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Guide to Romantic Poetry

Guide to Romantic Poetry. Where we’re coming from: Neoclassical Period. Neoclassical Period “New Classical” Imitated the Greeks and Romans Architecture Literature Education Thought man was superior to nature (so should control it). Features of Neoclassical Period. Formal, public verse

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Guide to Romantic Poetry

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  1. Guide to Romantic Poetry

  2. Where we’re coming from: Neoclassical Period • Neoclassical Period • “New Classical” • Imitated the Greeks and Romans • Architecture • Literature • Education • Thought man was superior to nature (so should control it)

  3. Features of Neoclassical Period • Formal, public verse • Emphasis on REASON and intellect • Built on standards/traditions • Belief in class system and reliance on aristocracy • Believed in moderation and self-restraint • Focused on technology/industry

  4. Romantic Poetry is not about Romantic Love! • Love of NATURE in all of its aspects • Concern and sympathy for the common people • Interest in the world of imagination (especially dreams and the supernatural) • Interest in childhood

  5. Romantic Poetry is not about Romantic Love! • Involvement with the lonely and melancholic • Especially in contemplation of eventual death • Interest in past legends (esp. local) • Rebellion against tyrannical control • Rebels against industry (esp. factories) • Focus on FEELINGS, not INTELLECT.

  6. Neoclassical or Romantic? • Man controlling nature • Emphasis on order, design • Probably belongs to a member of the upper class • Influence from Greek/Roman architecture/design

  7. Neoclassical or Romantic? • Wild/Overgrown • Nature is its own force (not controlled by man) • Spontaneous • Looks more Medieval (b/c it’s untamed) • Dark/Emotional

  8. Which do you prefer?

  9. Romantic Poetry • Centers on nature • Uses nature as a vessel through which to express emotions • Explores common people • Fights industry or civilization

  10. Romantic Poetry Settings • Usually in Nature (or observing nature) • Sometimes in “ruins”– where nature has reclaimed something that used to be part of civilization • Tintern Abbey • Sometimes in cities, but longing to get away (many of Blake’s poems)

  11. Samuel Taylor Coleridge • Born October 21, 1772 – • Ottery St. Mary, Southwestern England • Died July 25, 1834 – London • One of the founders of Romanticism (with William Wordsworth) • Major influence on American Transcendentalism

  12. Samuel Taylor Coleridge • Famous for his poems “Kubla Khan”, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”, and “Christabel” • Took laudanum (pure opium + alcohol + sugar) in order to cure childhood sicknesses • Eventually became an opium addict, which influenced his work

  13. “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” • First published in 1798 in “Lyrical Ballads” (collection by both Coleridge and Wordsworth) • Early example of modernism – goes against literary norms • Rhyme scheme borrowed from old English ballads like “Sir Patrick Spens” – ABCB, alternating between iambic tetrameter (4 feet per line) and iambic trimeter (3 feet per line)

  14. “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” • Sin and redemption/forgiveness • Do the crime, do the time? • Allegory of Jesus • Does it represent Jesus saving mankind? • Conservation/Respect for Nature • Self-Portrait of Coleridge • Coleridge was a lonely man – mariner’s isolation could be a symbol for poet’s feelings

  15. “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” • Symbols • Sun/Moon – God • Ancient Mariner – Adam/Sinner • Literary Devices • Internal Rhyme • Inversion • Enjambment • Anaphora • irony

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