Lesson 2

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Lesson 2, Romanticism: The Romantic Poetry
Goals: 1. Have an overview of the first and second generation of Romantic poets; 2. understand the main features of the works of Blake, Byron and Keats.
Introduction: 
In this lesson, you will continue studying the Romantic Movement. We will browse through the works of three of the main poets of Romanticism and have the opportunity to understand the various ways in which these poets chose to express their feelings and their reactions against the enlightenment.
Romantic poetry is divided into two generations of poets: the first and the second generation. 
This division into two generations corresponds both to the actual age difference between the two groups and to changes in the context where the poets wrote and in certain features of their works. 
The First generation is characterised by an emphasis on the self and its relationship with nature.
Romantic Poets: First Generation
The first generation is characterized by a shift in style and subject matter from the Neoclassical (who focused on reason, tradition and society). The focus of this first generation of poets was on the particular aspects of objects, people and events; incidents and situations from real life were used as the source of inspiration for the artists. Some other aspects included:
Nature was seen as a teacher and a place where the artists can look for isolation and inspiration. Poets glorified Nature and compared it to God. Being close to nature would cause intense emotion.
Feelings would be expressed by means of spontaneity and introspection. Being able to express one’s true feelings would lead the poet to a sublime state. Thus, reality and thought were subjective concepts.
Childhood was considered a time and a state of protected innocence, but a time that could not be protected from the fallen world and its institutions.
Dreams were seen as a way to clarify reality.
As the poet wanted to be close to nature, life in the countryside was extremely valued for its simplicity and humble lifestyle. 
Two of the most famous poets from the first generation, William Woodsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge lived in the best place in England considering the countryside: Lake District, in northern England. For this reason, they are known as the Lake Poets.
Three of the most renowned poets of this first generation were:
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is his most famous work and was published in Lyrical Ballads (1798), a shared publication with Woodsworth. The poem is considered to be landmark of the Romantic Literature in England.
His most famous work, The Prelude (1850), is considered to be the crowning achievement of English romanticism.
Songs of Experience (1794) and Songs of Innocence (1789) were his most famous publications.
William Blake
Blake was born in London in 1757, and this was the city where he spent most of his life. During his childhood, Blake spoke of having visions, such as seeing God put his head to the window and while walking through the countryside, he saw a tree filled with angels. These visions were considered lies by his parents, who noticed he was different from the other children and did not encourage him to go to school.
At the age of 10 he started taking drawing lessons. When he was fifteen, Blake was apprenticed to an engraver, making plates from which pictures for books were printed. This experience would help him illustrate his own poetry later on.
In 1792 he got married to Catherine Boucher, an illiterate woman who Blake taught how to read and write.
He died in 1827 and his last years were spent in great poverty. He was helped financially by a young artist, John Linnell, who also helped to create new interest in his work.
The works of William Blake consisted of the following books:
All Religions Are One (1788)
America, a Prophecy (1793)
For Children: The Gates of Paradise (1793)
For the Sexes: The Gates of Paradise (1820)
Poetical Sketches (1783)
Visions of the Daughters of Albion (1793)
Songs of Experience (1794)
Songs of Innocence (1789)
The Book of Ahania (1795)
The Book of Los (1795)
The First Book of Urizen (1794)
The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1790)
The Song of Los (1795)
There Is No Natural Religion (1788)
Europe, a Prophecy (1794)
Major themes in Blake’s poetry:
Opposition
Blake’s work is set around the theme of opposition as a representative of the balance in this world, and a focus on one side over another which leads to oppression and ignorance. He believed that by examining ideas and objects in terms of opposites and by allowing access to both sides of the scale, man would reach a true state of enlightenment rather than a repressed state where few benefit and most are held in bondage.[1: /ˈbɑːn.dɪdʒ/ bondage noun [ U ] (SLAVE) literary the state of being another person's slave (= a person who is owned by them and has to work for them)]
Oppression/Repression: 
Blake lived in a period of aggressive British colonialism, slavery, social casting, Revolutionary change in America and Europe, as well as the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Being a member of the lower class, an uneducated artist (in the formal sense of the term, although Blake was clearly quite intelligent), and considered by many to be an inferior poet bordering madness, Blake experienced firsthand the struggles of oppression.
Innocence/Experience
Blake constantly explored the moment of lost innocence. This repeated theme in Blake’s poetry is ideal for a combination of all the other themes so far discussed. The theme of the separation, transition and difference between innocence and experience highlights the theory of opposition, cycling and repression.
Religion
Where Blake stood in terms of his beliefs in God is unclear. By inventing a mythology full of angels, demons, and Gods that mirror a lot of Milton’s writings, he seemed to be fascinated with religion as a literary allusion and infuriated with it as a means to suppress man’s natural desires.[2: ​C2 to end something by force.]
Poetry/Imagination
Blake felt poets needed to look for new ways to express their words and ideas and tried to step away from the Classic traditions of English poetry.
A Brief Analysis of “The Poisonous Tree” (1794)
I was angry with my friend:
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe;
I told it not, my wrath did grow.
 
