Friedrich Schlegel, a German poet, defined romanticism as, “literature depicting emotional matter in an imaginative form”. Romanticism was a movement in literature that was popular during the 18th century that primarily focused on the individual through imagination, freedom and emotion; feeling was valued over emotion. Edgar Allen Poe and Longfellow are two well-known writers who incorporated romanticism in their works. The romanticism traits of imagination and awe of nature are depicted in Edgar Allen Poe’s short story “The Fall of the House of Usher”, and in Henry Longfellow’s poem “The Tide Rises and the Tide Falls”. An important trait of Romanticism was the importance of imagination. Imagination was legitimized as a critical authority
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The poem, “The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls” proves that nature prevails over humanity. Throughout the poem the tide is in constant motion. The last line of every stanza is, “The tide rises, the tide falls” (Longfellow). This is important because it shows that nature is eternal and constant; outside forces, such as human death, will not change the course of nature. In the poem the traveler dies on his journey, but nature continues to move on. Awe of nature is shown in the short story “The Fall of the House of Usher” through the landscape of the house. The landscape is described as, “desolate or terrible”, and “bleak”. The narrator of the story feels melancholy as he looks at the landscape of the house. Poe goes in more detail about the landscape describing the trees as “a few white trunks of decayed trees”’; the description of the trees gives a dark scene. The decaying trees can be a symbol for the Ushers’ decaying mental states. Nature is important in the story because it creates the scene of melancholy. The short story and the poem use nature as symbols for a deeper meaning. “The Fall of the House of Usher” has “decayed trees” to show the deterioration of both the house and the mental states of the twins. “The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls” uses the repetitive nature of waves to show that nature is never ending and eternal. Nature creates a deeper meaning for the
The poem, “The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls” proves that nature prevails over humanity. Throughout the poem the tide is in constant motion. The last line of every stanza is, “The tide rises, the tide falls” (Longfellow). This is important because it shows that nature is eternal and constant; outside forces, such as human death, will not change the course of nature. In the poem the traveler dies on his journey, but nature continues to move on. Awe of nature is shown in the short story “The Fall of the House of Usher” through the landscape of the house. The landscape is described as, “desolate or terrible”, and “bleak”. The narrator of the story feels melancholy as he looks at the landscape of the house. Poe goes in more detail about the landscape describing the trees as “a few white trunks of decayed trees”’; the description of the trees gives a dark scene. The decaying trees can be a symbol for the Ushers’ decaying mental states. Nature is important in the story because it creates the scene of melancholy. The short story and the poem use nature as symbols for a deeper meaning. “The Fall of the House of Usher” has “decayed trees” to show the deterioration of both the house and the mental states of the twins. “The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls” uses the repetitive nature of waves to show that nature is never ending and eternal. Nature creates a deeper meaning for the