Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Characteristics of Romantic Poetry
Characteristics of Romantic Poetry
Assignment 1
English 1411W
Assignment 1
London 1802. The romantic poems show strong belief in God, as seen by Blakes The Chimney Sweeper in The Songs of Innocence, when the angel tells Tom hed have God for his father, and never want joy. This belief in God as one to solve problems is also seen in Coleridges Rime of the Ancient Mariner, when the Mariner sat to pray, and from my [The Mariners] neck so free The Albatross fell and further along when A seraph-man, On every corse there stood. It was these angels that helped the Mariner find his way home. A further example of this belief in God to solve problems is seen in Wordsworths writing, in London 1802, when Wordsworth calls to Milton! Thou shouldst be living at this hour; England hath need of thee. In the times of change, especially those which the romantics did not approve of, they looked to God to guide them and expected God to correct what they believed was wrong, and thus religious imagery plays an important role in romantic poetry. However, as seen specifically in Blakes Songs of Experience, Blake is critical of religion, and possibly feels let down. For instance, in Tyger, Blake directly questions God, wondering Did he who made the Lamb make thee? This criticism of religion and the church is also seen in Blakes London, in the phrase every blackning Church appals. It appears that by this stage, there were so many changes that Blake did not approve of, that he felt disillusioned by God and perhaps felt let down. As seen in the above analysis, two key characteristics and features of romantic poetry are the references to nature, and the religious imagery, both of which help relate the poems to the events of change that were occurring in England at the time. These features are used in different ways by each poet, but help to convey the poets feelings to the reader, and inform the reader of a specific view that the romantic poets held. As such, these features are an essential part of these poems, and help give them identity as romantic poetry.