And I water'd it in fears, 
Night & morning with my tears; 
And I sunned it with my smiles 
And with soft deceitful wiles.[3: Wile noun devious or cunning stratagems employed in manipulating or persuading someone to do what one wants.]
 
And it grew both day and night, 
Till it bore an apple bright; [4: C2 [ T ] formal to give birth to young, or (of a tree or plant) to give or produce fruit or flowers.]
And my foe beheld it shine, 
And he knew that it was mine,
 
And into my garden stole 
When the night had veil'd the pole: 
In the morning glad I see 
My foe outstretch'd beneath the tree
I was angry with my friend:
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe;
I told it not, my wrath did grow.
 
And I water'd it in fears, 
Night & morning with my tears; 
And I sunned it with my smiles 
And with soft deceitful wiles.
 
And it grew both day and night, 
Till it bore an apple bright; 
And my foe beheld it shine, 
And he knew that it was mine,
 
…
The main subject of this poem is the dark side of human nature. Words like anger, wrath, foe, tear permeate it giving the impression that anger and desire are to triumph over the enemies. 
Its main image is that of a tree that grows a poisonous fruit which kills his enemy. It bears lots of biblical references: the apple tree, the use of the word wrath throughout the poem (a powerful Biblical term for a deadly sin).  
The use of oppositions is also present: friend/ foe; night/ day; smile/ tears is a permanent feature. It also deals with the repression of anger whichcan lead to death.
Romantic Poets: Second Generation
The poets of the Second generation suffered because of society and its injustices, mostly because of the post-revolutionary disillusionment, violence and the threat of the Napoleonic Empire.  
For this reason, they tried to escape from reality by travelling around the world. There was a refusal of the real world and a creation of a different world where they lived in, usually by means of drugs. 
They didn't want to just repeat what the romantics of the first generation were doing, but wanted to be different, and even better than them.
A Brief Analysis of “The Poisonous Tree” (1794)
Interest in the history and folklore of the Middle Ages (magic and mystery)
Hellenism (Love for classical themes)
Exoticism (attraction for distant lands, usually more imaginary than real)
The three most important poets of this generation lived short but intense lives:Had a really brief life. The main theme of his poetry is the conflict between the real world of suffering, death and decay and the ideal world of beauty, imagination and eternal youth.
Was the most revolutionary and non-conformist of the Romantic poets. Her ideas were anarchic and she was considered dangerous by the conservative society of his time. She was an individualist and idealist who rejected the institutions of family, church, marriage, and the Christian faith.
Was a melancholy and solitary man whose actions often defied social conventions. He was the prototype of the Romantic poet and was deeply involved with contemporary social issues. He left England and life on the continent and looked for adventure in Italy and Greece.
	
