ROMANTICISM

Romanticism is a movement of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that marked a reaction in philosophy, art, religion, politics and literature.
It is an emotional movement above all, an expression of feelings, most of the times, the individual experience of the artist, who narrates his sorrow or passions intimately. The romantic, pretends reproducing for us his own thoughts, which have a content of drama, so we can say that there is a literary and philosophical theory that tends to see the individual at the centre of all life, and it places the individual at the centre of art, making literature valuable as an expression of feelings and particular attitudes.The Romantic Theory of Poetry

The romantic poets are more sensitive with a great knowledge of human nature because in nature they seek to find the Absolute and the Ideal, they see in nature a revelation of Truth, and the meaning of the universe, which is out of reach of other men. The Romantic Theory of Poetry
Also we can find more romantic characteristics, as for example, the sensibility expressed by the author who puts in words his own spiritual experiences, the primitivism, love of nature, the simpathetic interest in the past, especially the medieval and a renewed interest in Spencer Shakespeare and Milton, also, there is an interest in ancient Celtic and Scandinavian mythology. Other important features could be the mysticism, the individualism, the romanticism criticism, the reaction against whatever related to neo-classicism and the nationalism which was inspired by Rosseau; this movement focuses on the development of customs and traditions, and the permanence of folklore. English literature. The Romantic Period
This yearning of freedom is inspired above all by the French Revolution, and it is present in most of the romantic poets who glorify this idea making it an utopia. English literature. The Romantic Period

 

In this period we find six important poets like Wordsworth, Coleridge, Blake, de Quincey, Keats and Shelley.
Wordsworth and Coleridge wrote “Lyrical Ballads”; the first one considers that nature and folklore build the romantic poetry while Coleridge thinks that the imagination is an important factor for poetry. But we can find illustrated ideas in both poets, and those ideas say that poetry should express the personal emotion and imagination with no filter. Also they treat the concept of Sublime , found in nature. The Romantic Theory of Poetry

Another poet is W. Blake who claimed the supremacy of the imagination over the rationalism and materialism. He was a visionary mystic with great religious beliefs, we can see that in some of his poems such as “The Tiger” and “The Lamb”. The Romantic Theory of Poetry
Shelley’s philosophy is a combination of belief in the power of human love and reason, and faith in the progress of human, he made no difference between politics and poetry and reflected the radical ideas and the revolutionary optimism inspired by the French Revolution. Percy Bysshe Shelley
In respect to Keats, we will say that he came under no philosophical inspiration influence, he revels in his own sensibility to Nature or uses her as a medium of expression, he does not pay attention to intellectual moral aims, the rightness is his attitude. He had in common with other poets the desire to find in his own poetic experience satisfaction for his whole nature, moral, and intellectual.John Keats: Biography and Works
De Quincey is another romantic poet who is ruled by intuition and his main interest, like Coleridge’s, lay in the analysis and the passionate experiences of states of mind. Also he studied the romantic exaltation of imagination and emotional experiences and he emphasized the sublime of Nature. The Romantic Theory of Poetry

 

SOURCES

 

The Romantic Theory of Poetry, An examintion in the light of Croce’s Aesthetic by A. E. Powell, Edward Arnold & Co, London ,1926. Biblioteca de Humanidades; Universidad de Valencia

English literature: The Romantic Period www.infoplease.com/ce6/ent/A0858004.htm 21 May 2006

Definition of Romanticism: www.vcu.edu/engweb/eng372/intro-h4.htm 21 May 2006

Percy Bysshe Shelley www.online-literature.com/shelley_percy/ 22 May 2006-04-12

John Keats –Biography and Works www.online-literature.com/keats/ - 2006-04-12