Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge

The term first appeared in England in the sense of “extravagant, fictitious, unreal” (17th century). Then it assumed a somewhat different meaning and was connected with feelings, imagination, emotional pleasures (18th century). There are three historical events, with their emphasis on freedom and democratization, that fostered the growth of Romanticism: the American Revolution, the French Revolution, The Napoleonic Wars (end 17th century). English Romanticism presented a clear break with the insistence on reason, common sense and realism, it encourages individualism and the free expression of personal feelings, and turned to emotion and imagination as sources of inspiration. Literary Background: French philosophers as Voltaire and Rousseau, the German literary movement called “Sturm und Drang” with Goethe and Shiller.
POETRY: the renewed interest in imagination and the emotions found its ideal vehicle in it. With new ideas of simplicity and democratization: the “poetic dictation” was replaced by a kind of language really spoken by ordinary people (First Generation) returning to earlier verse forms (blank verse, the sonnet). English Romanticism disregarded the old concept of “man in society, and focus above all on the “individual” as the centre of life and art. The mission of the poet, as a prophet, free from external rules, was to convey truth to mankind. He tended to withdraw into himself, indulging in introspection and meditation, egotism and individualism. He spoke of himself. Opposed society, traditional moral codes and religious values, in a sort of titanism or exalting the irrational and mystic aspects of life, concerning with the supernatural. Continua »