Essay on Romantic Poetry

If the Enlightenment was a movement which started among the elite and spread through society to pose its influence, Romanticism was widespread both in its origins and influence. Through the transformation of the basic arts such as poetry, the novel and drama, there has never been such an intellectual/artistic movement that has had such popularity ever since the end of the Middle Ages. At the time, people's fears, hopes and aspirations were the key elements that drove this literary movement to greatness. Knowingly, the Romantic Period was the voice of revolution in the late 1800's, early 1900's. Indeed, many famous writers such as John Keats, Mary Shelly, Lord Byron and Emily Brontë were recognized amongst the citizens for their exquisite work

Romanticism was a response towards the industrial revolution. The movement rejected the idea of reason that gripped the educational masses of earlier 18th century Europe. Romaticism idolized the unknown and the idea of personification. As romanticism started to dwindle in the mid 1800’s innovative ideas formed. The new movements that evolved from Romanticism are Nationalism, Liberalism, and Conservatism.

Romanticism is a movement which originate from Europe at a period towards the end of the 18th century. The movement was at its peak at the era in between 1800-1850. It involve work of art, literary and intellectual work as well as musical part of it and focus more on emotion and individualism. Glorification also characterized the period. This period emerged as a reaction towards industrial revolution, the enlightenment age as well as scientific rationalization of nature. (Gerald, 1987).

Lord Byron’s Romantic Influence People know Byron for his “mad, bad, and dangerous to know” demeanor according to his second wife Lady Caroline Lamb. Byron possesses notoriety for his infidelity and influence with women. Born with a clubfoot, Byron made best of his situation. Byron’s poetry takes a satirical view of the world, viewing it as it exists and investigating the pros and cons of all situations.

Romanticism (c. 1770-1850) stood as an artistic, political and philosophical movement that sought not only to transform the essence of human experience through challenging the unyielding and judicious constraints of previous eras but also to engage with both societal and individual consciousness through respective influence. The artistic movement rejected the preceding notions of rationality, restraint and institution rather implementing a free spirited temperament, allowing intuition, individuality and artistic emancipation to prevail.

First, Romantic literature can be defined in several ways. Romanticism was a unique movement that began in Europe at the end of the 18th century. Romanticism brought new ideas to every aspect of literature. Romanticism could be called “The Age of Imagination”. The movement emphasized nature rather than government, as well as intense emotion

Romanticism and Rationalism Romanticism began in the mid-18th century and reached its height in the 19th century. The Romantic literature of the nineteenth century holds in its topics the ideals of the time period, concentrating on emotion, nature, and the expression of "nothing." The Romantic era was one that focused on the commonality of humankind and, while using emotion and nature; the poets and their works shed light on people's universal natures. Romanticism as a movement declined in the late 19th century and early 20th century with the growing dominance of Realism in the literature and the rapid advancement of science and technology. However, Romanticism was very impressionative on most individuals during its time.

One may define poetry as imaginative and creative writing which uses elements like rhyme, meter, and imagery to express personal thoughts, feelings, or ideas. Certain subjects recur frequently in poetry such as carpe diem, nature, death, and family.

Romanticism was more than just a period of time, it was more like an attitude that was encouraging people to become in touch with their emotions and feelings of themselves and other individuals. The thought behind it was to become more of a part of the art people look at, and not to just walk through nature but to really feel what is going on with the universe and animals. Everything and everyone was seen as an original with their very own makeup, emotions, and attitudes. Romanticism found its way into the art, writings, and psychiatry of the time. It was very much like Transcendentalism in the way that Romanticism brought people to be closer to their emotions about certain aspects of life such as nature and writer Ralph Waldo Emerson made

almost as if they are throwing down the rays of light. there is also a

Romanticism defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary is “a literary, artistic, and philosophical movement originating in the 18th century, characterised chiefly by a reaction against neo-classicism and an emphasis on the imagination and emotions, and marked especially in English literature by sensibility and the use of autobiographical material, an exaltation of the primitive and the common man, an appreciation of external nature, an interest in the remote, a predilection for melancholy, and the use in poetry of older verse forms”. The Romanticist literary period began in the mid 1700 it was a period where a whole new chapter of writing was created. “Romanticism witnessed a steady loosening of the rules of artistic expression that were pervasive during earlier times”(Rahn). Romanticism was a completely new outlet of literature. It created many famous writers, such as Edgar Allan Poe.

Romanticism was brought to life around 1780 and thinned out around 1850. During this age romantic thought and imagination was chosen over reason, emotions, logic, intuition, and science. The late 18th century was a perfect era for romanticism. During this time period it spread wildly through the countries of Europe, the United States and Latin America and touched the pens of so many writers. Romanticism gave a type of feeling that made a lot excited or enthused to write and express their inner person through their works. This time period known as "romantic like" had a lot going on and held a lot for people of literature with the help of imagination and thought the romanticism era was brought to life.

Moving from Age of Reason to the Romantics period a lot changed about the author’s works in literature. Those poets who belong to the Age of Reason roughly 1700 and those many famous poets before them all wrote different types of poetry. Throughout decades of this country there have been many different changes to poetry: it has evolved in each country meaning it evolved plenty around the world. Poets like William Wordsworth, William Blake and Lord Byron coming from the old part of the romantics and the new part of the romantic period where poets of this time wanted to make poetry easier to read and understand, but have deeper meaning besides the obvious. A poet mentioned from this time period, Lord Byron was very focused on this type of poetry becoming one of the most famous and most important poets of in our history. A poem that is very popular and important was known as She Walks in Beauty. This poem goes from simple to complex giving out many messages within the poem in different stages of Byron’s life. However, in the poem titled She Walks in Beauty by Lord Byron, Byron conveys three important ideas; the appearance of the lady, differentiating from opening lines to closing lines, and emphasizes the spiritual aspect of the lady.

Poetry is a literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic qualities; that suggests alternative meanings in words and stimulates emotional and sensuous responses. The use of assonance, alliteration, onomatopoeia, rhythm, ambiguity, symbolism, irony and other poetic elements is common in poetry. Thus, a poem can be interpreted in a variety of ways using these poetic elements.

Poetry is a unique form of literature from the writers themselves to the readers who interpret and find meaning within the text. Poetry expresses a variety of topics in the form of feelings and emotions created through the verses and stanzas linking thoughts, feelings, and words left up to the interpretation of the reader. The elements used in crafting poetry develop and enrich this unique type of literature, such as symbols, speaker, theme, and tone.