Precursors of Romanticism & Important Facts

A Brief Introduction

Romanticism or romantic revival is derived from the word romance which means something imaginative, adventures, thrilling and wonderful. The Romanticism or the Romantic movement, often called the second Renaissance, was both a revolt and revial. In this way, we can say that it was a revolt against the hard tempers, the dry intellectuality and artificiality which were the chief characteristics of the ‘neo classical’ poetry. Couper, Gabbe, Collins, Blake, Burns and Gray are recognized as the precursors of the Romantic movement. The term that best fits these varying features in the term Romance; it expresses the great writers of the time.

Important Facts to Remember

1. Firstly, William Wordsworth is universally recognized as the high priest of Nature’. He himself proclaimed that he was a worshipper of nature’. Love of nature was in his blood. His greatest contribution to nature poetry is that he gave a soul of nature.

2. Wordsworth said, “We are laid asleep in body and became a living soul.” At that time nature to him was “call in all.”

3. The Second Stage was a period of sensuous love of nature. Like Keats, Wordsworth loved the sensuous beauties of nature. Keats said, “O’for a life of sensation rather than of thought.” That is to say, “He did not have any interest beyond sensuous pleasure.”

4. In Third Stage, Wordsworth writes in “Tintern Abby that time is past.” Wordsworth perception of nature is growing deeper and deeper. From the the Physical of sensuous. From sensuous to the intellectual. And now from intellectual to the spiritual. This is the nature development of his nature.

5. The first three stages were transitory. The spiritual stage was lasting. Like a mystic Wordsworth deeper and deeper into this stage. Wordsworth said, “All thinking things, all object of all thoughts, And rolls through all thing.”

6. The traits of Romanticism were found in the writers of transition like Gray and Collins. Between the poets of transition and romantic poets, there were poets like William Cowper, George Gabbe, Robert Burns and William Blake who herald the down of the Romantic revival. They were precursors of romanticism.

7. William Cowper wrote poems like The Task’, The Winter Walk’, ‘On The Receipt of My Mother’s Picture’. George Crabbe’s important works are The Library, The Village’.

8. Robert Burns reaped the benefit of the literary traditions of his country. He published ‘poems’ in 1786.

9. William Blake wrote poetry of ordinary things. His Poetical Sketches’, ‘Song of Innocence’ and ‘Songs of Experience’ express his love of the country, of simple life and of childhood and home.