Romantic Period

1798-18…ehhhh?

(How about to 1837)

Romantic Period

• Passion vs. Reason

• Influence of French Revolution

• Power of Nature– “The One Life”

• Sanctity of Innocence

Passion vs. Reason• Response to the Age of Reason

– Scientific truth– Exploration of world, conquering territories

• Preserve the majesty of the world!• Appreciate Nature; don’t pick it apart!

Experience Nature!!

VS.

Influence of French Revolution• Idealistic views of freedom • Brutal, bloody

consequences• Response: Shock and

Disillusionment– Just like after World War I:

• “What is mankind capable of doing to one another?”

• “How did we come to this?”

• Effect: Turn away from being interested in politics and people. – Return to NATURE!

Power of Nature

• Nature endures. – Nature trumps Man.

• Nature inspires.– Experience Nature, and you will experience emotion

and imagination.• Nature is divine.

– Experience Nature, and you will experience spiritual awakening.

• Be ONE with Nature and be divine!

“The One Life”• Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s belief that God is

manifested in Nature, and we can have spiritual experiences through communing with Nature.

• Nature is divine and powerful.

• Be open to Nature, be open to God.

• Accept your place in Nature, be One with Nature.

• Opposing Nature is futile.

• The One Life always restores itself.

Sanctity of Innocence• Nature is sacred and pure.• People are corrupt and

polluted.

• A child comes from Nature, and starts out innocent and pure, but is eventually polluted by experience and exposure to world of Man.

• Solitude, meditation, and immersion in Nature help preserve a person’s rightful existence in accordance with The One Life.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth

• 1794: Col: Dreams of Pantisocracy, marries Sarah• 1795: Col: Abandons Pantisocracy, creates One Life• 1798: Wordsworth and Coleridge publish Lyrical Ballads

together• 1800: Col: Laudnum addiction increases

– Opuim with alcohol “helps” writer’s block

• 1810: Falling out between Wordsworth and Coleridge• 1810-1820:

– Col: literary critic (lectures for money)– WW: continues writing The Prelude, his masterpiece.

• FAMOUS WORKS: – Col: Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Kubla Khan, Christobel– WW: The Prelude, Tintern Abbey, “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”

Conversational Poetry• New form of poetry created by Coleridge• Expression a moment’s emotions and thoughts by

using every day language. – Informal: much like stream of consciousness.

• Wordsworth later describes this form of writing as “spontaneous overflow of emotion.”

• The Conversation Poems: 8 poems by Coleridge that express the following progression of thought:– Description of Nature– Inspiration by Nature (inspires an emotion or a question)– Meditation on Inspiration– Enlightenment

The Ruined Cottage• What was the name of the woman who inhabited the cottage?• When the wandering pedlar first came to the cottage years ago,

how did he describe the cottage and its inhabitants?• What was Margaret’s husband’s name?• How many children did they have?• What happened two years in a row to change the family’s

circumstances for the worse?• When Robert began to feel useless, he left. Where did he go?• What happened to the older child?• What happened to the baby?• How is the cottage described by the end of the poem? • At the end of the story when Margaret is dead, does the pedlar

encourage his audience to feel happy or sad? Why?• When the narrator (poet) encounters the pedlar at the ruined

cottage, what does he do before the pedlar begins the story?• When Robert leaves for the army, what does he leave behind for

Margaret?

The Ruined Cottage• Elegy of Margaret

– Acknowledged the “simple life”

• Pantheism and Necessitarianism = The One Life– God in Nature, God in everything– Everything happens for a reason, ultimately good.– Nature works to achieve an ultimately good resolution.

• Ending note of consolation---does it work?• Dual Interpretations:

– Margaret resists The One Life, and ultimately finds peace in death.

– Not convinced that all is well. Life sucks and then you die.

Rime of the Ancient Mariner

• What is the Ancient Mariner’s listener supposed to be doing instead of listening to the story?

• Why can’t the Wedding Guest go into the church for the wedding?

• What direction is the ship sailing?• When the storm drove the ship way down south, how did the

environment affect the ship’s progress?• What causes the ice to break away for the ship?• How does the crew treat the albatross?• Why does the Ancient Mariner shoot the albatross?• What happens to make the crew approve of the Mariner’s

murderous act?• If the ship has never turned around, and the sun is now rising

on the right, what has the ship accomplished?

Rime of the Ancient Mariner• When the wind stops and the ship is stuck in a hot, fiery hell,

some of the crew discover something in their dreams. What?

• What is hung around the Mariner’s neck and why?• After days of being stuck in heat, the Mariner sees

something in the distance. What?• How is the Mariner able to tell the crew that he sees a sail?

(What did he have to do?)• What is strange about this ship’s progress on the sea?• Who is on this ship?• Who wins the dice game?• What happens after she wins?• What is strange about the bodies of the crew as time

passes?

