British Romantic Poets A tiny sampling Neoclassical Period

British Romantic Poets A tiny sampling. . .

Neoclassical Period begins in 1660 Important authors are: John Dryden, Alexander Pope, Joseph Addison, Jonathan Swift, Samuel Johnson, Oliver Goldsmith, and Edmund Burke JL David, Bonaparte Crossing the St Bernard Pass

Romantic Period begins in approximately 1789 with the outbreak Of the French Revolution Some argue that the Romantic Period begins with the publication of Lyrical Ballads by Samuel Coleridge and William Wordsworth Authors include Wordsworth, Coleridge, John Keats, William Blake, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Lord Byron, William Hazlitt, Charles Lamb, and Thomas De Quincey Eugene Delacroix, Liberty Leading the People

Neo-classicism Romanticism 1) importance of form and order; individualresponsibility to society 1) importance of free expression; integrity of the individual 2) rule-governed life 2) freedom of judgment and will 3) supremacy of reason (reflection, logic) 3) supremacy of intuition (imagination) 4) the reign of order and restraint 4) the reign of chaos and passion 5) the immutability of natural law 5) the constant flux in nature 6) freedom of the social man 6) freedom of the individual 7) style set by decorum 7) style set by flamboyance and abandon 8) evil the product of blindness on the part ofpeople to natural law 8) evil innate in some people; inherent in social institutions 9) regularity in natural order; logic in the laws of 9) chance and random results as the product of nature the laws of nature 10) Language of literature should be dignified because it should reflect the highest ideals in human experience. 10) Language of literature should be natural speech of the common man about whose lives, affairs, and aspirations literature should reflect since they are the more representative of the life of the race.

William Blake (1757 -1827) • Trivia: Blake’s paintings were used in the movie, Red Dragon • His two most familiar works are Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience • “The Tyger “(647)/”The Lamb” (650)

Literary Terms • Symbol: A person, object, image, word, or event that evokes a range of additional meaning beyond and usually more abstract than its literal significance. • Image: A word, phrase, or figure of speech (especially a simile or a metaphor) that addresses the senses, suggesting mental pictures of sights, sounds, smells, tastes, feelings, or actions. Images offer sensory impressions to the reader and also convey emotions and moods through their verbal pictures. • Speaker: The voice used by an author to tell a story or speak a poem. The speaker is often a created identity, and should not automatically be equated with the author's self. • Parallelism: When words are arranged in balanced, similar structures

William Wordsworth (1770 -1850) • “Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings, ” BUT poems of lasting value are produced ONLY by someone who has “thought long and deeply. ” • Key elements: power of nature; blank verse; language of the people (a man writing of men) • “Tintern Abbey” (659)

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (17721834) • Key elements: isolation, pain, supernatural, dreams and visions, imagination • “Kubla Khan” (680) • “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” (684)

Literary Terms • Rhyme Scheme: The rhyme scheme of a poem describes the pattern of end rhymes. Rhyme schemes are mapped out by noting patterns of rhyme with small letters: the first rhyme sound is designated a, the second becomes b, the third c, and so on. • Alliteration: The repetition of the same consonant sounds in a sequence of words, usually at the beginning of a word or stressed syllable • Meter: When a rhythmic pattern of stresses recurs in a poem, it is called meter. Metrical patterns are determined by the type and number of feet in a line of verse; combining the name of a line length with the name of a foot concisely describes the meter of the line. • Internal Rhyme: Internal rhyme places at least one of the rhymed words within the line, as in "Dividing and gliding and sliding" or "In mist or cloud, on mast or shroud. " • Assonance: The repetition of internal vowel sounds in nearby words that do not end the same, for example, "asleep under a tree, " or "each evening. "

George Gordon, Lord Byron (17881824) “Mad, bad, and dangerous to know” Rather shocking private life (Was at the famous ghost story party) Although always considered a “Romantic, ” he often models his poetry on the Neoclassical poets. • “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage” (721) – note the painting • •

Literary Terms • Apostrophe: An address, either to someone who is absent and therefore cannot hear the speaker or to something nonhuman that cannot comprehend.

Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 -1822) • Mary Shelley is probably now more famous. Percy Shelley was an important writer, both of poetry and pamphlets. • Shocking personal life, atheist • Many great long epic poems • “Ode to the West Wind” (735) • (I recommend “Ozymandias”)

Literary Terms • Ode: A relatively lengthy lyric poem that often expresses lofty emotions in a dignified style. Odes are characterized by a serious topic, such as truth, art, freedom, justice, or the meaning of life; their tone tends to be formal. • Paradox: A statement that initially appears to be contradictory but then, on closer inspection, turns out to make sense. For example, • Onomatopoeia: A term referring to the use of a word that resembles the sound it denotes. Buzz, rattle, bang, and sizzle all reflect onomatopoeia.