George Gordon Byron
George Gordon Byron, or simply Lord Byron is considered to be one of the most notorious English Poets who is still read nowadays.  Born to an aristocrat family on 22 January 1788, Byron was famous for leading a life of aristocratic excesses, including huge debts, numerous love affairs, rumors of a scandalous incestuous liaison with his half-sister, and self-imposed exile.[5: /liˈeɪ.zɑːn/ [ C ] formal a sexual relationship, especially between two people not married to each other.]
Byron's first poems were published when he was 19 and his travels began at the age of 21.
He left England forever at the age of 28 and the next eight years of his life were memorable for their poetic activity, and within them almost all his main work was done.
He died during the war of Greek Independence at Missolonghi, April 1824, aged 36.
The works of George Gordon Byron consisted of the following books:
The First Kiss of Love (1806)
Thoughts Suggested by a College Examination (1806) 
To a Beautiful Quaker (1807) 
The Cornelian (1807) 
Lines Addressed to a Young Lady (1807)
Lachin y Garr (1807)
Ode on Venice (1819)
Epitaph to a Dog (1808)
Maid of Athens, ere we part (1810)[6: /er/ literary or old use = before]
She Walks in Beauty (1814) 
My Soul is Dark (1815) 
Monody on the Death of the Right Hon. R. B. Sheridan (1816)[7: 1. An ode for one voice or actor, as in Greek drama.; 2. A poem in which the poet or speaker mourns another's death.]
When We Two Parted (1817)
So, we'll go no more a roving (1830)[8: Noun - travelling about without any clear destination]
Major themes in Byron’s poetry:
Liberty Several of Byron’s poems, mostly those which were based on his travels, raised the problem of oppression around Europe and defended the need for liberty. He believed that liberty was a right of all human beings and thought of the denial of this liberty as one of man’s greatest failings.
Nature Byron saw Nature as a powerful complement to human emotion and civilization and as a companion to humanity. He believed that natural beauty was preferable to human evil and to the problems that were inflicted on civilization.
Love Throughout his life, Byron looked for the perfect object of his affections, which ended up making him a fickle and unstable lover to many women (and men).[9: /ˈfɪk.əl/ disapproving likely to change your opinion or your feelings suddenly and without a good reason]
Classical culture Byron was a friend of the classical world who seemed to grieve what seemed to him as the decay of its cultural achievements and traditions.
Realism Although Byron was a Romantic poet, he saw most of his best work as descriptions of reality as it existed, not how as he imagined it to be. The subjects of many of his poems come from history and personal experience.
A Brief Analysis of “She Walks in Beauty” (1815)
She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;[10: noun [ C usually plural ] uk ​ /klaɪmz/ us ​ /klaɪmz/ literary a place where the weather is different in a particular way]
And all that’s best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes;
Thus mellowed to that tender light[11: /ˈmel.oʊ/ mellow verb (BECOME SOFTER) [ I ] to become softer and more developed in a pleasing way]
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.[12: /ˈɡɑː.di/ unpleasantly bright in colour or decoration]
 
One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impaired the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o’er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express,
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.
 
And on that cheek, and o’er that brow,[13: literary the forehead]
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!
She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that’s best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes;
Thus mellowed to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.
 
