The Romantic Period

1. The Romantic Period • Introduction • Romantic Poets • William Wordsworth • S.T. Coleridge • G.G. Byron • P.B. Shelley • John Keats

3. Introduction • Romanticism as a literary movement came into being in England early in the latter half of the 18th century. • English Romanticism begins in 1798 with the publication of Wordsworth and Coleridge’s The Lyrical Ballads and ends in 1832 with Walter Scott’s death. • The eighteenth century was distinctively an age of prose. The Age of Wordsworth—like the Age of Shakespeare—was decidedly an age of poetry.

4. English Romanticism is a revolt of the English imagination against the neoclassical reason. The French Revolution of 1789-1794 and the English Industrial Revolution exert great influence on English Romanticism. The romanticists express a negative attitude towards the existing social or political conditions. • They place the individual at the center of art, as can be seen from Lord Byron’s Byronic Hero. The key words of English Romanticism are nature and imagination.English Romantic tend to be nationalistic, defending the greatest English writers. They argue that poetry should be free from all rules.

5. Lake poets • William Wordsworth, Samuel Coleridge and Robert Southey were known as Lake Poets because they lived and knew one another in the last few years of the 18th century in the district of the great lakes in Northwestern England. They were friends and traversed the same path in politics and poetry. • The former two published The Lyrical Ballads together in 1798, while all three of them had radical inclinations in their youth but later turned conservative and received pensions and poet laureateships from the aristocracy.

6. Other greatest Romantic poets are: George Gordon Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley and John Keats. • Karl Marx likes Byron and Shelley very much. MU Dan（穆旦/查良铮），a renowned Chinese poet and translator , did splendid work to popularize Byron and Shelley in China. • Years ago, Wordsworth and Coleridge were labeled “negative/passive romantic poets” while Byron and Shelley were hailed as “positive/active (revolutionary) Romantic poets”. Wordsworth and Coleridge’s literary achievements were underestimated for a long time.

7. Passive and Active / Revolutionary Romantic Poets • Romanticists were discontent with and opposed to the development of capitalism. They split into two groups. • Some Romantic writers reflected the thinking of those classes which had been ruined by the bourgeoisie called Passive Romantic poets, represented by Wordsworth, Coleridge and Southey. • Others expressed the aspiration of the labouring classes called Active or RevolutionaryRomantic poets, represented by Byron and Shelley and Keats.

8. English fiction gropes/explores its way amidst the overwhelming Romantic poetry. It revives its popularity in the hands of Jane Austen & Walter Scott. Walter Scott is noted for his historical novel based on Scottish history and legends. He exerted great influence on European literature of his time. Jane Austen is the first and foremost English women novelist. Following the neoclassical tradition, she is unsurpassed in the description of uneventful /common everyday life.

9. Characteristics of Romanticism • Romanticism is a literary trend prevailing in England during the period 1798-1832. Coming along with the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution, the English Romanticism, compared with the neo-classicism which emphasized what men have in common, focuses mainly on the special qualities of individual’s mind. So its features run in contrary with the Neoclassism: • Firstly, the Romanticism tended to probe into the inner world of the human spirit rather narrate daily happenings of the human world; • Secondly, they liked to employ rural scenery, legendary and mythological resources and stories of ancient times to create their artistic reality, and favored figures from the country and Orientals which they took to be part of the innocent and pure Nature they sought for;

10. Thirdly, the Romantic Age was one of poetry, producing a number of great poets such as Wordsworth, Coleridge, Shelley, Byron and Keats. Thus, imagination was emphasized as the greatest resource of literary creation, and freedom from all rules became the rule of poetical writing. • Finally, the focus of the everyday life of human beings in the Age brought about the flourishing of familiar essay, e.g. those written by Charles Lamb, and the fiction about family life such as in the novels written by Jane Austen; and its romantic longings led to the popularity of Gothic fiction with violence, horror and the supernatural, and the historical novels of Sir Walter Scott.