Rime of the Ancient Mariner• What does the Mariner do that makes him able to pray again?• What happens the moment that the Mariner prays again?• The Mariner sees a storm coming, but when it hits, there is rain

but no _________.• Even though there is no wind, what is responsible for the ship’s

movement?• What happens to the crew at this point?• Two voices are heard in the air. What does one voice say about

how the Polar Spirit feels?• When the second voice says, “The man hath penance done,

and penance more will do,” what does it mean?• What familiar images does the Mariner see that tells him he is

almost home?• After seeing his native land so near, the Mariner looks back at

his crew. They are lying lifeless on the deck, but something new is there. What?

Rime of the Ancient Mariner• The Mariner gets on a different boat to go to shore. Who is

on the boat? (3 people)• How does the Hermit describe the Mariner’s boat?• What happens to the Mariner’s ship once he gets into the

boat with the Hermit?• When the Mariner asks the Hermit to shrive him, what does

the Hermit ask him to do?• As the Mariner tells his story, how does he feel up until he

reaches the end?• When the Mariner finishes his story, how does he feel?• Ever since he told the Hermit his story that first time, what

has happened to the Mariner?• What does the Mariner tell the Wedding Guest is one of the

sweetest pleasures after having been alone so long?• What final message does the Mariner give the Wedding

Guest about “[He] who prayeth best?”

Rime of the Ancient Mariner

• With what weapon did the Mariner kill the albatross?

• What was the name of the woman who was with Death on the skeleton ship?

• The Pilot’s boy thinks that the Mariner is who?

• How is the Wedding Guest affected by the Mariner’s story?

Rime of the Ancient Mariner• Fall and Redemption Story:

– Adam and Eve: Christian Lesson• original sin against God, suffering for mankind, with repentance and penance

we receive redemption through Christ.

– Mariner: The One Life Lesson• Original Sin:

– against Nature (shooting albatross)

• Suffering: – crew suffers, Mariner suffers (pain and isolation)

• Repentance: – Blesses snakes (new relationship with Nature)– Able to pray (close to God again)– Sleeps and wakes (almost like he is reborn)– Rain returns (almost like a baptism)– Spirits and Angels take him home– Confesses to a Hermit (man of Nature)

• Penance – “Penance he hath done and penance more will do.”– Compelled to share his tale forever.– Shares lesson of The One Life.– “He prayeth best who loveth best/ All things great and small.”

Criticism of RAMIs the Mariner truly redeemed at the end of the poem? Is

the One Life message accurately portrayed?• 2 Perspectives:

– YES! He went against Nature, the Mariner had to suffer in order to change (process of Nature reasserting itself), the Mariner embraced Nature, and the One Life is restored. The Mariner is alive and can spread the good news of the One Life. Nature is at balance again and worked for the ultimate good.

– NO! The Mariner went against Nature, but when he returns to the One Life, he is never at peace. The One Life is supposed to work for the ultimate good, but the Mariner’s suffering extended beyond necessary. He was back in the fold, no longer at odds with Nature, and yet Nature curses him with a strange compulsion for the rest of his existence, living in a state of agony until the next time he can tell his story again. And why was the Mariner’s fate decided by a game of dice? The suffering of the Mariner is due to an arbitrary, cruel bet. That doesn’t show a divine, omnipresent, work-for-the-ultimate-good, discerning One Life force.

Rime of the Ancient Mariner

• Romantic Elements:

• Imagination

• Power of Nature

• The One Life message

• Acknowledge the “simple man”

Today’s Assignment:

• How does each poem reflect the following Romantic markers?– Passion vs. Reason– Influence of French Revolution– Power of Nature– The One Life– Sanctity of Innocence– Imagination– Celebration of “simple life”

• Identify passages to support your discoveries.

Romantic Creative Writing

• Poetry is “the spontaneous overflow of emotion.” –William Wordsworth

• Stream of Consciousness– Don’t think. Just start writing. – Write sentences, phrases, or just whatever

words float into your head. – Do not edit.

Creative Writing:Rime of the Ancient Mariner

• From the stream of consciousness exercise, pick the most interesting words or phrases that inspire you.– Use your imagination to create a story from

this inspiration.– Incorporate a sense of adventure!– Include a fantastic supernatural force!– Use vivid imagery to really describe the

settings!

Creative Writing:“I Wandered Lonely As a Cloud”

• What has been the happiest day of your life?– Take some time to reflect on the details of that

day.– Jot down a few specific memories from that

experience.– Now try to recreate those moments in a poem

• Use imagery to describe the setting.• Express yourself with illustrative comparisons (simile,

metaphor)

– At the end, discuss how precious that memory is and how it makes you feel to reflect on it.

Creative Writing:Power of Nature

• Write a poem that focuses on The Power of Nature.

• For Example:– Illustrate how Nature is a powerful force to be

reckoned with…– Express how you have experienced a

powerful connection with Nature…