One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impaired the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o’er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express,
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place  
…
This poem is one of Byron’s most famous works and is part of his volume Hebrew Melodies. The poem is said to have been inspired by an actual event in Byron’s life: while at a ball, Byron came across Mrs. John Wilmot, his cousin by marriage, and was struck by her unusual beauty. 
She combines opposites (or extremes) in perfect proportions in her looks and in her personality. She was in mourning, wearing a black dress which would explain the opening lines of the poem.
Byron describes a dark night with bright stars (light) and compares it to a woman. She brings together these opposites in her beauty and creates a "tender light."  
The light is not like the daytime, since he describes it as gaudy (showy in a vulgar way), but a light that "heaven" doesn't even honor during daytime.
Byron describes light and dark coming together in the woman’s appearance, as seen in her dark hair and in the light complexion of her face. The eyes are often associated with a person's soul, and said to reveal one’s heart. So he seems to be suggesting that opposites meet in her soul as well.
Besides, Byron says that if this darkness and lightness wouldn't be in the right proportions ("One shade the more, one ray the less"), her beauty wouldn't be completely ruined as one might expect. He says that she would only be "half impaired," and thus still half magnificent.
John Keats
John Keats was born in London in 1795 and his early life was marked by a series of personal tragedies: he lost both parents before his fourteenth birthday and one of his younger brothers died in infancy. After his parents’ death, his grandmother appointed two merchants as guardians. One of them, a tea merchant took the bulk of the responsibility and was responsible for his education.
In 1816, Keats became an apothecary but never practiced it as he decided to dedicate his life to poetry. In 1817, he published his first book of poems, On Solitude, which was not a great success.[14: /əˈpɑː.θəˌker.i/ aperson who in the past made and sold medicines]
In 1819, he met and fell in love with Fanny Brawn, his neighbour in Hampstead.
Sometime later he began to show the first signs of tuberculosis, and after overseeing the publication of his final book of poetry, Lamia, Isabella, The Eve of St Agnes and Other Poems, he left England for Italy, arriving in Naples in late 1820 and then moving on to Rome, where he died in February 1821.
The works of John Keats consisted of the following books:
Poetry
Poems (1817)
Endymion: A Poetic Romance (1818)
Lamia, Isabella, The Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems (1820)
Prose
Life, Letters, and Literary Remains of John Keats (1848)
Drama
King Stephen: A Dramatic Fragment (1819)
Otho The Great: A Dramatic Fragment (1819)
Major themes in Keat’s poetry:
The Inevitability of Death
Even before his diagnosis of terminal tuberculosis, Keats focused on death and its inevitability in his work. He believed that small, slow acts of death occurred every day, and he advertised these small mortal occurrences. 
The Contemplation of Beauty
Keats believed that the contemplation of beauty was a way of delaying the inevitability of death. Even though we must die one day, we can choose to spend our time alive looking at beautiful objects and landscapes.
Departures and Reveries
In many of Keats’s poems, it can be observed that the speaker departs from the real world to explore a transcendent and mythical reality. At the end of the poem, the speaker returned to his ordinary life transformed in some way and armed with a new understanding.
The Five Senses and Art
Keats imagined that the five senses corresponded to and connected with various types of art. He believed that each of the five senses had to be involved in worthwhile experiences, which, in turn, would lead to the production of art.
Music and Musicians
Music and musicians appeared throughout Keats’s work as symbols of poetry and poets. As mortal beings who will eventually die, we can delay death through the timelessness of music, poetry, and other types of art.
Nature
Keats found in nature endless sources of poetic inspiration. Nature is not only used as a springboard from which to ponder, but also used in similes, symbols, and metaphors for the spiritual and emotional states Keats wanted to describe.[15: /ˈsprɪŋ.bɔːrd/ springboard noun [ C ] (SPORT) a board that can bend, helping people to jump higher when jumping or diving into a swimming pool or when doing gymnastics; noun [ C ] (GOOD START) something that provides you either with the opportunity to follow a particular plan of action, or the encouragement that is needed to make it successful]
The Ancient World
Keats had a deep interest in antiquity and the ancient world. He believed that an ancient myth and antique objects had a permanence and solidity that contrasts with the temporary nature of life. Besides, Keats saw in ancient cultures the possibility of permanent artistic achievement: if an urn still spoke to someone several centuries after its creation, there was hope that a poem or artistic object from Keats’s time might continue to speak to readers or observers after the death of Keats or another writer or creator.
A Brief Analysis of “A Thing of Beauty” (1815)
A thing of beauty is a joy for ever: 
Its loveliness increases; it will never 
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep 
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep 
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing. 
Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing [16: /ˈmɔːr.oʊ/ literary the next day, or tomorrow]
A flowery band to bind us to the earth, [17: /ˈflaʊ.ɚ.i/ flowery adjective (FLOWERS) also flowered, decorated with pictures of flowers]
Spite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth [18: /dɝːθ/ formal an amount or supply that is not large enough]
Of noble natures, of the gloomy days, 
Of all the unhealthy and o'er-darkn'd ways 
Made for our searching: yes, in spite of all.
Some shape of beauty moves away the pall [19: [ S ] a negative feeling or mood]
From our dark spirits. Such the sun, the moon,
Trees old and young, sprouting a shady boon [20: noun [ C usually singular ] uk ​ /buːn/ us ​ /buːn/ something that is very helpful and improves the quality of life]
For simple sheep; and such are daffodils [21: /ˈdæf.ə.dɪl/ a yellow, bell-shaped flower with a long stem that is commonly seen in the spring]
With the green world they live in; and clear rills [22: a very small brook (a small stream)]
That for themselves a cooling covert make [23: adjective uk ​ /ˈkəʊ.vɜːt/ us ​ /ˈkoʊ.vɝːt/ hidden or secret]
'Gainst the hot season; the mid-forest brake, 
Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms: 
And such too is the grandeur of the dooms 
We have imagined for the mighty dead; 
An endless fountain of immortal drink, 
Pouring unto us from the heaven's brink.[24: literary the edge of a cliff or other high area]
In this poem, Keats refers to the powers of nature. He asks his readers to realise these powers and make their lives enjoyable and worth living. 
According to him, a thing of beauty is a source of constant joy. Its beauty goes on increasing and will never fade or pass into nothingness. 
He believes that all human beings possess evil qualities of hatred and are disappointed and suffer from lack of noble qualities and unhealthy evil ways. 
In spite of it all this beautiful thing helps to remove the cover darkness from our lives. It makes us love life despite the things that make us sad.  
In this class, you: Had an overview of the first and second generation of Romantic poets; understood the main features of the works of Blake, Byron and Keats.
Next class, you will study: Next class you will learn about Fiction in the Romantic Movement and study the works of Walter Scott and Jane Austen.