1 Subject: ENGLISH Class: B.A. Part 1 English Hons., Paper-1, Group B Topic: Romantic Poets Lecture No: 12 By: Prof. Sunita Sinha Head, Department of English Women’s College Samastipur L.N.M.U., Darbhanga Email: [email protected] Website: www.sunitasinha.com Mob No: 9934917117 ROMANTIC POETS Romanticism was a poetic movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries that turned towards Nature and the interior world of feeling, in contrast to the mannered formalism and disciplined scientific inquiry of the Neo-classical Age that preceded it. William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley, William Blake, and Lord Byron were the chief Romantic poets who produced work that expressed spontaneous feelings, found parallels to their own emotional lives in the natural world, and celebrated creativity rather than logic. Critics normally divide the Romantic poets into two generations; the first generation includes Wordsworth and Coleridge, while the second includes Byron, Shelley and Keats, as indicated below. 2 English Romantic Poets First Generation of Romantics Second Generation of Romantics William Wordsworth Percy Bysshe Shelley S.T. Coleridge Lord Byron John Keats First Generation Romantic Poets: WILLIAM WORDSWORTH (1770-1850) William Wordsworth was at once the oldest, the greatest, and the most long-lived among the romantic poets. Written in 1798, Wordsworth’s Lyrical Ballads is considered to be the ‘manifesto of English Romanticism’, as Eliot’s essay on Tradition and Individual Talent is considered to be a ‘manifesto of English Classicism’. The publication of the Lyrical Ballads marks the beginning of the romantic period in English literature. It was a combined work produced together by Wordsworth and Coleridge. Wordsworth was Britain's poet laureate from 1843 until his death from pleurisy on 23 April 1850. Important Works Wordsworth's magnum opus is generally considered to be The Prelude, a semi- autobiographical poem of his early years that he revised and expanded a number of times. The Prelude, an autobiographical poem is the spiritual record of his mind, honestly recording its own intimate experiences, and endowed with a rare capacity for making the record intelligible. It is an idealized version of his spiritual growth in which he escapes into the higher reality of his imagination. In 1807, Wordsworth published Poems, in Two Volumes, including "Ode: Intimations of Immortality 3 from Recollections of Early Childhood". In Immortality ode, he recorded a mystical intuition of a life before birth which can be recovered in a few fortunate moments in the presence of nature. Wordsworth also wrote some of the finest sonnets in which he wanted to awaken England from lethargy, to condemn Napoleon and to record many of his own moods Wordsworth also wrote some famous sonnets. Wordsworth’s sonnets have been termed by Frances Meyers as ‘Sugared Sonnets.’ He wrote the sonnets to arouse England to a sense of her responsibility in international affairs, and to express memorable moment in his own experience. Wordsworth’s Poetry Language of Poetry is the language of Common People During the Neo-classical Age, the language of poetry was decorated and figurative. Wordsworth considered the elevated language used by neo-classical poets, pompous and artificial. Consequently, the language Wordsworth advocated was the one used in everyday speech, simple and clear, which would be more easily understood on a universal scale. So, Wordsworth gave preference to the language of everyday speech in poetry rather than follow the ‘poetic diction’ of the Neo-classical poets. For Wordsworth, poetry, which should be written in “the real language of men,” is nevertheless “the spontaneous overflow of feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.” To Wordsworth, the language of poetry is the language of common people. Incidents and Situations from Humble and Rustic Life Wordsworth has chosen the incidents and situations from humble and rustic life. He also asserts to adopt the language of the people in rural life. The common people hourly communicate with the best objects from which the best part of language is originally derived. Wordsworth thinks that people in rural life convey their feelings and notions through simple and unelaborated expressions. These people are less under the influence of social vanity than the people live in cities. Such a simple and 4 common language is permanent and philosophical. It is greater than the language generally employed by poets. Hence, Wordsworth drew poetic inspiration from incidents and episodes taken from everyday life, from the common country people who lived in close contact to nature whose observation brought solace and consolation to Wordsworth. Emphasis on ‘Imagination’ rather than on Wit Wordsworth puts much emphasis on ‘Imagination’ in contrast to the neoclassical poets who put much emphasis on ‘Wit’. He imagination so that the common things could be made to look strange and beautiful through the play of