Viewing romantic concepts

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The oxford dictionary states that romanticism is a movement in the arts and literature that originated in the late 18th century, emphasizing inspiration, subjectivity, and the primacy of the individual; Romanticism was a reaction against the order and restraint of classicism and neoclassicism, and a rejection of the rationalism that characterized the Enlightenment. A very popular format of romanticism was poetry. Three main concepts of romantic poetry are melancholia, idealism, and nature. The works of romantic poets have these three concepts working within them. The Merriam-Webster dictionary describes melancholia as a mental condition and especially a manic-depressive condition characterized by extreme depression, bodily complaints, and often hallucinations and delusions. In the romantic works the poets express their sadness and depression. The Merriam-Webster definition of idealism is the literary or artistic theory or practice that affirms the preeminent value of imagination as compared with faithful copying of nature. The romantic poets had used idealism throughout their works. According to the oxford dictionary Nature is the phenomena of the physical world collectively, including plants, animals, the landscape, and other features and products of the earth, as opposed to humans or human creations. In romanticism nature is very prominent, for the first time the poets gave it purpose and meaning. Three important romantic poets were George Byron, Samuel Coleridge, and Percy Shelley; their work has all three of these concepts. In a scan of his or her poems you can identify each melancholia, idealism, and nature. In the poem “Darkness” by George Byron a viewer can find all three concepts or romanticism. The first concept is mela... ... middle of paper ... ....” This we see the idealism where a chamber is a thing of magnitude and ideals. The concluding concept is nature in “A Romans Chamber” it is said “And the moon no cloud is staining” also “And the wild weeds twine and clamber.” These examples just drive home how the romantic poets used nature as a way to express themselves. Again all three concepts were found in this romantic poem. Romanticism was a movement born in the 18th century that promoted individualism and change. Three concepts that helped define romanticism were melancholia, idealism, and nature. A view of the works of romantic poets shows these concepts. In “Darkness” by George Byron, “Cologne” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and “A romans chamber” by Percy Shelley a reader can locate specific examples of all three concepts. Overall, a reader can clearly view the three concepts of romanticism in these works.

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