## 4a. Introduction

The publication of 'Lyrical Ballads', a compilation of poetry by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge published in 1798, is widely seen as the start of the Romantic Period. It follows the Age of Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution is a counterreaction to its focus on science, rationality and technological progress (and its accompanying effects on the country). Below you will find the main characteristics of the age and a peek at the three most important poets.

## Characteristics (or Ideals) of Romantic Poetry

- To counter the filth and pollution the Industrial Revolution had brought to their lives, the Romantic Poets glorified Nature.
- The Romantic Poets are called thus because they put emotion over reason. To feel was the only way to live; Science, they felt, had only brought misery.
- The superiority of imagination over logic.
- Popular subjects were mysteries and monsters.
- There was also great interest in history, especially that of the Middle Ages. It was seen as a glorious period in which England hadn't yet become spoilt by industrialisation.
- Due to the many 'discoveries' of exotic countries, there was also a great interest in the exotic (especially oriental) and unfamiliar.
- Inspired by the French Revolution, much of Romantic literature was anti-establishment / anti-authoritarian.
- Common people, such as farmers, labourers, but also natives of exotic lands, were seen as superior to the elite, deriving from their closeness to nature. This gave rise to the idea of noble workman / noble savage.
- Children were glorified as being naive and innocent, unspoiled by schooling and industry, and close to Nature and to God.

## Poets: Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) was a poet and philosopher, best known for his poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Together with his friend William Wordsworth, he is seen as the founder of the Romantic Movement. Other notable works of his are Kubla Khan and Christobel, but he also made a name for himself as a literary critic, writing influential work on Shakespeare and German poets. Coleridge and his friends and colleagues were collectively known as the Lake Poets.

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## Poets: William Wordsworth

William Wordsworth (1770-1850) was probably the best known and most productive of the early Romantic poets. At the end of his life he served as Poet Laureate, a poet appointed by the government to write poems for official occasions. Although his best work is considered to be The Prelude, it is his shorter poem I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud which is often named as the nation's favourite poem. Wordsworth also belongs to the group of Lake Poets mentioned above.

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## Poets: William Blake

William Blake (1757-1827) is a bit of the odd one out in the circle of Romantic poets. He was not part of their circle and actually most of his contemporaries thought he was mad. His work is also hard to classify, some calling it pre-Romantic rather than Romantic; in some ways it is so original that it is almost a category of its own. He was not only a poet, but also a painter and printmaker. During his life, Blake's work was unsuccessful and not recognised at all. Now, he is seen as one of the best and most talented artists of Britain of all times. He often combined his poetry with his artwork into a unified product, sort of like an illuminated manuscript from the Middle Ages, but since he was trained as a printer, he wrote and drew his work in reverse so it could be multiplied. Among his best-known works are the poetry collections Songs of Innocence and its sequel Songs of Experience.

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## Analysing poetry

A poet has a wide range of literary techniques to enhance the message and heighten the emotional impact of the poem. When analysing poetry, it helps to be aware of these techniques. Below, you will find an overview of the techniques you'll need to be able to recognise and describe. We have discussed these terms in class last year and will briefly revisit them.

- alliteration

The repetition of an initial consonant sound in words that are close together, such as within a single sentence or line of poetry.​

- assonance

Repetition of similar vowel sounds within words and phrases, commonly used for a lyrical effect in poetry and other literary forms.​

- enjambment

In poetry or verse, the technique of breaking a line of verse in the middle of a phrase so that the phrase continues on the next line without a natural pause between lines.​

- hyperbole

An extreme exaggeration used to make a point, often humorously.​

- metaphor

A figure of speech that features a comparison between two disparate things that are not literally the same. Unlike similes, metaphors do not use the words “like” or “as.”​

- personification

A type of metaphor in which human attributes are assigned to inanimate objects or abstract ideas.​

- simile

A figure of speech in which two objects are directly compared, usually including either “like” or “as” in the comparison.​

## Useful material

How to analyse a poem in 6 steps

Shmoop Study Guide: British Romanticism