Innocence in an Incredulous World
Throughout the years literature has been used to express new ideas, feelings and emotions. During the Romantic era authors wrote about their happy memories and sad experiences in life . The poem “We are Seven” written by William Wordsworth expresses the feeling of innocence in a child’s life. Like Wordsworth, Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote the poem “The Lady of Shalott” with a similar theme. In his poem “The Lady of Shalott“ he expresses the innocence of a lonely women who grows old inside her house waiting for a man to marry her. The two author’s main focus was to express innocence in the lives of people.
During the Romantic Era drastic events changed the way people lived. One major change came with the Industrial Revolution, many job opportunities began to arise and people started to change their living lifestyle. Many people went to live in the cities and left behind the breathtaking countryside. The British Culture became better because they had more resources and its economy increased rapidly, however people lost the tranquility of nature with their movement into the emerging cities. Another important event that had a significant effect on the British culture and Literature was the French revolution; poets like William Wordsworth were devastated to see the horrible changes the revolution had caused. The revolution was one of the major reasons why poets focused more on the theme of nature. The poem “Lines Written a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey” written by William Wordsworth expresses the power of nature. The author uses his memories from past experiences to illustrate the importance of nature in a person’s life. In the poem he describes nature’s strong healing power. Wordsworth communicate...
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...ing of love because she was lock inside a tower
Works Cited
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(ll. 19-24) Wordsworth’s famous and simple poem, “I wandered lonely as a cloud,” expresses the Romantic Age’s appreciation for the beauty and truth that can be found in a setting as ordinary as a field of daffodils. With this final stanza, Wordsworth writes of the mind’s ability to carry those memories of nature’s beauty into any setting, whether city or country. His belief in the power of the imagination and the effect it can have on nature, and vice a versa, is evident in most of his work. This small
Kreis, Steven. "Lecture 16: The Romantic Era." The History Guide. Web. 18 Aug. 2010. .
M. H. Abrams defines romantic themes in prominent writers of this school in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries as being five in number: (1) innovations in the materials, forms and style; (2) that the work involve a “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings”; (3) that external nature be a persistent subject with a “sensuous nuance” and accuracy in its description; (4) that the reader be invited to identify the protagonist with the author himself; and (5) that this be an age of “new beginnings and high possibilities” for the person (177-79).
Frye, Northrop. Prometheus: The Romantic Revolutionary. A Study of English Romanticism. New York: Random House, 1968. 87-124.
In “Lines Written a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey,” we find the purest expression of Wordsworth’s fascination with friendship.
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“la belle dame sans merci” was written April 21, 1819 by John Keats. A Romantic poet who despite his reputation as being one of the most beloved poets of all time, was not well received during his short lived life. In fact Keats reputation didn’t grow till after his death near the end of the nineteenth century. He is now considered one of the key figures in the second generation of the romantic movement. Keats major works did not focus on religion, ethnics, morals, or politics. He wrote mostly of sensational experiences about the richness of life. Though experiences may be pleasurable at first they don’t always have fairytale endings, sometimes the pleasures of life can become overwhelming, such is the theme of Keats ballad “La belle dame sans merci”.
The Victorian Era in English history was a period of rapid change. One would be hard-pressed to find an aspect of English life in the 19th century that wasn’t subject to some turmoil. Industrialization was transforming the citizens into a working class population and as a result, it was creating new urban societies centered on the factories. Great Britain enjoyed a time of peace and prosperity at home and thus was extending its global reach in an era of New Imperialism. Even in the home, the long held beliefs were coming into conflict.
The reign of Elizabeth I is considered to be the “Golden Age” of English history. During her reign, arts and literature flourished and became more diverse, which can clearly be seen in some of the greatest poets’ works, such as Sir Thomas Wyatt, Sir Philip Sydney, Edmund Spenser and William Shakespeare. Poetry in the Elizabethan age went through many changes and developments, in terms of form, imagery, subjects and themes. Most poets of this age tried to explore new genres and themes, however Queen Elizabeth I remained one of the poets’ main influences. In other words, with a few exceptions, chivalry was indeed the hallmark of Elizabethan poetry.
In "Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey," William Wordsworth explains the impact of Nature from Tintern Abbey in his every day life. "Tintern Abbey" shows the great importance of nature to Wordsworth in his writings, love for life, and religion. The memories he has of Tintern Abbey make even the darkest days full of light.
"History in Focus." : The Victorian Era (Introduction). Institute of Historical Research., Apr. 2001. Web. 29 Mar. 2014.
His poem recognizes the ordinary and turns it into a spectacular recollection, whose ordinary characteristics are his principal models for Nature. As Geoffrey H. Hartman notes in his “Wordsworth’s poetry 1787-1814”, “Anything in nature stirs [Wordsworth] and renews in turn his sense of nature” (Hartman 29). “The Poetry of William Wordsworth” recalls a quote from the Prelude to Wordsworth’s 1802 edition of Lyrical ballads where they said “[he] believed his fellow poets should "choose incidents and situations from common life and to relate or describe them.in a selection of language really used by men” (Poetry). In the shallowest sense, Wordsworth is using his view of the Tintern Abbey as a platform or recollection, however, this ordinary act of recollection stirs within him a deeper understanding.
Throughout the literary history of the Renaissance, a gradual but dramatic change in the poetic style of the time becomes apparent. From one contribution to another, the rebellion between the poetic styles is evident. Early Elizabethan and Jacobean poetry demonstrates the love that mankind shares and the universal truths that the people of that time held so dear. On through the neoclassical and romantic eras, the style becomes centered on personal delight and warmth. This paper intends to follow and describe this evolution of British poetry.
Haefner, Joel, and Carol Shiner Wilson, eds. Re-visioning Romanticism. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1994.