He was ahead of his time; sensitive to the social changes brought about by the
Industrial revolution.
Wordsworth: his poetry started from the direct observation of nature, of simple life. He wanted
to show the high moral values present in the life of simple people and believed in the use of
common language.
Coleridge: his poetry started inside his mind, great power of imagination. He created fantastic,
dream-like worlds and described them as if they were real. He mixed the supernatural with the
real.
They all at first supported the French Revolution; however, Wordsworth and Coleridge were
later disappointed by it. They believed that poetry should have a didactic purpose and that the
poet's task was to be a guide for mankind and to help people create a better world.
Wordsworth stated that language in poetry should be as similar to the language 'really used by
men' as possible. Blake used simple language and structures and Coleridge tried to follow this
general rule, though he partially disagreed on this issue.

The second generation of Romantic poets:

Lord Byron: the heroes of his poems are usually handsome, solitary, young heroes who go
against conventions.
Shelley: a political radical, unconventional, rebel. He saw the poet as a prophet who could
change society.
Keats: he believed that the power of poetry lies mainly in its eternity, opposed to the transience
of human life. Escape into a world of classical beauty.
All of them rejected conventional ethics and disliked the idea that poetry should have a moral
purpose: they believed poetry could inspire the reader, but not that it could really teach a moral
lesson. They led very truly romantic, passionate lives (especially Byron and Shelley). They all
died young, in tragic circumstances far from England. They showed an escapist tendency and
fought in the name of their idealistic goals. They refused to give in to imposed social standards.
With regard to language and style, the language is more elaborate and rich. All the poets are
especially careful in the choice of elegant structures and words to the effect of musicality and
balance.
Supernatural elements can be found in both generations (mostly in Coleridge).
Importance of feelings in both generations; poetry is the expression of personal feelings and
passions.
Revival of past traditions and the Middle Ages for all poets (Blake, Coleridge, Keats).
All the poets were involved in society and they tried to find a solution to social injustice and the
other problems of the time.