Romanticism was an abstract and scholarly development in Europe that began in the late many years of eighteenth century. It was with the distribution of Lyrical Ballads in 1798 by William Wordsworth and Samuel Coleridge, which brought forth Romanticism throughout the entire existence of English writing. Cazamian characterizes Romanticism in A History of English Literature as, "The Romantic soul can be characterized as a complemented power of passionate life, incited or coordinated by the activity of innovative vision, and in its turn invigorating or coordinating such exercise." Some pundits considered Romanticism as "Renascence of Wonder." Whatever the case might be, it is apparent that Romanticism appeared as a response against the neoclassicism of the first age. Heartfelt verse is a sort of verse, which displays such highlights as feeling, creative mind, idealism, supernaturalism, Hellenism, medievalism, love for nature and so on.
characteristics of romantic poetry:
Romantic Poetry: A Reaction against Neoclassical Poetry
Romantic verse conveys exceptional highlights, which certainly recognize it from different sorts of verse. It is totally rather than neoclassical verse. Neoclassical verse is verse of mind and reason, while romantic verse is the result of feelings, estimations and the voice of the core of the artist. Romantic verse is the thing that the core of the writer says. It is a therapy of the artist's feelings, considerations, sentiments and thoughts bound in his heart. Romantic verse is a response against the set norms, shows, rules and conventional laws of verse. That is the explanation; romantic verse is recognized as verse of reformism rather than neoclassical verse. As indicated by William J. Long, "The Romantic Movement was checked, and is constantly set apart, by a solid response and dissent against the servitude of rule and custom which in science and philosophy just as writing, for the most part will in general shackle the free human soul."
The romantics were against the impact of reason in their verse. They didn't give any inclination to reason and mind in their verse. Then again, neoclassical writers trusted in the impact of reason.
Imagination in Romantic Poetry
Creative mind is the sign of romantic verse. It is an integral part of romantic artists like John Keats, Samuel Coleridge and P.B Shelley. In contrast to neoclassical writers, who evaded creative mind and didn't give any inclination to creative mind in their verse, romantic artists laid unprecedented weight on creative mind. They undermined the impact of reason and insight in any structure in their verse. Samuel Coleridge thought about an indispensable piece of his verse. In his Biographia Literaria, he has examined two kinds of Imagination-Primary and Secondary Imagination. He says, "The essential creative mind I hold to be the living force and prime specialist of all human insight, and a reiteration in the limited of the outside demonstration of making of the endless I AM. The optional I consider as a reverberation of the previous, existing together with the cognizant will, yet still indistinguishable with the essential in the sort of its organization, and contrasting just in degree, and in the mode its activity."
Nature in Romantic Poetry
Love for nature is another important feature of romantic poetry. Nature had a pivotal position in their poetry. Nature for them is a wellspring of inspiration, satisfaction and happiness. It is pertinent to mention here that all the romantic poets differed in their views about nature. Wordsworth is considered the great lover of nature.
Escapism in Romantic Poetry
Escapism is another striking characteristic of romantic poetry. Escapism is a term, which implies a writer's failure to face the agonies of real life and take shelter somewhere else instead of fighting against the odds. Escapism is the main theme of romantic poetry. As most of the romantic poets were in the grip of miseries, they tried to take asylum in the bower of their poetry. It was their most loved pastime to escape from reality and take asylum in the realm of their imagination.
Medievalism in Romantic Poetry
Medievalism is likewise an important characteristic of romantic poetry. Medievalism means one’s love for the Middle Ages. Romantic poetry is replete with elements of medievalism a great deal. John Keats and Coleridge are the leading romantic poets, whose poetry exhibited an ample amount of medievalism. Romantic poets were against intellectualism, urbanism, industrialization and humdrum life. They wanted to get rid of these things by taking asylum in far off lands of their imagination. That is why; Middle Ages appealed to their taste to a great extent. They adored weird, remote and recondite places. Resultantly, they were more attracted to Middle Ages than to their own age.
Hellenism in Romantic Poetry
Hellenism implies love, commitment and unmistakable fascination in the antiquated society, values and individuals of Greek. Romantic poets loved Hellenism a great deal in their poetry. They loved to explore the ancient culture of Greek in their poetry. John Keats' poetry is loaded with various allusions to the art, literature and culture of Greek. Ode on a Grecian Urn is a perfect example in this regard. The pictures engraved on the Grecian Urn show Keats's love the Greek ideals, culture and art.
Supernaturalism in Romantic Poetry
Supernaturalism is another important feature of romantic poetry. Most of the romantic poets used supernatural elements in their poetry. Supernaturalism is a unique trait of romantic poets. They used supernaturalism not just for the creation of horror and awe; rather, they used it for the pleasure of the reader. Samuel Coleridge is the leading romantic poet in this regard. His poem, 'Kubla Khan' is the most romantic poem in the history of English literature. It is completely the product of his imagination. The whole poem is a collection of supernatural elements.
Subjectivity in Romantic Poetry
Romantic poetry is poetry of the miseries, despairs and personal stories of the poets. It is poetry of sentiments, emotions and imagination of the poets. Romantic poetry is against the objectivity of neoclassical poetry. Neoclassical poets avoided to describe their personal emotions in their poetry. They wanted to present a true picture of the society, while the romantic poets avoided description of their contemporary age. John Keats is the leading poet; whose poetry is a biography his life. He wrote poetry just for the sake of poetry. He didn't want to convey any moral message to his readers. He just wanted to write poetry and prove himself the best poet in his age. That is why; we find numerous clues to his personal life in his poems.
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