Defining Romanticism
Romanticism
• “Began” with the publication of Lyrical
Ballads by William Wordsworth and
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, 1798
• Wordsworth defined features of
romanticism in his preface to the Lyrical
Ballads
• Dominated by William Wordsworth,
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Lord Byron*,
Percy Bysshe Shelley*, and John Keats*
What Does “Romantic” Mean?
The term “romantic” signifies:
•
A fascination with youth and innocence
•
A questioning of authority and tradition in
order to imagine better ways to live; idealism
•
A demanded people acquire an awareness of
change and find ways to adapt to it.
Neoclassicism: 1660-1798
• Values reason & common
sense
• Values tradition and order
• Addresses objective
social values (that
concerned society as a
whole)
• Respects established
human institutions of
church & state
• Style: witty and satirical
• Style: imitated classical
forms of Greek and Rome
Romanticism: 1798-1832
• Emphasizes the importance
of an individual’s
experience
• Values imagination &
emotion
• Turns to nature, in all its
creative & destructive
forces, for inspiration
• Celebrates everyday life
and the commonplace
• Explores the mysterious,
supernatural & the exotic
• Style: lyrical, natural
speech patterns,
expressive
“The World is Too Much With Us” by William Wordsworth
Emphasizes the importance of an
individual’s experience
Values imagination & emotion
Turns to nature, in all its creative &
destructive forces, for inspiration
Celebrates everyday life and the
commonplace
Explores the mysterious, supernatural
& the exotic
Style: lyrical, natural speech patterns,
expressive
Written Response
What is universal message (theme) in
Wordsworth’s poem “The World is Too Much
With Us”?
Use specific details from the poem to
support your analysis.
William Blake
Transitional Visionary
William Blake
 Believed that the poet was a bard---an inspired
revealer and teacher.
 Wrote two books of illuminated poems: Songs of
Innocence (1789) and Songs of Experience (1794)
 Written to show “the two contrary states of the
human soul”
Elements of Poetry
The Basics
3 Myths about Poetry
MYTH #1: The only way to enjoy a poem is
to find the meaning.
MYTH #2: The meaning is “hidden” in the
poem.
MYTH #3: The meaning is found by
deciphering each word, image, analogy as a
symbol.
Forms of Poetry Analysis
•
•
•
•
•
•
Theme
Form and Structure
Sound
Rhythmic Patterns (meter)
Use of Figurative Language
Impact on the Reader
Form and Structure
• Form refers to the way a poem is arranged,
including its line length, placement, and
grouping.
– Fixed Form
• Has a conventional stanza pattern OR a defined
rhyme scheme
– Irregular Form
• Not defined by any traditional poetic structure
Romantic poets experimented with both fixed
and irregular poetic form.
• Types of poems: Lyric, narrative, descriptive
Sound Devices
• Types:
alliteration,
consonance,
assonance,
onomatopoeia
• Purpose: Unify
stanzas, create
mood, delight
the ear
From Kubla Khan
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.
So twice five miles of fertile ground
With walls and towers were girdled round;
And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,
Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree;
And here were forests ancient as the hills,
Enfolding sunny spots of greenery…
Rhythmic Patterns
• Rhyme – repetition of similar sounds
• Meter – the rhythmic pattern repeated
throughout the poem
– Measured in feet, type and number per line
– Creates a musical quality
Figurative Language
• Language beyond the literal
• Common types:
– Metaphor
– Simile
– Apostrophe (direct address to an object,
quality, or absent person)
– Personification
– Symbol
Impact on Reader
• Tone
• Imagery
– Poets use imagery to create a sensory
experience for the reader.
• Connotation vs. Denotation