Near Matches
Ignore Exact
Everything
2
Distinguishing 18th Century Classicists from Romantic Poets
(
idea
)
by
Castalia
Mon May 07 2001 at 4:50:40
The work of the
18th century
was marked by a
desire
for
perfection
in
form
, for
precision
and for polish. The
rhyming couplet
(and the
heroic couplet
) was the expected form. Meter was usually
iambic pentameter
. The
subject matter
was often narrow and sometimes
trivial
and dealt with a small section of
society
. For the most part this was the
upper class
.
Poetic concern
s were mostly
urban
and very rarely rural.
Satire
was very popular.
Works include "
Rape of the Lock
, "
A Modest Proposal
", "
Macflecknoe
" etc...
William Wordsworth
is noted for his
simple diction
, simple subject matter and
smooth phrasing
. He is the poet of
nature
and often discusses nature in open and general terms. Wordsworth philosophises on nature's lessons for himself and for
humankind
in general. It is in nature that the poet can hear the "sad, still music of
humanity
".
Samuel Coleridge
is considered the
master of atmosphere
. In a few words he creates places where it seems natural to speak of
supernatural event
s, a woman "wailing for her
demon
lover
" ("
Kubla Khan
"). In most of Coleridge's work there is an awareness of the
eternal bessedness
of things. Think of the finest lesson in the "
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
".
Lord Byron
is
dramatic
. He intrudes into the reader's senses and into his
poem
s. Shelley does this too but in a softer and more subtle sense.
Byron
is present and
heroic
. In "
Apostrophe to the Ocean
" we see him "wanton" with the breakers and lay his hand upon their crests.
Percy Shelley
is more specific in his treatment of nature than
Wordsworth
. If Byron is said to project himself physically into the poem, Shelley is said to project himself
emotion
ally. His frustrations and disappointments are there in his poems. We can observe a
compassion
for all living things. There is a delicate aptness in his
vocabulary
. Shelley often deals with
abstraction
s, he conceives striking figures of speech and enriches his work with extensive
mythological
allusion
.
John Keats
is concrete and specific. He appeals to all five of the senses. His lines are richly loaded and every word is significant. His interest is in beauty - a bird's song or
Grecian art
,
Homer
ic
epic
s or
medieval romance
. The
truth
that
beauty
reveals to him he reveals not to his own life but to lives and the concerns of
all of humanity
.
Apostrophe to the Ocean
Tuberculosis
Adverse Childhood Experiences 3: Attachment Disorder
I should have danced with you
Joseph Brodsky
Ode To Fanny
Dr. Benway
Hume's Problem of Induction
Hague School
José de Alencar
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Deeper Into The Mountains
Chronology of the Arab Conquest
Aztec Empire
John Keats
Lord Byron
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
The Tempest
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