11. William Wordsworth(1770-1850)  All good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings. ---William Wordsworth

12. Biographical Introduction • William Wordsworth, the representative poet of the early romanticism, was born on 7 April 1770 in a lawyer’s family in Cockermouth. • His father John was estate agent to Sir James ,who owned the house. • The garden at the back, with the River Derwent flowing past, was a place of magic and adventure for the young William. • William has an elder brother Richard, a younger sister Dorothy and two younger brothers John and Christopher.

13. Cockermouth on the River Derwent, in the heart of the Lake District

14. His childhood was spent largely in Cockermouth and Penrith, his mother's hometown. William and Dorothy and his future wife Mary attended infant school in Penrith between 1776 and 1777. • William's mother died when he was 8. At the age of 13 his father died, The orphan was taken in charge by relatives who sent him to school at Hawkshead in the beautiful lake district in Northwestern England .Here, the unroofed school of nature attracted him more than the classroom, and he learned more eagerly from flowers and hills and stars than from his books. So the child early cherished a love of nature, which he later expressed in his poetry.

15. He then went to St John's College of Cambridge, where he was not a notable student, but inevitably matured in thought and sophistication. • From 1779 until 1787 William attended the Grammar school in Hawkshead with his brothers. At Hawkshead William thrived - receiving encouragement from the headmaster to read and write poetry. During these years he made many visits to the countryside, gaining inspiration as the powers of nature exercised their influence.

18. In 1795 he received a bequest and stayed in a cottage in Dorset, where they met Coleridge and Southey. In the years ahead a close relationship developed between William, Dorothy and Coleridge. Then William and Coleridge undertook a tour to the Lake District, devoting their time to writing poetry. By 1830,he was widely recognized for his poetry talent. • He became a Tory and upheld the reactionary policy of the British government. In 1843,he was made Poet Laureate. • In 1850 William caught a cold on a country walk, and he died on 23 April, 80 years after his birth. He and Mary who died 9 years later have a simple tombstone in the churchyard in Grasmere, now one of the most visited literary shrines 圣地 in the world. William Wordsworth wrote some 70,000 lines of verse, 40,000 lines more than any other poet.

19. Wordsworth is buried with his family in Grasmere格拉斯米尔churchyard.

20. Wordsworth House and the Wordsworth Memorial

21. Major Works • An Evening Walk (1793) • Lyrical Ballads (1798) • Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey 《丁登寺杂咏》（1798） • Lucy Poems 组诗《露茜》（1799） • The Solitary Reaper 《孤独的收割女》（1805） • Ode: Intimations of Immortality《不朽颂》（1807） • Ode to Duty (1807) • The Excursion (1814) • The Prelude,自传体长诗《序曲》(1850)等。

22. Wordsworth’s greatest contribution to English literature is his poems and his Preface to The Lyrical Ballads. Though The Lyrical Ballads is known as the collaborated work of Wordsworth and Coleridge, all the poems but one (The Rime of The Ancient Mariner) are written by Wordsworth. Most of his most quoted poem are taken from this collection.

23. Preface to Lyrical Ballads • Wordsworth’s Preface (1800) to Lyrical Ballads is the manifesto of English Romanticism. It is “one of the revolutionary works of criticism, helping usher in the Romantic Age in literature” (Dutton, 1984:50). • He is primarily concerned to justify the kinds of his poems which he had contributed to Lyrical Ballads.

24. What Wordsworth says in the Preface to the “LyricalBallads” • All good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feeling. • Poetry takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility. • The function of poetry lies in its power to give an unexpected splendour to “incidents and situations from common life”. • Wordsworth “endeavoured to bring (his) language near to the real language of men”, “by fitting to metrical arrangement a selection of the real language of men”.

