Revival of Romanticism in the 19 th Century English Poetry

1. Revival of Romanticism in the 19th Century English Poetry Dr. Nalini Shyam Kamil Senior Assistant Professor Dept. of English & Other Foreign Languages Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith

2. Introduction Romanticism is associated with the faculty of imagination as distinguished from fancy and with spontaneous expression of emotion. It has been defined by many critics in different ways. Walter Peter calls it “Strangeness added to beauty”. Watts Dantton says that Romanticism is the Renaissance Wonder.

3. Romantic Revival Romantic revival is three dimensional. • Elizabethan Revival • Medieval Revival • Hellenic Revival Romantic poets of the 19th century revived the romantic tendencies found in the literature of Elizabethan Age, Medieval Age and Hellenic Age.

4. Romantic Poets • William Blake • William Wordsworth • Samuel Taylor Coleridge • P.B. Shelley • John Keats William Blake’s poems are collected in two poetic volumes. They are Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience.

5. The Songs of Innocence contains poems which deal with the innocent and noble aspects of man whereas the Songs of Experience contain poems which deal with the evil aspect of man. William Wordsworth wrote many poems such as The Prelude, Tintern Abbey, Daffodils, Tables Turned, The World is too much with Us etc. He is a great nature poet. He spiritualizes nature and sees new things in a new way in nature. He advices mankind to live in the lap of nature where man can develop his mind and personality and inculcate human values like mercy, charity, compassion and love.

6. P.B. Shelley composed several poems. Ode to the West Wind, To a Skylark, Stanzas written in Dejection near Naples and Adonais are his immortal poetic creation. He is called a revolutionary poet because he fought against injustice, exploitation and tyranny. He tries to out root monarchy system. For that he seeks assistance from nature i.e. from the West Wind.

7. Keats is a great romantic poet who is remembered for his beautiful poems like Ode to Nightingale, Ode to Grecian Urn, Ode to Psyche etc. He is called a poet of Beauty because he was inspired by Greek Beauty and Art. His aim is to create a world where there is joy and happiness but there should not be misery and affliction. He says “Beauty is truth and truth beauty”.

8. Characteristics of Romantic Poetry • Subjectivity • Love for nature • Love for beauty and art • Melancholy • Love for supernatural • Love for freedom • Importance to Imagination

9. Conclusion Thus romantic poets of the 19th century write subjective poetry. They themselves become the subject matter of their poetry. They are guided by imagination which is a great source of creation for them. Instead of writing poetry in heroic couplet they wrote poetry in Ode, lyric, elegy, ballet and epic.