Key Characteristics of Romentic Age

This task, assigned by Ms. Megha Trivedi, will cover the key traits of the Romantic Age with reference to William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Introduction 

The late 18th and early 19th centuries saw a powerful literary revolution sweep across Europe, a movement known as Romanticism. This wasn't just a shift in style; it was a profound reorientation of artistic and intellectual thought. Romantic poets, disillusioned with the rigid formality and industrial rationalism of the preceding Neoclassical era, sought a return to the primal, the authentic, and the deeply personal. They were pioneers, charting a new course that celebrated emotion, nature, and the power of the individual imagination.

At the core of this movement were two literary titans, William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, whose collaborative masterpiece, Lyrical Ballads (1798), is widely considered the founding text of English Romanticism. Through their work, they defined the key characteristics of this new poetic form, characteristics that continue to resonate with readers today.

Key Characteristics of the Romentic Age

Since they pioneered the movement that Keats, Shelley, and Byron followed, Wordsworth and Coleridge are known as the early romantics. We will look at the salient features of the Romentic Age in reference with Wordsworth and Coleridge primarily.

The Primacy of Emotion and the Commonplace

The Romantic poets rebelled against the Enlightenment's emphasis on reason and logic. For them, feeling and intuition were the truest guides to understanding the world. Wordsworth, in the preface to the second edition of Lyrical Ballads, famously defined poetry as "the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity." This quote encapsulates the Romantic belief that poetry wasn't a product of intellectual calculation but a natural outpouring of the soul.

This focus on emotion led them to embrace the commonplace and the ordinary. Instead of writing about epic heroes and lofty historical events, they found profound beauty in the everyday lives of rural people and the simple scenes of nature. Wordsworth’s I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud is a quintessential example. The poem's subject is a simple observation of a field of daffodils. Yet, through the poet's emotional response, this seemingly mundane scene is transformed into a source of immense joy and spiritual enrichment. He describes the flowers as 

"a host, of golden daffodils; 

 Beside the lake, beneath the trees, 

 Fluttering and dancing in the breeze." 

The personification and the poet's feeling of "pleasure" in their sight elevate the scene from a mere natural fact to a deeply personal experience.

Similarly, Coleridge’s Kubla Khan explores the strange and powerful world of dreams and the imagination, proving that the most profound experiences could be found within the human mind, not just in external reality. The poem's fantastical imagery 

"A stately pleasure-dome decree: 

 Where Alph, the sacred river, ran 

 Through caverns measureless to man"

is a direct product of an opium-induced vision, demonstrating the Romantics' interest in altered states of consciousness as a gateway to creative expression.

The Glorification of Nature

For the Romantics, nature was more than just a backdrop; it was a living, breathing entity, a source of spiritual truth, and a refuge from the corrupting influence of industrial society. They saw in nature a reflection of their own souls and a divine presence that connected humanity to the sublime. This reverence for the natural world was a direct response to the rapid urbanization and industrialization of their time, which they viewed as dehumanizing.

Wordsworth, in particular, was a high priest of nature. His poetry is suffused with a sense of pantheism, the belief that God is immanent in the universe. In Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey, he recalls the profound effect of the Wye River valley on his mind and spirit. He speaks of 

"a sense sublime 

Of something far more deeply interfused, 

Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns, 

And the round ocean and the living air, 

And the blue sky, and in the mind of man." 

This passage beautifully illustrates his belief in a spiritual force that pervades all of nature and links it to human consciousness. For him, a walk in the woods wasn't just a physical act; it was a religious experience.

Coleridge’s engagement with nature was often more mystical and symbolic. In The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, the mariner's crime is not just killing a bird but violating the sanctity of nature. The albatross, initially a good omen, becomes a symbol of the spiritual and moral consequences of this act. The supernatural elements—the skeletal ship, the "slimy things" in the sea, the ghost of the bird—are all part of a moral universe where nature is a powerful, sentient force that demands respect.

The Importance of Imagination and the Individual

The Romantic poets elevated the imagination from a mere faculty of the mind to a divine, creative power. They believed that the imagination was the key to understanding both the natural world and the human condition. It was the faculty that allowed the poet to perceive the spiritual essence hidden beneath the surface of reality.

