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Name:-Nirali dungrani

SEM:-02

Roll no:-24

Year:-2017-2019

Enrollment no:-2069108420180012

Paper:-5(Romantic literature)

Assignment topic:-Poets and Poetry of the Romantic Age

Email id:-dungraninirali@gmail.com

Submitted:-S.B.Gardi Department of English

Introduction:-

The Romantic Age:-

Ø The period which extends from 1798 to 1837 is known as “Romantic Age”. The term “romantic” was used in England for the first time in the 16th century to indicate the unreal and fanciful elements.

Ø During the 18th century it was used with a negative connotation to indicate something in contrast with reason but linked with emotions.

Ø It was used for the first time with a positive connotation in Germany.

Ø The Romantic Age is marked by three important historical events:

1) The American Revolution (1775 – 1783)
2) The French Revolution (1789 – 1799)
3) The Napoleonic War (1796 – 1815)

Ø The Romantic era or the Romantic period was an artistic, literary, musical, cultural and intellectual movement originating in Europe, toward the end of the 18th century.

Ø The Romantic Movement in Britain started in 1798 when LYRICAL BALLADS by Wordsworth and Coleridge appeared.

Ø The most important character in Romantic age is Landscape both art and poetry.

Ø Romanticism laid emphasis on emotion and individualism as well as glorification of the past and of nature.

Ø The movement was partly a reaction to the Industrial Revolution and the scientific rationalization of nature.

Ø Romantic age covers the first half of the 19^th century.

Ø Characteristics of the Age:-

1) Individualism

2) Return to nature

3) Imagination

4) Elements of supernatural power

5) Age of symbolism and Myth

Romantic Poets

Ø Romantic poets are also called the early nineteenth- century poets. These poets revolted against the poetic tradition of the eighteenth century. They turned to the nature.

Ø They disliked the set rules and orders of the neo-classical poets. Instead, they gave too much focus on emotion, imagination, originality and freedom in their poetry. Simple and commonly used natural language was chosen for their poetry.

Ø The publication of the first edition of the Lyrical Ballad marks the beginning of the romantic period in English literature. It was combined work produced together by Wordsworth and Coleridge.

Ø Poetry was defined in a new light in this work. Much emphasis was given on simple language, imagination, originality and poetic freedom.

Ø Nature was thought to be a proper subject matter for poetry. It was a work of great change and experimentation in terms of poetry.

Ø Its publication gave a shock to the traditional poets and critics of the eighteenth century. They considered the language too simple.

A list of the major Romantic Poets:-

ü William Blake

ü William Wordsworth

ü Samuel T. Coleridge

ü Lord Byron

ü Percy Shelley

ü John Keats

Ø Their poetry was dependent on various features peculiar to their time:-

Ø a reaction against previous literary styles, arguments with eighteenth century and earlier philosophers, the decline in formal Anglican worship and the rise of dissenting religious sects, and the rapid and unprecedented industrialization of Britain and consequent changes in its countryside.

William Blake

William Blake remained largely unknown during his lifetime but rose to prominence after his death and is now considered a highly influential figure in the history of poetry and one of the greatest British artists. Blake’s most renowned work in poetry is Songs of Innocence and of Experience, considered one of the leading poetic works of the Romantic era. The collection often contains poems with similar themes, and at times the same title, to contrast the innocent world of childhood in Songs of Innocence with the corruption and repression of the adult world in Songs of Experience. Blake claimed to experience visions throughout his life. He revered the Bible but was hostile to the Church of England and organized religion in general. His poetry and art often created mythical worlds full of gods and powers, and sharply criticized industrial society and the oppression of the individual. Blake is considered a key figure in Romanticism for his emphasis on subjective vision and the power of the imagination. He is also highly regarded for his expressiveness and creativity as well as for the philosophical and mystical undercurrents in his work. In 2002, William Blake was placed 38 in BBC’s poll of the 100 Greatest Britons.

Famous Poems:-

The Tyger (1794)
London (1794)
And did those feet in ancient time (1808)

William Wordsworth

William Wordsworth was born in 1770 and was an influential poet during his later years and among the poets responsible for the beginning of the Romantic era.

