A history of romantic poetry.

Uploaded by parisk on Sep 9, 2005

In earlier days of poetry there were three types of poetry that were alike in some ways but different on views. Eighteenth century poets and Romantic poets focused mainly on nature and incorporated God some of the time. But in the works from the Puritans, their main focal point was also on nature, but it always came second to God. These different movements in poetry came about through the works of talented poets such as John Milton, Alexander Pushkin, Alexander Pope, and William Wordsworth.

Seventeenth century writer John Milton led the Puritan age of poetry. Milton is most notable for his great Biblical epic, “Paradise Lost”. The writings of the Puritan poets incorporated God and nature, but God was to be the center point of their poems. Unlike the Puritans the poets from the eighteenth century and the Romantic period put their main focus on nature alone. The Puritan beliefs were exemplified by writers such as John Milton because he was a strong believer in the Puritan faith, and he was not afraid to let it be known that he was a devote Puritan. He illustrated his strong faith in works such as “Paradise Lost”, which glorified God. Not to say that eighteenth century and Romantic poets were not Christians, but Puritans expressed their faith in God more often than any other poets.

The eighteenth century brought about a new breed of poets that broke away from the old ways of the Puritans and developed a new style of writing. These poets focused mainly on nature and mentioned the grace of God periodically. Eighteenth century poets had a writing technique much like that of the Romantics. The point that made them so much alike was their view on nature. The most notable poet of the eighteenth century was Alexander Pope. After the eighteenth century; another new breed of poets called themselves the Romantics. The Romantic period is said to be the richest period in literature ever. Romantic poets expressed freedom, emotion, and individuality along with nature in their works unlike the eighteenth century and Puritan poets. Two of the more notable Romantic poets were William Wordsworth and Alexander Pushkin. They are known for such great literary “The World is Too Much With Us” and “From Autumn” . In “ The World is Too Much With Us”, Wordsworth illustrates how we sometimes take things like nature, God, and the abilities we have been so graciously given for granted. This thought is best expressed by the quote “ Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers: Little we see in nature that is ours.” Wordsworth was not the only Romantic poet that had good thoughts and ideas in his works. A man by the name of Alexander Pushkin, who wrote “From Autumn”, expressed the many great qualities of nature and oneself. This poem shows the beauty of a season and how a person can just about fall in love with it.

Poets from each of these three movements were very talented in getting their points across in each of their very distinctive writing styles. Even though these poets and their works were in different periods of time and literature, they all seemed to focus on two major points; nature and God.