Coleridge, in his literary criticism, distinguished between "Fancy" and "Imagination." Fancy, he argued, merely arranges and combines existing ideas in a new way, like a collage. Imagination, however, is a deeper, more transformative power that synthesizes disparate elements to create something entirely new. It is the imagination that allows the poet to see the infinite in the finite, the sacred in the mundane.

Wordsworth's The Prelude is an epic poem of the imagination's growth, a spiritual autobiography that traces the development of his poetic consciousness. He writes of the "spots of time," moments of profound connection with nature that shaped his identity. These are not just memories; they are transformative experiences, the result of a powerful imaginative faculty that allows him to revisit and re-experience these moments with renewed clarity and significance.

The emphasis on the individual was a radical departure from Neoclassical poetry, which often focused on universal truths and societal norms. Romanticism championed the solitary artist and the unique perspective of the individual. Wordsworth's The Solitary Reaper is a perfect example. The poem's focus is on a single, isolated figure—a young Highland girl singing as she works in a field. The poet, an external observer, is profoundly moved not by her song's literal meaning (which he doesn't understand) but by its emotional power. The poem is a celebration of this isolated, creative spirit and the deep, personal impact she has on the poet's soul.

Imagination and the Supernatural

Another key element of Romantic poetry is its celebration of imagination and, in Coleridge’s case especially, its fascination with the supernatural. Imagination was regarded as the highest human faculty because it allowed poets to transcend ordinary experience and give shape to visionary worlds.

Wordsworth, however, emphasized a more grounded imagination. His poetry often depicted “the ordinary made extraordinary” through the imaginative eye of the poet. For instance, in We Are Seven, an apparently simple dialogue with a rustic girl about her siblings takes on profound philosophical meaning about life, death, and the childlike understanding of mortality. The poem illustrates Wordsworth’s faith in the creative power of the mind to find deep truths in humble everyday experiences.

Coleridge, meanwhile, leaned toward the fantastical dimensions of imagination. His masterpiece The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1798) incorporates supernatural beings, curses, ghostly ships, and spectral creatures. The mariner’s harrowing voyage becomes not only a sea adventure but also a spiritual allegory, with the supernatural elements heightening the intensity of the moral lesson. Coleridge argued in Biographia Literaria (1817) that while Wordsworth sought to “make the ordinary appear extraordinary,” his own task was to make the strange and marvelous appear believable. His imaginative use of myth and the supernatural is thus a distinctive Romantic trait.

Language and Form: A Return to Simplicity

To convey these new ideas, the Romantics also revolutionized poetic language and form. They rejected the ornate, formal, and often Latin-derived diction of their predecessors. Instead, they sought to use the language of the common man, believing that a more natural, accessible style would better convey genuine emotion.

Wordsworth's preface to Lyrical Ballads was a manifesto for this new approach. He declared his intention to use "the real language of men in a state of vivid sensation." This meant abandoning poetic conventions and writing in a way that felt authentic and unforced. The direct, conversational tone of many of his poems, such as Michael, a tragic story of a shepherd and his son, reflects this commitment to simplicity and truthfulness.

Coleridge, while also committed to a new kind of authenticity, often incorporated archaic language and ballad-like structures to create a sense of mystery and otherworldliness. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is written in a ballad stanza, complete with an archaic spelling ("Rime") and a supernatural tale that harks back to medieval folklore. This stylistic choice, however, served the same Romantic goal: to break from the tired conventions of the past and create a new kind of poetry that could explore the strange and the supernatural.

Conclusion

The poetry of Wordsworth and Coleridge defined a new era of artistic expression. Their work is characterized by a profound appreciation for emotion, a reverence for nature, a belief in the power of the imagination, and a commitment to authentic, accessible language. They didn't just write poems; they created a new way of seeing the world, one that continues to influence literature and art to this day. Through their a lyrical celebration of the human spirit and the natural world, they invited us to look inward and to find the extraordinary in the seemingly ordinary.

References 

Coleridge, Samuel Taylor. Biographia Literaria. 1817. Edited by J. Shawcross, Oxford UP, 1907.

Coleridge, Samuel Taylor. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. 1798.

Wordsworth, William. Lyrical Ballads. 1798. Edited by W. J. B. Owen, Oxford UP, 1969.

Wordsworth, William. Poetical Works. Edited by Ernest de Selincourt and Helen Darbishire, Oxford UP, 1940.

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