Wordsworth, along with Coleridge, launched the Romantic Age in English literature with the publication of Lyrical Ballads in 1798. From 1799 to 1808, he lived at the Dove Cottage in the village of Grasmere in the Lake District of England. Here he became friends with another prominent poet, Robert Southey. Wordsworth, Coleridge and Southey were the three main figures of the group known as Lake Poets, as they all lived in the Lake District. The years 1797 to 1808 are now recognized as the best years of Wordsworth and are known as his Great Decade. After struggling initially, Wordsworth became one of the most renowned poets in his later years and was appointed Poet Laureate of Britain in 1843. The Prelude, an autobiographical epic, is widely regarded by critics as his greatest work though his most popular poem is perhaps I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, commonly known as Daffodils. William Wordsworth is considered a pioneer of Romanticism and one of the greatest poets in English literature.

Famous Poems:-

Daffodils (1807)
Tintern Abbey (1798)
The Prelude (1850)

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Along with William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge is credited with founding the Romanticism movement in England. In 1797, the two friends broke the decorum of neoclassical verse with daring original poetic works which laid emphasis on emotion and glorification of nature. The following year their collection of poetry Lyrical Ballads was published. Though the immediate reaction to Lyrical Ballads was modest, it is now considered a landmark work which changed the course of English literature and poetry by launching the influential Romantic Movement. Coleridge is one of the most important figures in English poetry who deeply influenced the major poets of his era including Wordsworth. Among other things, he is credited with utilizing everyday language to express profound poetic images and ideas.

Famous Poems:-

Kubla Khan (1816)
Christabel (1816)
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1798)

Lord Byron

George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, commonly known as just Lord Byron, was one of the leading figures of the Romantic Movement in early 19th century England. Byron first achieved fame with the publication of the first two cantos of his narrative poem Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage in 1812 and his reputation further enhanced with his four highly successful poems referred to as the “Oriental Tales”. Lord Byron is often described as the most flamboyant and notorious of the major Romantics due to his indulgent life and numerous love affairs. Many of his poems are autobiographic in nature and much of his work is pervaded by the Byronic hero, an idealised but flawed character capable of great passion and talent but rebellious, arrogant and self-destructive. Lord Byron is considered the leading second generation Romantic poet and he continues to be influential and widely read.

Famous Poems:-

Don Juan (1824)
She Walks in Beauty (1813)
Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage (1818)

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the leading “second generation” Romantic poets and he created some of the best known works of the movement. He was a controversial writer whose poems are marked by uncompromising idealism and great personal conviction. Though he produced works throughout his life, most publishers and journals declined to publish them for fear of being arrested for either blasphemy or sedition. As a result Shelley couldn’t gather a mainstream following during his lifetime. However, his popularity grew steadily following his death and ultimately he achieved worldwide fame and acclaim. Apart from being an idol for later generation of poets, Percy Bysshe Shelley also exerted influence on such prominent figures as the German philosopher Karl Marx and the Indian freedom fighter Mahatma Gandhi. He is considered one of the greatest poets in the English language.

Famous Works:-

Ozymandias (1818)
Ode to the West Wind (1820)
Prometheus Unbound (1820)

John Keats

Along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley, John Keats was one of the most prominent figures of the second generation of English Romantic poets. Keats died due to tuberculosis in 1821 at the age of only 25. His work was in publication for only four years and it was not generally well received by critics during his lifetime. However, his reputation grew after his death and by the end of the 19th century, he became one of the most beloved of all English poets. The most famous and acclaimed poems of Keats are a series of six odes known as the Odes of 1819. The most highly regarded among these is To Autumn, which has been called one of the most perfect short poems in the English language. Through his 1819 odes, Keats created a new type of short lyrical poem, which influenced later generations.

Famous Poems:-

To Autumn (1820)
Ode on a Grecian Urn (1820)
When I have Fears (1848)

Conclusion:-

We can see that whole Romantic Era was a time of poetry and poets. Love for nature is another important feature of romantic poetry, as a source of inspiration. This poetry involves a relationship with external nature and places, and a belief in pantheism. However, the romantic poets differed in their views about nature.also we see that most of poetrys are publish during this era.