1.3 The rise of individualism and imagination in literature

The Romantic period marked a shift towards individualism and imagination in literature. Writers emphasized personal experiences, emotions, and creative expression over traditional forms and reason.

Nature, spontaneity, and the power of the mind took center stage. Poets like Wordsworth and Coleridge championed these ideals in their groundbreaking collection "Lyrical Ballads," revolutionizing English poetry.

Romantic Poetry Themes

Emphasis on Individual Experience and Emotion

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• Subjectivity prioritized the individual's unique thoughts, feelings, and perceptions over objective reality or universal truths
• Emotion over reason elevated the importance of personal feelings, intuition, and passion above rational thought and logic in poetry (Wordsworth's "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud")
• Spontaneous overflow of feelings encouraged poets to express their genuine emotions and experiences in a natural, unrestrained manner without excessive editing or revision (Coleridge's "Kubla Khan")

Reverence for Nature and Imagination

• Nature worship celebrated the beauty, power, and spirituality of the natural world, often portraying it as a source of inspiration, solace, and divine presence (Shelley's "To a Skylark")
• Imagination emphasized the creative power of the mind to transcend reality, generate original ideas, and explore the depths of human experience through poetry (Keats' "Ode to a Nightingale")

Romantic Poetry Techniques

Unconventional Forms and Poetic Genius

• Organic form rejected strict adherence to traditional poetic structures and favored more fluid, natural expressions that mirrored the poet's thoughts and emotions (Blake's "The Tyger")
• Poetic genius celebrated the innate creative abilities of the poet as a visionary figure with heightened sensitivity and imagination, capable of profound insights and original expressions (Wordsworth's Preface to Lyrical Ballads)

Romantic Poetry Collections

Lyrical Ballads: A Groundbreaking Collaboration

• Lyrical Ballads, a collection of poems by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, published in 1798, marked a significant shift in English poetry
• The collection featured poems that focused on everyday subjects, rural life, and the natural world, written in a more accessible language and style (Wordsworth's "Tintern Abbey")
• Lyrical Ballads challenged the prevailing neoclassical conventions of poetry and helped establish the Romantic movement by emphasizing individual experience, emotion, and imagination (Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner")
• The collection's preface, written by Wordsworth, served as a manifesto for Romantic poetry, advocating for a more natural and authentic poetic language and subject matter