Britain During The Romantic Period

William Wordsworth existed in a time when society and its functions were beginning to rapidly pick up. The poem that he 'Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey, on Revisiting the Banks of the Wye', gave him a chance to reflect upon his quick paced life by taking a moment to slow down and absorb the beauty of nature that allows one to 'see into the life of things'; (line 49). Wordsworth's 'Tintern Abbey'; takes you on a series of emotional states by trying to sway 'readers and himself, that the loss of innocence and intensity over time is compensated by an accumulation of knowledge and insight.'; Wordsworth accomplishes to prove that although time was lost along with his innocence, he

As America sought to create their own literary voice following the Revolutionary War, the transition from the Colonial Era to the Romantic Era was a notable one, changing the voice of our country throughout the 19th century. Marked by themes of individualism, idealism, and being in touch with nature, Romanticism altered both the art and writing of the time and has certainly left a lasting impact to this day.

It is also clear that the human heart and mind is deeply touched in the form of spirituality and joy by the beauty of nature. Finally, it is evident that by use of language devices, that writings regarding the natural world truly can fill the reader with a sense of the beauty, and awe of the natural world. Therefore, while both of these writers have deep relationships with nature, Wordsworth has expressed his relationship with nature as being that of a source of happiness using poetic syntax and tones of admiration, while

Wordsworth’s famous and simple poem, “I wandered lonely as a cloud,” expresses the Romantic Age’s appreciation for the beauty and truth that can be found in a setting as ordinary as a field of daffodils. With this final stanza, Wordsworth writes of the mind’s ability to carry those memories of nature’s beauty into any setting, whether city or country. His belief in the power of the imagination and the effect it can have on nature, and vice a versa, is evident in most of his work. This

With a prior appreciation of nature, Wordsworth took this appreciation to another level as he obtained a great interest in scenery and the countryside. Adding sensibility and imagery to his works, his reader could gain a dominant amount of culture from his writings. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau’s most famous and introductory works on the course of nature are allegedly owed to growing up on William Wordsworth's romantic approach and nature and the beauty of it all. “Nature” has said to have been the finishing product of Wordsworth’s beginning poems. Becoming more conservative as time went on, William Wordsworth only found tranquility in writing and nature as events in his life took a turn for the worse.

History is the story and knowledge of the past. There are individuals that are interested by history and wish to study it by learning more. It is very informative to know what has happened in the past for self-knowledge. An individual cannot be naïve to the past including but not limited to how literature came to. One can understand literature more when they understand the time period the author wrote during and the way they wrote. There are several time periods different authors have been through with each period having specific beliefs. Romanticism is the time period that interests me the most; it was a time during the eighteenth century and focused on nature along with the individual’s expression of imagination and emotion.

As Wordsworth highly values nature, he also believes society is flawed and that society is corrupting nature as well as its natural beauty. Wordsworth suggests that people need to connect to nature and those who part from nature will be “out of tune” (8). “I discovered more distinctly the black sides of Jura and the bright summit of Mont Blac . . . the sky and late are blue and placid.” (Shelley 78)

During the late 1700’s and early 1800’s a major development in society took place known as the industrial revolution. The industrial revolution brought new modernization to the production of agricultures and textiles. The industrialization had an impact on Britain and its agriculture, settlement, employment and the social positions during the time. Before the industrial revolution manufacturing goods were made using either the basic hand-made tools or just simple machinery that had been developed during the time and was predominately done in the homes of citizens.

