l'età romantica: in lingua inglese

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Categoria:	Letteratura Inglese
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Data:	02.02.2006
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The romantic age
(1798-1832)

The romantic age is an important period in the literary, philosophical and political history of Europe, a period that goes from the end of the 18th century to the middle of the 19th century (a period of about forty years). Romanticism represent a reaction against the neo-classical and rationalistic ideal of the 18th century and a movement towards a realization of emotional experience and individual feelings of the life of man. Romanticism as a rediscovery of the magical power of the imagination which gains a primary role in the process of poetic composition, instead of the faith in reason that had characterized the preceding age. The romantic poets regard poetry as the centre of all knowledge and the main function of poetry is to discover the inner reality of things. The typical romantic poet becomes a dreamer and an individualist, a visionary prophet and a teacher whose task was to mediate between man and nature, to point out the evils of society, to give voice to ideals of beauty, truth, freedom and mysticism. But these poets don’t disregard reality: indeed they appreciated the natural world and their works were rich in descriptions of natural elements and landscapes. The romantic poets also regarded nature “as a living force” and as the expression of God in the universe. Nature became the main source of inspiration, a source of comfort and joy.

About poetic technique, the romantic poets used a new and individual style a different poetic diction that means more vivid and familiar words and not the artificial circumlocutions of the early 18th century diction, for example: symbols and images lost their decorative functions to assume a vital role.

About verse forms, there was a return to the past forms such as “the ballad” modified into the literary ballad; “the sonnet”, the “lyric poems” achieved more flexibility and intensity.

The great English romantic poets are usually grouped into two generations: the first one, often called “the lake poets” included: William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge; the second one included: Byron, Shelly and Keats.
The poets of the first generation wanted to theorise about poetry. Wordsworth, in his “Lyrical ballads”, speaks about the beauty of nature and ordinary things. Coleridge, with visionary topics, speaks about the supernatural and mystery.

About social problems. The first generation of poets was interested in politic and social problems; they supported the French Revolution with its ideals of freedom and equality. But after the Napoleonic wars and because of the appalling social conditions in England caused by the Industrial Revolution, both Wordsworth and Coleridge experienced deep disillusionment and they adopted conservative views in the last period of their lives. The poets of the second generation all died very young. They also experienced political disillusionment which is reflected in their poetry. So, we can say that the writers of this period tend to revolt against this society and the result of the writers’ rejection of society was the individualist vision. These writers considered the external world as alien and unfriendly and so they tend more and more to escape into their inner experience. Individualism and escapism as well as the alienation of the artist from society, were very strong in this generation. These poets became mystical, visionary and prophets.