25. She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways by William Wordsworth Listen

26. Wordsworth wrote a number of poems about someone called Lucy. It seems likely that Lucy is an entirely imaginative creation and is not based on a real person, although Coleridge came to the conclusion that she may be linked with Dorothy. He wrote, 'Most probably in some gloomier moment he fancied the moment in which his sister might die.' • The story-line is strikingly simple. Lucy lives an isolated life, her beauty largely unnoticed. She dies. Her death is seen through the eyes of the one person who appears to have loved her, although who he is remains a mystery. Much of Wordsworth's poetry explores what he calls the 'essential passions of the heart'; it is concerned with love and emotion, but not wit physical or sexual passion. His description of Lucy, for instance, implies a fragility, purity and innocence - it is even unclear whether, as a 'Maid', she is an adult. • Lucy has more in common with nature than with human life. She is represented in terms of flowers - 'roses‘ and 'violet' . Like a wild flower, which blooms where no-one can see it, her life is obscure and fleeting.Typical of many characters in Wordsworth's poetry, Lucy has a solitary existence, with little human contact. The image of the star emphasizes this, as nothing can be more solitary than one star in the whole sky.

27. First version • My hope was one, from cities far,Nursed on a lonesome hearth;Her lips were red as roses are,Her hair a woodbine wreath.She lived among the untrodden ways Beside the springs of Dove, A maid whom there were none to praise;And very few to love;A violet by a mossy stone Half hidden from the eye! Fair as a star, when only one Is shining in the sky!And she was graceful as the brromThat flowers by Carron's side;But slow distemper checked her bloomAnd on the Heath she died.Long time before her head lay low Dead to the world was she: But now she'sin her grave, and Oh!The difference to me!

28. Second version • She dwelt among the untrodden ways Beside the springs of Dove, A Maid whom there were none to praise And very few to love.A Violet by a mossy stone Half-hidden from the Eye! ---Fair, as a star, when only one Is shining in the sky!She lived unknown, and few could know When Lucy ceased to be; But she is in her Grave, and, Oh! The difference to me!

29. She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways never be stepped on live She dwelt among the untrodden ways 她住在人迹罕至的地方， 泉 water Beside the springs of Dove, 就在多佛小溪旁，

30. She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways A Maid whom there were none to praise 无人曾将这少女称赞， And very few to love; 也没几人把她放在心上。

31. She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways A violet by a mossy stone 青苔石旁紫罗兰， Half hidden from the eye! 怀抱苔石半遮面！

32. A violet can be a symbol of innocence, modesty or mourning. It has stood for modesty and humility in that it grows so close to the ground and its blooms can be found under the leaves. Like those "blooms" of Lucy, the blooms of the violet cannot be seen easily. One must look closely to discover the true beauty. • In Greek mythology, Zeus fell in love with a nymph named Io, who spent her days in fields of violets. Zeus turned her into a white heifer to protect her from his wife but left her to roam around in violets. Greeks revered the violets.

33. In the Middle Ages, it became a symbol of faithfulness and crowns of violet were made for the winners of courtly poetry contests. And still it is said that violets were white until Mary watched her only son suffer on the cross, then they turned purple in mourning. The poem is also one of mourning and demonstration of Lucy's faithfulness and modesty. A violet is sometimes used in Chinese lore to signify harmony of the universe. That could certainly be Wordsworth's intent here as well.

34. She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways —Fair as a star, when only one —她美丽的像一棵孤星 Is shining in the sky. 独自个儿在夜空中闪现。

35. She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways She lived unknown, and few could know 她活着，无人知晓， When Lucy ceased to be; died 她死了，没几人知道；

36. She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways But she is in her grave, and, oh, 但她现在孤坟之中， The difference to me! 对我，就不同了! （李正栓译）

