romanticism and poetry, Schemi e mappe concettuali di Inglese

Scarica romanticism and poetry e più Schemi e mappe concettuali in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! Romanticism & poetry Romanticism was characterized by the exaltation of freedom, individuality, subjectivity and sentimentality, as opposed to the objectivity and rationalism of Enlightenment thought, as well as a strong rejection of the classical tradition from Neoclassicism. Themes of Romanticism: • The exaltation of the self, individualism and subjectivism in art. The man is interested in the interior of him, he begins to take the individual taste and not the universal beauty. • The rebellious, idealistic, non-conformist and dreamer hero. • Melancholy as a reflection of an inner breakdown. • The disappointment, the romantics reject their time and feel that life is unfair and fleeting. • Evasion as a means of escape from that life of disenchantment (that's why they like gothic, exotic and medieval ruins). • Wild and hostile nature is no longer written about the tamed nature of Neoclassicism, but about wild forests, landscapes and mountains (for the romantic man, nature is an organic and living whole). • Freedom, especially in poetic forms (the poet is no longer tied to the rigorous laws of classical meter). • Originality is essential as well as creativity against the imitation and static literature of Neoclassicism. • Love and death, the romantic appreciates love for love's sake but also reminds him of the finitude of life and the proximity of death. • The poet is a demiurge, that is, he is a creator. • The unfinished and imperfect work is better than the closed and finished work. The English were the ones who wrote the best romantic poetry, the most attractive to the sensibilities of our time. William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Lord Byron, John Keats, William Blake and Mary Shelley are the most important English romantic poets. These fundamental poets, each with his own personal voice, although united by common themes and attitudes and by similar aesthetic proposals, are a significant representation of the poetic universe of Romanticism, its tonality, its way of looking at reality and the landscape. Important poets 1. “The Daffodils” by William Wordsworth. I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o’er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. Continuous as the stars that shine And twinkle on the Milky Way, They stretched in never-ending line Along the margin of a bay: Ten thousand saw I at a glance, Tossing their heads in sprightly dance. The waves beside them danced, but they Out-did the sparkling waves in glee: A Poet could not but be gay, In such a jocund company: I gazed—and gazed—but little thought What wealth the show to me had brought: For oft, when on my couch I lie In vacant or in pensive mood, They flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude; And then my heart with pleasure fills, And dances with the daffodils. Explanation: There are several themes addressed in the composition. The text, in fact, is distinguished by a delicate observation of nature, which Wordsworth presents in three different ways. Nature, first of all, for the poet is a vital force. Furthermore, the contrast between nature and the urban environment is remarkable: the daffodil field of Glencoyne Bay, with its idyllic tranquility that stimulates man's delight and poetic creation, actually stands in opposition to the confusion and turmoil of the city. Not surprisingly, the real protagonists of I Wandered Lonely as A Cloud are neither the men, nor Wordsworth himself, but rather the natural elements, with daffodils and clouds almost competing with each other to see who offers more joy. Nature, finally, is presented as a source of inspiration for man, human beings, in this way, are not strangers to the natural idyll, but are intrinsically part of it. 4. “I cannot exist without you” by John Keats. I cannot exist without you I am forgetful of every thing but seeing you again my Life seems to stop there I see no further. You have absorb’d me. I have a sensation at the present moment as though I was dissolving I should be exquisitely miserable without the hope of soon seeing you. I should be afraid to separate myself far from you. My sweet Fanny, will your heart never change? My love, will it? I have no limit now to my love You note came in just here I cannot be happier away from you ‘T is richer than an Argosy of Pearles. Do not threat me even in jest. I have been astonished that Men could die Martyrs for religion - I have shudder’d at it I shudder no more I could be martyr’d for my Religion Love is my religion I could die for that I could die for you. My Creed is Love and you are its only tenet – You have ravish’d me away by a Power I cannot resist: and yet I could resist till I saw you; and even since I have seen you I have endeavoured often “to reason against the reasons of my Love.” I can do that no more the pain would be too great My Love is selfish I cannot breathe without you. Explanation: Exactly a year after John Keats extolled the joys of being single, he fell in love. Fanny Brawne wasn’t beautiful by conventional standards, but she possessed enchanting erudition, a pair of intense blue eyes, and a disarming smile. Fanny and John remained engaged and in love until his tragically untimely death of tuberculosis at the age of twenty-five. The three years of their betrothal were among the most poetically productive for Keats. 5. “The lamb” by William Blake. Little Lamb who made thee Dost thou know who made thee Gave thee life & bid thee feed. By the stream & o'er the mead; Gave thee clothing of delight, Softest clothing wooly bright; Gave thee such a tender voice, Making all the vales rejoice! Little Lamb who made thee Dost thou know who made thee Little Lamb I'll tell thee, Little Lamb I'll tell thee! He is called by thy name, For he calls himself a Lamb: He is meek & he is mild, He became a little child: I a child & thou a lamb, We are called by his name. Little Lamb God bless thee. Little Lamb God bless thee. Explanation: Little lamb is one of the best known poems among those in the Songs of Innocence collection. The text of the poem opens with two persistent rhetorical questions, with which Blake questions the origins of the Lamb, to which he asks, "little lamb, who made you? / Do you know who made you?" . The lamb is an archetype that belongs to Christian symbology, where it alludes to innocence, purity and, finally, to the crucifixion of Jesus, capable of freeing men from the slavery of sin. Blake therefore asks the Lamb if he is aware of the identity of his creator, he asks these questions with the frankness typical of a child, whose simple and spontaneous faith he tries to emulate. In this sense, the lamb is opposed to the disturbing figure of “the Tyger”. In the following lines Blake answers the questions: the creator of the Lamb is he who is" called by name", or Jesus Christ. According to Blake, in fact, children are the archetype of an ideal state not yet corrupted, being animated by an intact innocence and the creative power of the imagination, then being contaminated by "experience" and becoming adults. In this poem, finally, Blake uses dense archaisms (“thou", “dost”, “thee”). 5.1“The Tyger” by William Blake. Tyger! Tyger! Burning bright In the forests of the night: What immortal hand or eye Could frame thy fearful symmetry? In what distant deeps or skies Burnt the fire of thine eyes? On what wings dare he aspire? What the hand dare seize the fire? And what shoulder, and what art, Could twist the sinews of thy heart? And when thy heart began to beat, What dread hand? And what dread feet? What the hammer? What the chain? In what furnace was thy brain? What the anvil? What dread grasp Dare its deadly terrors clasp? When the stars threw down their spears, And water’d heaven with their tears: Did he smile his work to see? Did he who made the Lamb make thee? Tyger Tyger burning bright, In the forests of the night: What immortal hand or eye, Explanation: “The Tyger” belongs to Songs of Experience collection. In this poem, Blake not only explores the coexistence of good and evil, but also questions the source of their existence, asking how a single creator can create both beauty and horror. In the poem there are questions like: “why do good people suffer?" and "how can good people do bad things?”. The Tyger is the symbol of violence and evil and no one seem to be able to give an answer to his questions. Blake can’t convince himelf that the creator of the Tyger is the same good God who created the Lamb. "The Tyger” includes powerful metaphors and a number of religious and classical allusions that can enrich the analysis.