Romanticism, a profound artistic movement that flourished in the late 1700s, exerted a significant influence across continents and various artistic disciplines until the mid-nineteenth century. Its values and beliefs continue to resonate in contemporary poetry. This guide offers A Brief Guide To Romanticism, exploring its origins, key characteristics, and lasting impact.
Pinpointing the precise commencement of the Romantic movement proves challenging, as its roots can be traced to numerous events of the era. These include a burgeoning fascination with folklore in the early to mid-nineteenth century, exemplified by the work of the Brothers Grimm; reactions against Neoclassicism and the Augustan poets in England; and political events and uprisings that nurtured nationalistic fervor.
Romantic poets championed individualism, a deep reverence for the natural world, idealism, intense physical and emotional passion, and a keen interest in the mystic and supernatural. They positioned themselves in opposition to the order and rationality of classical and neoclassical artistic principles, embracing freedom and revolution in both their art and politics.
German Romantic poets included luminaries such as Friedrich Schiller and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. British poets, including William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Percy Bysshe Shelley, George Gordon Lord Byron, and John Keats, significantly propelled the English Romantic movement.
Wordsworth stated in the “Preface to Lyrical Ballads”, “the Poet binds together by passion and knowledge the vast empire of human society, as it is spread over the whole earth, and over all time. The objects of the Poet’s thoughts are everywhere…Poetry is the first and last of all knowledge—it is as immortal as the heart of man.” This encapsulates the Romantic vision.
Victor Hugo stands out as a prominent French Romantic poet, and Romanticism traversed the Atlantic through the works of American poets like Walt Whitman and Edgar Allan Poe. The Romantic era gave rise to many of the stereotypes associated with poets and poetry that endure today, such as the image of the poet as a tormented and melancholic visionary.
Romantic ideals never entirely vanished from poetry but were largely integrated into the principles of numerous other movements.
Traces of Romanticism persisted in French Symbolism and Surrealism, as well as in the works of significant poets like Charles Baudelaire and Rainer Maria Rilke, demonstrating the movement’s lasting effect on subsequent literary trends.
In conclusion, Romanticism was a transformative artistic movement that emphasized emotion, individualism, and the power of nature. Its influence extended far beyond its initial period and continues to inspire poets and artists today, cementing its place as a cornerstone of literary history. Its core tenets remain relevant and offer a rich source of inspiration for understanding human experience.