37. 她住在人迹罕至的地方---威廉•华兹华斯吕志鲁译她住在人迹罕至的地方---威廉•华兹华斯吕志鲁译 她住在人迹罕至的地方, 圣洁的小溪在身边流淌, 没有谁把这少女赞颂, 少有人为她挂肚牵肠。 她是紫罗兰身影半露, 生苔的墓碑将她遮挡; 美丽如一颗孤星, 在夜空里闪闪发亮。 没有谁了解她曾活在世上, 少有人知道她何时夭亡; 躺在墓中的露西啊, 唯有我与别人都不一样。

38. abab, cdcd, efef The rhyme scheme is ________________. • There are 2 images in the poem. One is the __________________, the other_________________________. • Lucy’s beauty is ________ to the world. • Lucy’s personality is cherished by ____. • A. many B. few half-hidden violet one star shining in the sky unknown

39. Analysis of the poem • This poem is about one girl with two different sides. The one of the violet is the side that the outside world see her as if they did not always turn their heads. The other is a star which seems to exist for the writer to give the girl out of place or unexpected complements such as "fair" and "shinning." On lines seven and eight it is indicated that she is the only one in in her lover's eyes with no rivals. • The two symbols seem to balance themselves out. The violet which gives a very modest, shy feeling through the use of words such as "half hidden" and "unknown." At the same time in her lover's eyes she is the single star, dominating his world, not haughtily as the sun but more sweet and modest, like a star. At the end of the poem it is discovered that the woman had passed away but because the world never takes the time to notice her, its life is not affected. There is a significant shift right before the last line of the poem. It is here that emotion is first expressed by the writer. The long "oh" carries all of the emotion of the poem, only at this point the emotion is grief.

40. Theme • In these short stanzas, the poet tells of his admiration and singular devotion to Lucy and his utter despair over her death. Rhetoric Devices Simile Metaphor Personification Euphemism Assonance Contrast Repetition

41. 江 城 子.十年生死两茫茫——苏东坡 • 江 城 子 ——苏东坡 十年生死两茫茫，不思量，自难忘。 千里孤坟，无处话凄凉。 纵使相逢应不识，尘满面，鬓如霜。 夜来幽梦忽还乡，小轩窗，正梳妆。 相顾无言，惟有泪千行。 料得年年肠断处，明月夜，短松冈。

42. 这首词是宋熙宁八年(公元1075年)所作，苏东坡做了一个遇见亡妻的梦，醒来感慨系之，写这首词，来表达对妻子王弗的怀念。此词开了悼亡词之先河，被行家视作悼亡词中绝唱。这首词是宋熙宁八年(公元1075年)所作，苏东坡做了一个遇见亡妻的梦，醒来感慨系之，写这首词，来表达对妻子王弗的怀念。此词开了悼亡词之先河，被行家视作悼亡词中绝唱。 • 在这首小词中，读不到一句令人感觉“矫情”之语，词语的运用简练凝重。每一个音节的连接都有冷涩凝绝之感，犹如声声咽泣，压抑沉重的气氛就在这“幽咽泉流”中弥散开来，让人艰与呼吸，又难以逃避。 • 苏东坡用了十年都舍弃不下的，是那种相濡以沫的亲情。他受不了的不是没有了轰轰烈烈的爱情，而是失去了伴侣后孤单相吊的寂寞。“纵使相逢应不识，尘满面，鬓如霜”在梦里能够看见的，也全是逝去亲人往日生活里的琐碎片断。因为在那些琐碎里，凝结着化不去的亲情。 在红尘中爱的最高境界是什么？执子之手是一种境界，相濡以沫是一种境界，生死相许也是一种境界。在这世上有一种最为凝重、最为浑厚的爱叫相依为命。那是天长日久的渗透，是一种融入了彼此之间生命中的温暖。

43. Major Features of Wordsworth’s Poetry • A constant theme of Wordsworth's poetry was the growth of the human spirit through the natural environment; • He skillfully combined natural description with expressions of inward states of mind. • His poems are characterized by sympathy with the poor, simple peasants, and a passionate love of nature.