Throughout “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” William Wordsworth shows his relationship with nature through his choice of diction, fantastic descriptions, and shifting mood of his poem. There are also many words and phrases that Wordsworth included into his poem that shows how he feels about nature. These phrases are well written, extremely descriptive, and show how Wordsworth is influenced by the wild: “I wandered lonely as a cloud”, “When all at once I saw a crowd, a host, of golden daffodils", “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”, “I gazed—and gazed—but little thought what wealth the show to me had brought”, and “For oft, when on my couch I lie in vacant or in pensive mood, they flash upon that inward eye [...] and then my heart with pleasure fills, and dances with the daffodils.” Another phrase, which indicates that the flowers were so beautiful that no true poet could be sad in their presence, also builds upon Wordsworth’s relationship with nature. These particular lines in “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” show how Wordsworth’s mood shifts from somber and lonely to joyous and content. The lines also show how the gorgeousness of nature sticks with

During the 1800’s, England experienced an Industrial Revolution. With steam engines, coal, and steal coming about, England boomed with new factories and commerce. Previous to the invention and use of this machinery, England was a rural country, with many people making their own trades. Soon enough, machines with higher efficiency and speed began to replace hand-crafted materials. Factories with huge machinery began to pop up along with new job opportunities. By the mid-1800’s, fifty percent of people lived in urbanized areas, compared to less than

The Romantic Period was a literary movement that occurred within the late 18th century and early 19th century and is associated with most works that promote more power to women at the time as well as book that spoke on social issues. Within the period, poetry is hailed as the most important style of writing found in the movement seeing many forms of poetry growing in popularity within all classes of the world. The novel, as a genre, grew in standing throughout the Romantic period and saw growing efforts on the part of authors to test with style, form, and content. New modes of manufacture increased the amount of books that could be printed. In this way, the creation of novels were affected just as much as agriculture and manufacturing were during the Industrial Revolution in England. This dramatically expanded the market for books as well as boosted education due to the increase of those who wished to read. This soon made writers aware of their position and allowed the pieces of art to influence societal norms. Novels which followed this style usually preferred to be comedic in nature as well as provide satirical criticism towards the different social classes. Because of this, the British state attempted to govern what could and could not be published and read not as much by censorship, but by charging publishers or authors with sedition or blasphemy. The state also tried to control printing by implementing prohibitive taxes. This only expanded the market

This poem discusses Wordsworth’s ongoing frustration with the world around him. We are not paying attention to nature, but instead are focused on “getting and spending”. The recurring theme of excessive materialism flows through every line, all very relatable to the modern day. We are “out of tune” with the world, out of touch with our own spirituality,

Romanticism is a style of art or literature during the late 18th and early 19th centuries that emphasizes a love for nature, distrust of society, organized religion, celebration of the child or individual, and emotion over reason. In William Wordsworth’s “The World Is Too Much with Us” Wordsworth speaks about how society is so materialistic while speaking on the significance of nature. Ironically the title of this sonnet exemplifies one of the Romantic ideas and expresses one of Wordsworth’s main points regarding nature. Wordsworth uses a connection to nature as well as religion to emphasize Romanticism in his work.

The beauty of nature is often overlooked and underappreciated in today’s society. The neglect and lack of respect given to such a beautiful creation by members of society is widely reflected in Romantic poetry. The romantic era began in 1798, where writers such as William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge expressed their opinions and feelings towards nature. Overall such writers typically express a positive outlook on the natural world around them, however some stray the other way. Specifically Coleridge and Wordsworth began to express the feeling of disconnect towards nature. Both writers began to feel as though they could not understand nature and cannot connect with the beauty it gives off as expressed in poems such as “Dejection”, “London 1802”, and “Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey”. Not only did some of these writers begin to feel a disconnect but a select few also begin to feel as though people are disrespecting the balance of nature and are trying to disrupt the balance and manipulate it. Writers such as Mary Shelley, author of the novel Frankenstein, expresses the concern of people taking the laws of nature and twisting them. Writers and people living during this time period not only express an appreciation for nature but also the truth about the human relationship with nature. The relationship between humans and nature is on of mistreatment.

Romanticism came to be in the 18th and 19th centuries which emphasized the imagination and emotions of romanticism. Many people viewed this type of literature as the quality or state of being impractical or unrealistic meaning romantic feelings or ideas. During this time many poets were encouraged to express their true colors and individual uniqueness. The Romantic Era expanded all throughout the world, and reached poets such as Keats, Byron, Shelley, and Wordsworth.