Throughout history, society has influenced the way humanity thinks about and understands the world around them. Few people search to find the truth for themselves and merely end up following the way of life seen all around them. A new movement sprung up in the late 1700s called Romanticism, celebrating creativity and imagination over logic, reason, and the limitations society placed on thought. Romanticism began around the end of the Enlightenment period, a time that focused heavily on science and logical reasoning.Through the poetry written during this period, one can see the message that was so desperate to be heard. From Romantic poets such as Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson, one can learn to value independent thought, and emotional insight,
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He says, "How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick, / Till rising and gliding out I wander'd off by myself." (lines you quoted) When the figure in the poem was accepting only what the world was emphasizing instead of discovering and experiencing things for himself, he felt sick until he went out and experienced life, forming his own opinions. Dickinson highlights the need to break away from society in a similar way in her poem "Much Madness is divinest Sense." In the first few lines, she states, “Much Madness is divinest Sense- / To a discerning eye- / Much Sense--the starkest Madness- / ‘Tis the Majority,” meaning that the world deems those who think differently mad, while in reality, it is those who blindly conform who are insane (citation). During this period, Emily Dickinson would have been considered insane, for she was a woman who was educated and opinionated in a time where women were supposed to be quiet and compliant. She spoke her mind even though it was not considered socially acceptable. She speaks of this topic again in her poem, “They shut me up in Prose.” In this poem, she
He says, "How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick, / Till rising and gliding out I wander'd off by myself." (lines you quoted) When the figure in the poem was accepting only what the world was emphasizing instead of discovering and experiencing things for himself, he felt sick until he went out and experienced life, forming his own opinions. Dickinson highlights the need to break away from society in a similar way in her poem "Much Madness is divinest Sense." In the first few lines, she states, “Much Madness is divinest Sense- / To a discerning eye- / Much Sense--the starkest Madness- / ‘Tis the Majority,” meaning that the world deems those who think differently mad, while in reality, it is those who blindly conform who are insane (citation). During this period, Emily Dickinson would have been considered insane, for she was a woman who was educated and opinionated in a time where women were supposed to be quiet and compliant. She spoke her mind even though it was not considered socially acceptable. She speaks of this topic again in her poem, “They shut me up in Prose.” In this poem, she