44. They have been much admired for their perfect simplicity, vivid imagery, directness of language, and unadorned beauty. His deliberate simplicity and refusal to decorate the truth of experience produced a kind of pure and profound poetry that no other poet has ever equaled. "Poetry is the breath and finer spirit of all knowledge; it is the impassioned expression which is in the countenance被重视， 受欢迎 ofall Science." (from Lyrical Ballads, 2nd ed., 1800) • Because of his wonderful description of nature, he is often called the "Nature Poet".

45. The art of Wordsworth’s poetry • His theory, as stated in his “Preface” to the second edition of the “Lyrical Ballads,” serves as a manifesto of Romanticism. The poet takes the direct experience of the senses as the source of poetic truth as poetry comes from the “emotion recollected in tranquility.” The significance of the “Preface” also presents itself in the poet’s advocation of the writing of the common people in ordinary language; • His practice is what his theory implies, for the joys and sorrows of the common people are his themes, in many of his poems such as the “Lucy poems”;

46. Natural scenery with its beauty and mystery acts also as one of his favorite themes and the sympathy out of the poet’s nature towards the poor in rural places becomes part of his concern; • as one of the leading Romantic poets, the inner workings of individual’s mind remains what Wordsworth likes to reveal in his depiction of natural scenery, and the spiritual growth of his own makes his masterpiece “The Prelude”. • the seemingly simplicity of the poet both in diction and description is immersed in a profound and sympathetic longing for a better world.

47. Comments • Wordsworth is the representative poet of English romanticism. • Wordsworth’s poetry is distinguished by the simplicity and purity of his language. • Wordsworth’s theory on versification has exerted profound influence on later poets. (imaginative recreation) • He is the leading figure of the English romantic poetry, the focal poetic voice of the period. His is a voice of searchingly comprehensive humanity and one that inspires his audience to see the world freshly, sympathetically and naturally. • The most important contribution he has made is that he has not only started the modern poetry, the poetry of the growing inner self, but also changed the course of English poetry by using ordinary speech of the language and by advocating a return to nature.

48. 威廉·华兹华斯（1770～1850） • 英国诗人，与柯尔律治、骚塞同被称为"湖畔派"诗人。华兹华斯生于律师之家，少孤，就学于剑桥大学，1790年和1791年两次赴法。当时正是法国大革命的年代，年轻的华兹华斯对革命深表同情与向往。回国后不久，局势剧变，华兹华斯对法国大革命的态度渐趋保守，最后，终于成为安享"桂冠诗人"称号的保守派。华兹华斯的诗以描写自然风光、田园景色、乡民村姑、少男少女闻名于世。文笔朴素清新，自然流畅，一反新古典主义平板、典雅的风格，开创了新鲜活泼的浪漫主义诗风。1798年华兹华斯与柯尔律治共同发表的《抒情歌谣集》宣告了浪漫主义新诗的诞生。华兹华斯在1800年《抒情歌谣集》第二版的序言中详细阐述了浪漫主义新诗的理论，主张以平民的语言抒写平民的事物、思想与感情，被誉为浪漫主义诗歌的宣言。此后，华兹华斯的诗歌在深度与广度方面得到进一步的发展，在描写自然风光、平民事物之中寓有深意，寄托着自我反思和人生探索的哲理思维。完成于1805年、发表于1850年的长诗《序曲》则是他最具有代表性的作品。华兹华斯诗才最旺盛的时期是1797至1807年的10年。其后佳作不多，到1843年被任命为"桂冠诗人"时已经没有什么作品了。然而纵观他的一生，其诗歌成就是突出的，不愧为继莎士比亚、弥尔顿之后的一代大家。

49. Homework: “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” (1807) • 1.What does the poem mainly write about? • 2.This poem contains four six-lines stanzas. What kind of meter is it applied in these stanzas? • 3.What is the rime scheme in each stanza?

50. P. B. SHELLEY (1792-1822) Poetry is the record of the best and happiest moments of the happiest and best minds. ---Percy Bysshe Shelley