The Romantic period was a revolt against the traditional Neoclassical writing that occurred previously. Before the mid eighteenth century poems were written for the rich and revolved around the use of form, wit, and intellect. These neoclassical poems drew on the influences of Greek and Roman classics. The neoclassical era ended when Wordsworth wrote preface to Lyrical Ballads. Wordsworth’s preface was a “revolutionary manifesto about the nature of poetry” (Greenblatt 292). His preface started a new movement in literature, and the poets that came after him were influenced by his revolutionary definition of what poetry should be. In this essay I will argue that Wordsworth’s preface introduced a stylistic shift of using everyday language and real situations in poetry. This shift resulted in poems and essays about the human mind, imagination, emotion, nature, and freedom of thought. I will first discuss the content and meaning of Wordsworth preface, and then I will reveal how the writing of the Romantic poets reflect Wordsworth’s ideas.
William Wordsworth redefined the meaning of poetry. Wordsworth said, “The principal object… was to choose, incidents and situations from common life, and to relate or describe them…in a selection of language really used by men; and at the same time, to throw over them a certain coloring of imagination, whereby ordinary things should be presented in an unusual way” (Lyrical Ballads 295). Wordsworth believed that poetry should be focused on
In concord to this, the Norton Anthology of English Literature characterises this poem as an inauguration of “[Wordsworth's] “myth of nature”: his presentation of the “growth” of his mind to maturity, a process unfolding through the interaction between the inner world of the mind and the shaping force of external nature” (Willliam Wordsworth 1770-1850, 271).” It is no wonder John Keats describes Wordsworth's poetry as “excessively self-centred” (“Egotistical Sublime”), thereby strengthening the argument of Wordsworth's focus on the individual.
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
The poem “The World is Too Much with Us” by William Wordsworth is, in my opinion, one of the best Romantic era poems, and it is a prime example of the values and writing styles that are expressed in Romantic era literature. One of the ways that the poem resembles other literary works of the Romantic period is that one of the main themes of the poem is nature, and nature is also a theme that was very prevalent in the literary works from the Romantic era. Furthermore, the poem by Wordsworth resembles other romantic literary works with the very distinctive non-formal writing style that set the Romantic period apart from the previous eras. Additionally, when the entirety of the poem is examined, including the theme, style and writing elements, it is obvious that the poem is a prime example of what the Romantic era literary works stood for and how they were written.
One of the many core tenets of the Romantic Period was the love and admiration of nature and its power. However, the way each romantic poet approached this idea varied extensively from their respective views and interpretations of nature. William Wordsworth, one of major pioneers of the Romantics, viewed nature from his own philosophical viewpoint as a formative influence superior to all. He believed in the education of man by Nature which was a prominent theme in his poems “Expostulation and Reply” and “The Tables Turned.” In “Expostulation and Reply” and “The Tables Turned,” Wordsworth’s use of natural imagery, metaphorical imagery, and criticism of conventional learning elevates the speaker’s message of learning from nature over academia.
(3) In addition to some other pieces of poetry, the Lyrical Ballads by William Wordsworth and Samuel Coleridge are known to have initiated the English Romantic Movement. Published originally in 1798, the initial plan for the book was for two sections, the first with two plays, but later it was rearranged with an anonymous print beginning with ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’.
The Romantic Period of literature took place roughly 200 years ago, but examples of Romanticism can still be seen today. The Romantic authors most certainly had an impact on many artists to come. Edgar Allan Poe is often a name that comes to mind when discussing Romanticism and especially Dark Romanticism and for good reason. Poe exemplifies Romanticism and many examples can be seen in his work, such as the House of Usher. Some traits of Romanticism include high drama, pathetic fallacy, and shocking climax, which are a few pillars of the Romanticism style. These pillars still hold up in modern day art, with many filmmakers, such as M. Night Shyamalan who also exemplifies traits such as high drama, pathetic fallacy, and black and white characters.
Coleridge sees the effect the writings of the Romantic Era has on those who are not writers which make the assistance of memory and dreams in the writings much more significant. Along with Coleridge’s significance to the Romantic Era, William Wordsworth also contributed to the movement of memory and dreams in the writings of the Romantic Era.
