Poetry of the Romantics
The Romantic poets ushered in a new era of poetry. Their poetry was characterised by vivid and colourful language, evocative of elevating themes and ideas.
William Wordsworthhad a great love and intimacy with nature. He was able to capture the vivid joy of experiencing nature at first hand.
I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
I WANDERED lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
by: William Wordsworth
Extract from: I Wandered Lonely as a cloud
This is an extract from William Blake’s “Songs of Innocence” – William Blake had the capacity to express poetry of great innocence and joy such as this extract below.
Infant Joy
“I have no name:
I am but two days old.”
What shall I call thee?
“I happy am,
Joy is my name.”
Sweet joy befall thee!
By: William Blake
From: Infant Joy
However Blake’s poetry also has profound depth and a strong mystical element.
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
By: William Blake
From: The Tyger
Another leading Romantic poet was John Keats. The opening lines of this poem offer an immortal mantra and are a testimant to the power of poetry
A Thing of Beauty
A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.
By: John Keats
From: A Thing of Beauty
Percy Shelley was something of an outsider. His professed atheism led him to be expelled from Oxford University. He experienced much suffering and loss, which gave him a melancholic view of life. However his poetry was infused with a radical individualism which offered a mixed message of hope through suffering.
“To suffer woes which Hope thinks infinite;
To forgive wrongs darker than Death or Night;
To defy Power, which seems Omnipotent;
To love, and bear; to hope, till Hope creates
From its own wreck the thing it contemplates;
Neither to change nor falter nor repent;
This, like thy glory, Titan! is to be
Good, great and joyous, beautiful and free;
This is alone Life, Joy, Empire and Victory.”
From: Prometheus Unbound
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“O, Wind,
If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?”
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Commentaries on Poems by Richard Pettinger
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Photo Copyright Top: Pavitrata Taylor