Poetry/Romanticism

Classical	Renaissance	Romanticism	Victorian	Modernist	Contemporary	AtO

See also: Romanticism: Revolt of the Spirit

Romanticism refers to the poetry of the Romantic era, which emerged in the late 18th century and lasted until the mid-19th century.

General Characteristics

Some general characteristics of Romantic poetry include: Emphasis on emotion and imagination: Romantic poets placed a strong emphasis on emotion and the imagination, often valuing these over reason and logic. Love of nature: Many Romantic poets celebrated the beauty and power of nature, often using it as a source of inspiration or a symbol of the divine. Interest in the supernatural and the mysterious: Romantic poets were fascinated by the supernatural and the mysterious, often exploring these themes in their work. Individualism and personal experience: Romantic poets often focused on the individual experience rather than the collective or universal, often drawing on their own personal experiences and emotions. Celebration of the common people: Many Romantic poets celebrated the lives and struggles of ordinary people, often highlighting the injustices and inequalities of their time. Use of symbolism and metaphor: Romantic poets often used symbolic and metaphorical language to represent complex ideas or emotions. Experimentation with form and language: Romantic poets often experimented with new forms of poetry, such as the lyric, the ballad, and free verse, and often used unconventional language and syntax to create new effects. These characteristics are not exhaustive, and there is considerable variety within Romantic poetry. However, they provide a general sense of the key features of the genre.

William Blake
From Songs of Innocence: “Introduction” “The Lamb” “The Chimney Sweeper” “The Blossom” “The Divine Image”	From Songs of Experience: “Introduction” “Earth’s Answer” “The Tyger” “The Chimney Sweeper” “The Sick Rose” “The Human Abstract” “London”
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
“The Cry of the Children” “How do I love thee?”
George Gordon, Lord Byron
“Darkness” “She Walks in Beauty” “So We’ll No More Go A-Roving” “There is a pleasure in the pathless woods”
Mary Elizabeth Coleridge
“We Never Said Farewell”
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
“Kubla Khan” “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” “Christabel”
Emily Dickinson
“Above Oblivion’s Tide”
John Keats
“On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer” “When I have fears that I may cease to be” “The Eve of Saint Agnes” “La Belle Dame Sans Merci” “Ode to a Nightingale” “Ode on a Grecian Urn” “To Autumn”
Edgar Allan Poe
“Alone” “A Dream Within a Dream” “Ulalume”
Percy Bysshe Shelley
“Good-Night” “Ozymandias” “Ode to the West Wind” “To a Sky-Lark”
William Wordsworth
“Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey” “I wandered lonely as a cloud” “I travelled among unknown men” “The World Is too Much with Us”