Poetry by William Blake

Romantics could not stand the Enlightment, they used their art, poetry and lifestyle to rebel. The movement was greatly inspired by the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution. The opposing side to Romanticism was the Enlightment. The Enlightment was a time when European politics, philosophy, science and communications…

eighteenth century, William Blake in "The Little Black Boy" intended to romanticize an individual with fanciful ideas or beliefs concerning riches, power and beauty. After all, whether in youth or old age, an African is someone who seems to dream of changing the human condition in an unrealistic manner. The little slave child in Blake's verse is only half-alive in being ruled by hopes and fears of a curious nature (Ogude 1976, 85-96). And Dr. Johnson might have associated Rasselas the Prince of…

In the 1800’s, the word “romance” was not used as it is today. The American Scholar A.O. Lovejoy once observed that the word 'romantic ' has come to mean so many things that, by itself, it means nothing at all. Contradictory to the previous statement, F.L. Lucas counted 11,396 definitions of the word, and synonymous usage for ‘romantic’ show that it is perhaps the most remarkable example of a term that can mean many things in accordance to personal and individual needs (Introduction to…

This period emphasized the self, creativity, imagination and the value of art. It was a movement that strongly emphasized emotion. It also legitimized ‘individual imagination' as a major authority. Which in turn gave rise to ‘free expression' in art. With such an emphasis on feelings and imagination many thinkers of this period introduced philosophies and theologies of their own on this topic. Richard Kearney in The Wake of the Imagination, explores the various concepts of imagining from the…

species’ long history, we have endlessly searched the answers to understanding the universe. For a very long time in Europe, Christianity put an end to this by claiming its dogmas held the answers we craved. Published in 1794 in Songs of Experience, William Blake’s “The Tyger” uses a critical and questioning speaker to reject the church’s teaching and revive our quest. This being his most popular poem, everything about it invites the readers to reconsider their stance on what they’ve been taught…

The Image of the Child in William Blake’s Poems: The Chimney Sweeper in the Songs of Innocence and of Experience Britain witnessed many developments and changes throughout the centuries and one of them was Industrial Revolution. It brought many issues that affected people’s life. Population and immigration were some key issues affecting the society directly. With the Industrial Revolution, people from rural areas started to migrate urbanized industrial cities and that changed the balance of…

The Imaginary and Silence: An Analysis of Ballad Poetry and Coleridge No poetic style within the context of the Romantic Tradition of English Literature emphasizes individual experience, nor glorifies the past and nature, quite like the Ballad. This literary tradition hearkens back to civilization before the invention of the written language and the medium of orality through which man publishes authentic creation. While conventional ballads, such as Beowulf or Robin Hood remain authorless or as…

analysis has been conducted on their poetry. One exception to this is Theodore Roethke; a poet who lived from 1908 to 1968. Growing up, Roethke had a fascination with nature which would lead to his excessive use of nature as a means of communicating his ideas on human experience and existence in his poetry. When Roethke was 14, his father died of cancer and his uncle committed suicide; this contributed to Roethke’s battles with insanity which would characterize his poetry. He obtained an A.B.…

The romantic period was a time of unprecedented change, widely known for its expression of transformative ideas, varied perspectives and exploration of meaning. It is this amalgamation of radical multifarious viewpoints that have endured and remained poignant both on intellectual and emotional levels. The reactionary nature of the movement itself characterized a set of antithetical values to the preceding age of reason. Logic and rationality gave way to imagination, an individuals search for…

ESSAY ON : WILLIAM WORDSWORTH’S “LINES WRITTEN IN EARLY SPRING” R omanticism was an intellectual and artistic movement that started in the eighteenth century and reached its peak during the nineteenth century. The most prominent standards of Romanticism focused on expressing the human social status, the glorification of nature, childhood and spontaneity of primitive forms of society (before it becomes affected with the lust for wealth during the period of the industrial revolution.) also…