Name.

Muhammad Hamad
Roll no. 237
Class. BS 6th
Section. Open.

ROMANTICISM

What is Romanticism?
Romanticism is a term that cannot be defined accurately. Because many critics have defined it in
various ways, from various angles. An English critic. F.L. Lucas has counted 11,396 definitions
of Romanticism. C.H. Herford has defined it as “Romanticism is the extraordinary development
of imaginative sensibility”. Walter Pater says, “Romanticism is the addition of strangeness to
beauty.” Whereas Watts Dunton says, “Romanticism is the renaissance of wonder.” But the most
convincing definition of Romanticism is given by an eminent critic. It is “One poet is romantic
because he falls in love; another romantic because he sees a ghost; another romantic because he
hears a cuckoo; another romantic because he is reconciled to the church.

Romanticism holds a very significant place in the history of English literature, it started with the
publishing of Lyrical Ballad in 1798 by Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth, the
trend of Romanticism revived with this notable publication so this period is also known as the
revival of Romanticism, Lord Byron, P.B Shelley and John Keats followed the style of them.

An Age of Poetry
The important characteristics of this age is that it is emphatically an age of poetry unlike the
previous age which was largely one of prose but now as in the Elizabethan age, the young
enthusiast turned as naturally to poetry as the happy men to singing. The glory of this age is in
the poetry of Coleridge, Wordsworth, Byron, Shelley, Scott, Moore, Keats and Southey, they
were more prominent in this literary age, Wordsworth, Coleridge and with collaboration of
Southey made a trio group of so called Lake poets, they have a great impact on Romantic poetry,
the Romantic poetry unlike the preceding ages have different aspects they took the common
theme for their poetry.
Coleridge selected the supernaturalism but he has written his poems in such an artistic way that
one reject his disbelief and believe in him for a while, besides this Wordsworth has chosen
naturalism, a common theme for his poetry. It was the first time that common things have been
picked up for the poetry, before this era poetry could have been used for such grandeur themes
e.g kings, battles and heroes etc…