imagination. In his famous “Intimation Ode", he says that as a child he felt that "the earth, and every common sight" seemed "apparelled in celestial light". Worshipper of Nature Wordsworth is especially regarded as a poet of nature. In most of the poems of Wordsworth nature is constructed as both a healing entity and a teacher or moral guardian. Nature is considered in his poems as a living personality. He is a true worshipper of nature: nature's devotee or high priest. The critic Cazamian says, "to Wordsworth, nature appears is a formative influence superior to any other, the educator of senses or mind alike, the shower in our hearts of the deep laden seeds of our feelings and beliefs". Subjectivity Subjectivity is the key note of Wordsworth’s poetry. He expresses his personal thoughts, feelings through his poems. In “Ode: Intimation of Immortality” the poet expresses his own/personal feelings. Here he says that he can't see the celestial light anymore which he used to see in his childhood. He says, "It is not now as it hath been of yore; -Turn wheresoever I may, by night or day, the things which I have seen I now can see on more." 5 Pantheism and Mysticism Pantheism and mysticism are almost interrelated factors in the Nature poetry of the Romantic period. Wordsworth conceives of a spiritual power running through all- natural objects- the " presence that disturbs me with the low of elevated thoughts" whose dwelling is the light of setting suns, the rolling ocean. the living air, the blue sky, and the mind of man (“Tintern Abbey”) Humanism The romantic poets had sincere love for man or rather the spirit of man. Wordsworth had a superabundant enthusiasm for humanity. He was deeply interested in the simple village folk and the peasant who live in contact with nature. Wordsworth showed admiration for the ideals that inspired the French Revolution. Emphasis in individual freedom is another semantic characteristic. Wordsworth laments for the loss of power, freedom and virtue of human soul. Lyricism Wordsworth is famous for simple fiction, bereft of artificialities and falsity of emotion. In the “Ode: Intimation of Immortality”, we see his lyricism. He writes, "Earth fills her lap with pleasures of her own: Yearnings she hath in her own natural kind, And, even, with something of a Mother's mind, And, on unworthy aim, The homely Nurse doth all she can To make her Foster-child, her Innate Man, Forget the glories he hath known, And that imperial palace whence he came." In the conclusion, it can be said that Wordsworth was a protagonist in the Romantic Movement which was at once a revolt and a revival. He shows the positive aspects of Romanticism with its emphasis on imagination, feeling, emotion, human dignity and significance of Nature. Thus, Wordsworth stands apart as the pioneer of Romantic movement by his great contribution in English literature. 6 SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE (1772 –1834) Samuel Taylor Coleridge happens to possess the most vigorous mind amongst the English Romantics. During the 19th century he produced some of the most stirring and eloquent verse that no other poets of his generation could able to replicate. His poetry is, indeed, the supreme embodiment of all that is purest and the most ethereal in romantic spirit. One of England’s many magnificent gifts to English literature, this rather unproductive poet wrote poems that have become the priceless assets of romantic literature. Important works He wrote the much acclaimed poems The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla Khan, as well as the major prose work Biographia Literaria. His critical work, especially on William Shakespeare, was highly influential, and he helped introduce German idealist philosophy to English-speaking culture. Coleridge’s Poetry Supernaturalism Coleridge’s contribution to romantic poetry reached its apex through his treatment of the supernatural. He is a master poet of the supernatural. He attempts to draw the supernatural in a convincing way, where the reader is compelled to take it for real or natural by willingly suspending disbeliefs. This environment has been created most convincingly in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Element of Mystery Coleridge’s poetry is noted mostly for its elements of mystery. Coleridge displays painstaking mastery in creating some characters and events that evoke a sense of curiosity or suspense because of an unknown, obscure or enigmatic quality. In his seminal work The Ancient Mariner, Coleridge creates a mysterious character by portraying him as a man of glittering eyes and long grey beard. 7 Vivid & Convincing Imagery Coleridge has the most imaginative mind amongst the romantic poets. Coleridge is essentially good at portraying vivid imagery. He has the power to transport the audience in his realm of imagination by convincing the reader to accept no-existent as real. And this is the very quality which enables Coleridge to incorporate convincing/effective elements of mystery.