Task 2: Romantic poetry

Two iconic romantic poets are William Wordsworth and Samual Taylor Coleridge. Their joint publication of poems in Lyrical Ballads in 1798 is seen as the start of the Romantic Period.

One of the most famous poems by William Wordsworth is I wandered lonely as a cloud. Read this poem in your Poems and Extracts reader. You can click on the video below for a reading of the poem.

Assignment: Wordsworth

   

 

Assignment: Coleridge

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samual Taylor Coleridge is one of the longest and spookiest poems in British literature. Read the introduction to this poet in your Poem and Extracts reader (page 16)

Coleridge focuses on other elements in his poetry than Wordsworth did.

Before reading the extract from this poem in your Poems and extracts reader, you are going to listen to a song by Iron Maiden, an English heavy metal band formed in the 1970s. Although this music genre might not be your cup of tea, the lyrics of this song is based on the original poem and gives a modern English rendition of the poem's story.

What element(s) of poetry in the Romantic Period can you retrace in this poem by Coleridge?

Now read the extract of the original poem in your Poems and Extracts reader (page 14 + 15) and answer the following questions: