Romantic Poetry
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MuHammAD ShArjeeLRomantic Poetry
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MuHammAD ShArjeeLRomantic poetry
Lyric poetry
Lyric poetry refers to either poetry that has the form and musical quality of a song, or a usually
short poem that expresses personal feelings, which may or may not be set to music.
Elegy
An elegy is a poem that reflects upon death or loss. Traditionally, it contains themes of mourning, loss, and
reflection. An elegy is a poem that reflects on a subject or person through sorrow or melancholy.
Pastoral poetry
is an ancient form of art that concentrates on the idealistic vision of rural life.
An ode
is a form of poetry such as sonnet or elegy. Ode is a literary technique that is lyrical in nature, but not very lengthy.
An ode is a traditional, beautiful poem of praise that is dedicated to something meaningful.
Usually, this “something” is ephemeral, such as love, beauty, or music.
Sonnet
Sonnet means a small or little song or lyric. In poetry, a sonnet has 14 fourteen lines and is written in iambic
pentameter. English poets borrowed the sonnet form from the Italian poet Francesco Petrarch.
A ballad
is a type of poem that tells a story and was traditionally set to music. As a literary device, a ballad is a
narrative poem, typically consisting of a series of four-line stanzas.
Characteristics of Romanticism Movement
We generally interpret and analyze ‘Romanticism’ in terms of characteristics it has or in
contrast to ‘Classicism’. If Classicism suggests objectivity, outer experience, universal
values, feelings of broad experience of the existing order, sense of detachment preference
for quiet, poise and conformity; ‘Romanticism’ suggests subjectivity, inner experience,
personal values, feelings of inadequacy, excessive egoism (including pessimism),
impulse to adventure commerce spirit of revolt, thirst for freedom, etc.
Hence, the twelve (12) major characteristics of ‘Romanticism’ period are:
Love of Liberty
Interest in the supernatural and the mysterious
The revolutionary zeal
The mediaeval imaginative faculty
New experiments in verse
Simplicity of diction
Humanism
Love for Nature
Expression of melancholy
Themes of Solitude
Spontaneity
Lucid sensory descriptions
9 Key Characteristics of Romantic Poetry
There are several characteristics that distinguish romantic poetry from other forms of poetry. The
following are key characteristics of romantic poetry:
1. A Reaction Against Neoclassical Poetry
2. Imagination
3. Nature
4. Escapism
5. Melancholy
6. Medievalism
7. Hellenism
8. Supernaturalism
9. Subjectivity
6.3. Romanticism Poets
Romanticism poets exhibited the ability to perceive the world sensuously, emotionally as
well as spiritually. However, spiritual does not mean in a sense of any formal religion.
Despite sharing these common features, each poet of the period had its own individual
style.
We generally classify Romantic poets into three (3) groups:
1. The Lake Poets: consisting of Wordsworth, Coleridge and Southey
2. The Scott Group: including Sir Walter Scott, Thomas Campbell and Thomas Moore
3. The Younger Group: comprises the young generation of the Romantics i.e. Byron, Shelley and Keats
The Lake Poets: consisting of Wordsworth, Coleridge and Southey.
A Brief Introduction to Lake Poets
William Wordsworth (1770-1850), the greatest of all Romantic poets, was the founding
figure of Romanticism poetry. He defined poetry as ‘the spontaneous overflow of
powerful feeling’. Wordsworth refused to observe any poetic conventions and rules and
devised his own way in the poetic realm. Also, he prompted the use of ordinary, poetic
diction and made the common country folks and rustics his subject matter.
William Wordsworth was a poet of Man, Nature, and of Human Life.ge
S.T. Coleridge (1772-1834) was the second great Romantic poet. He was a man of
gigantic genius, complementary to that of Wordsworth. While Wordsworth dealt with
naturalism, Coleridge made the supernatural his special domain. But unfortunately
Coleridge’s bad health and slavery to opium prevented him to from accomplishing much
in the realm of poetry. Though his poetic output is limited, whatever he has written is of
very high quality. His most famous poems are: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Kubla
Khan, Christabel and others.
Robert Southey
Robert Southey (1774-1843) was the third poet among the group of Lake School. Unlike
Coleridge and Wordsworth, he did not possess higher poetic qualities. That’s why his
achievement as a poet is not much. He wrote ballads and short poems, among them the
most famous were about his love for books.
However, he wrote far better prose than poetry and his admirable Life of Nelson remains
a classic.