Romantic Literature. Blake and Wordsworth The two poets William Blake and William Wordsworth, who lived approximately at the same time, are very significant poets in English literature of Romantic period. The common notions of Nature and its beauty, of Imagination with its borderless spaces, are present in all of the works of Romantic period. Imagination of the writer was often the only thing by the means of which could he escape the realities of the world. The two authors, whom I will focus on, had their personal styles of writing. Wordsworth exhibited an everlasting love with Nature, and Blake had a unique style in the way that he used contrast and imagery.
This paper will display each of these poets use of their prominent characteristics in their works of literature. Wordworths poetry he exudes such fondness for Nature. Although he is often viewed as a nature poet his poetry is not exclusively concerned with picturesque evocations of nature, but rather with the issues of Man, Human Nature and Mans relationship with the natural and supernatural world. Wordsworth felt that Nature and the natural world was mans natural home. He described Nature as giving him unremembered pleasure (ln. 31) and tranquil restoration (ln.
The Essay on Human Nature Wordsworth Byron Romantic
In an essay of not more than 1600 words compare and contrast William Wordsworth's and Lord Byron's views of human nature revealed in their poetry. In what sense can these views be considered 'Romantic"? Support your analysis with illustrations. The Romantic Era (1776-1830) occurred in Europe and was a period of overcrowded cities, dirty streets and poverty due to the Industrial Revolution and the ...
30) The alliance of the inner life with the outer world is at the center of Wordsworths descriptions of Nature. Wordsworths ideas about memory, the importance of childhood experiences, and the power of the mind tie everything together when observing his work. One can see why Wordsworth holds Nature up on a pedestal, he thought of her not only as his lover when he described feeling aching joys (ln. 85) and dizzy raptures (ln. 86), but he also looked at Nature as a maternal figure, as seen here: The anchor of my purest thoughts, the nurse, / The guide, the guardian of my heart, and soul of all / Of my moral being (ln. 109-111).
It seems as if Wordsworth felt that the importance of the poet was to express the relationship between man and nature, but he also realized that no matter how strong a poets connection with nature, he is still separate from it because it is so magnificent and mysterious. In the two collections William Blakes lyrics, Songs of Innocence and of Experience, Blake has several contrasting poems with the same titles, which bring into focus the differences between the two states of being which the collections describe. The simple style that Blake used in the Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience made it easy for a child to understand with lullaby-like verses used in A Cradle Song such as: Sleep sleep happy child All creation slept and smild. Sleep sleep, happy sleep. While oer thee thy mother weep. (ln.
17-20) The two sets of lyrics show two opposite worlds: one in which God is trusted persistently and there is no question of moral issues; and one in which the fallen state and religious hypocrisy is examined. Blake recognized the purity and innocence which childhood represents in contrast to the corruption of adulthood, with all of the things that go along with getting older such as learning and the experience of life. Blakes poetry seems t implicate that true innocence is impossible with experience. In these poems it seems as if the child resurrected within the adult. Blake uses the unique technique of contrasting poems and topics so one can grasp the concept in a more covert way, which makes one have to think even deeper. Much like William Wordsworth, Blake wrote from the heart, letting natural expression take over. In Blakes poem Garden of Love the speaker shows this by telling of a life experience.
The Essay on William Wordsworth Shock Nature Speaker
William Wordsworth's "The World is Too Much With Us" is a Romantic Sonnet that can be broken into two parts. The speaker tells us in the first part that we have lost our connection with nature, and that that connection was one of our most important relationships. The speaker the goes on to tell us that that he is willing to sacrifice everything to recover this relationship, and begins on line 9. ...
He tells of a Garden, beautiful and pure, That so many sweet flowers bore; (8), and how it was a place of sanctuary for him in his youth. This allusion of his Garden of Love is that of Edenic imagery. He sees his garden as a place of peace, where nature, God, and him, are one; such as the Garden of Eden. By using this imagery he shws that even frm day ne f human existence, that things evlve and mutate. That thrugh individuals actins f what they think may be virtuus and mral may indeed be an act f devastatin and destructin. As a result, the Garden f Eden and the Garden f Lve became extinct and untuchable fr all. Wrdswrth, unlike Blake, recgnized that gd petry is the spntaneus verflw f pwerful feelings, and therefre nthing alng the lines f strait-laced, stic little ld wmen, r grandise dining rms. He wrte f rustic life: nt much was said, but never were the imprtant things left ut.
Lifes mst elementary feelings were revealed in the mst permanent ways: ever-present in the surrundings. Wrdswrths aesthetic appreciatin was nt destryed by his petic vanity: he finds n need t embellish his phrases fr sphisticatin. Cmmn language served Wrdswrths purpse well. As Wrdswrth wrked t revive the pwers he felt as a child, he plunged int his past. As a result, he was able t free himself f the times petic cnventins and use pure language t cmpse testaments f the wnders f the wrld arund us. It is Wordsworths relationship with nature that regards him as one of the most important poets of the Romantic period, allowing him to create great poetry because of the extraordinary power in which he feels joy is offered in natureand because of the power in which he shows us this joy and renders it (Encarta Encyclopaedia online criticism).
Compared to the poetry of Blake, Wordsworths lines are leisurely and slow, and the rhythms of his poetry less rapid. The sound techniques in his poems play a big part in the whole view of the poems; Blake makes all syllable long open vowel sounds, which are droning and dreary. On the other hand Wordsworth wants to do the complete opposite with his syllables, he wants them to be short sharp and jolly to convey his idea of the beauty. Both authors are very creative in the way that they wanted to share their opinions, desires and stories. Each poet uses metaphors based on everyday life to bring ideas to life, and this makes poetry that much more special. This is what basically Romanticism was all about.
The Essay on Towards a Poetic of Ageing: the Links Between Literature and Life – William L. Randal and A. Elizabeth Mckim- an Analysis of the Article
TOWARDS A POETIC OF AGEING: THE LINKS BETWEEN LITERATURE AND LIFE – WILLIAM L. RANDAL and A. ELIZABETH McKIM- AN ANALYSIS OF THE ARTICLE The article draws on recent thinking in narrative gerontology to look at the biological aspects of aging on which a narrative perspective can shed further light. It is now widely accepted that ‘‘age’’ and “ageing’’ are cultural concepts. The thinking encouraged ...
In Romanticism, the rules, hanging over poetry were dropped and a piece of work could become, as Blake described, an embodiment of the poets imagines vision.
Bibliography:
Blake, William. The Garden of Love. Dublin: Dublin Publishers, 2000. Blake, William. A Cradle Song. Literature of the Western World.
Ed. Brian Wilke and James Hurt. 5thed. 2. Vols. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2001.
1: 665. Wordworth, William. Lines: Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey. Literature of the Western World. Ed. Brian Wilke and James Hurt. 5thed. 2.
Vols. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2001. 2: 695,696. Romanticism. Encarta Encyclopedia: Microsoft. 2000.