For most poets of the Romantic Age, nature played an invaluable role in their works. Man’s existence could be affected and explained by the presence and portrayal of the external nature surrounding it. William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge are no different from the other Romantic poets, and their works abound with references to nature and its correlation to humanity. Specifically, Wordsworth’s “The Ruined Cottage” and Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” share the theme of nature affecting man, although essential differences exist in their ideas regarding how it affects man. These two
If you read the through the poem, just the lines on the paper, you can clearly see that Wordsworth is upset at the contemporary society and how materialistic the human race has become. This is shown in the lines “Getting and spending, we lay waste to our powers” and “We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon”. Here he is speaking of how humans only want more materialistic thing,
What radicalized the world as they knew it during Romanticism—and everyday since— was the use of blank verse for topics as mundane and commonplace as nature and a widow. These seemingly normal topics are being discussed through blank verse, or iambic pentameter. The most elated form of writing, and speech, of that day was used for the commoners, thus balancing everyone in society. There was no longer a set higher class or lower class speech dialect—everyone was the same. This poetry demolished the upper class and elevated the common folks’ dignity by allowing them to speak and read in their stories through the words of the powerful. This dramatic reimagining of the ordinary is what connected society during the Romantic era—and is the fundamental basis of the spirit of
The English Romantic Age, which lasted from the late 18th century to the middle of the 19th century, was born of the ideas of William Wordsworth, British poet and author. Many critics of this era believe that Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s co-publication of a collection of poems called Lyrical Ballads initiated Romanticism, which featured themes of nature, individualism and emotion. Wordsworth’s works are representative of this era; they include ideas about personal experience and emotion, as well as the influence of nature on man. He also used and advocated simple language that any reader could comprehend. This radical form of literature influenced other poets to write in a similar manner, creating a movement that forever changed poetry.
The human tendency, described in the poem, is to foolishly “waste our powers” on material items rather than taking time to enjoy nature. Mankind is obsessed with “getting and spending” that we have become “out of tune” with the rest of the world to the point we do not anything of nature at all. The majority of the poem is a tribute to nature’s beauty so that others can experience it once industrialization consumes it. The past and memory are captured in Wordsworth’s poem through the experience of nature and its destruction from a first-person perspective. The concern of preserving the past to the Romantic poets it to pass on experiences of something beautiful that many do not take the time to see, and will soon cease to
Poetry is something that everyone views and interprets differently. From the rhythmic qualities, to the symbolism, no opinion is wrong. In the 18th century a differently style of poetry came about known as Romanticism, or the Romantic Era. Romanticism focuses on several characteristics- imagination, emotion, nature, personal life, symbolism, and individualism. “Kubla Khan” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge and “Tintern Abbey” both highlight these ideas as well as Ralph Waldo Emerson. With help from Emerson’s ideas, we can help understand Coleridge’s dark views of poetry. Ralph Waldo Emerson believed that poetry is the everlasting endeavor to express the spirit of the thing.
The Romantic Era was filled with artist and writers using nature as their muse in their writing and paintings, and William Wordsworth was the embodiment of this era. William Wordsworth’s work Lyrical Ballads, co-written with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, was the begin of the literary portion of the Romantic Era. Wordsworth developed a love for nature at an early age, which provided as Wordsworth’s muse for many of his poems like “The World is Too Much with Us” and “Lines Written in Early Spring”. Wordsworth’s love for nature is a part of the Romantic movement, which also goes hand with one of Wordsworth’s famous works The Prelude. It shows in The Prelude and Lyrical Ballads that Wordsworth had a gift of effectively communicating with his audience.
How does William Wordsworth's poetry fit into the literary tradition of Romanticism? Q. How does William Wordsworth's poetry fit into the literary tradition of Romanticism? A. Romantic poetry was an artistic movement of the late 18th and early 19th century. It dealt with nature, human imagination, childhood and the ability to recall emotional memories of both happiness and sadness.