R O M A N T I C I S M

"... a deepened appreciation of the beauties of nature; a general exaltation of emotion over reason and of the senses over intellect;..."

A great documentary exploring the era of romanticism and all the beauties it had to offer:

From 29:55 and on, hear more about the life of William Wordsworth and his approach at becoming the "father of romanticism."

WHO? WHAT? WHEN? WHERE? WHY?

"To begin, begin.
-William Wordsworth

WHO? 

Romanticism was an era of vast creativity and in short humans making something out of nothing.  Some of the many artists during the era included, John Keats, Shelly, Blake, and of course Wordsworth.  William Wordsworth was considered the "father of romanticism," based off of his successful and beautiful poetry.  Wordsworth, born on April 7th, 1770, had his own share of a tough life, but dealt with it through his undying appreciation of nature.  As a child, both his parents died, and him and his relatives were cared for by numerous different guardians.  During his high point of Romanticism, Wordsworth relied on the essence of feeling, known as "naturism."  He felt as though he needed to write to teach the reader, while always dealing with beauty and joy.  Being an interpreter, Will sought to prove that humans needed to find themselves, with the help of nature.  Later on in his life, the poets life seemed to fall down hill, with the death of two of his children, along with his brother who drowned at sea, and his close sister Dorothy had a mental breakdown.  Although successful, becoming one of the most important writer in England, Wordsworth did have a harsh personal life.  Some of William's greatest poems included the great "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud," and "The World is Too Much With Us; Late and Soon."  After his death at the age of 80, on April 23rd, 1850, his biography The Prelude was published and went on to create a more inspiring view of the romantic's life.

"Come forth into the light of things, let nature be your teacher."
-William Wordsworth

WHAT?

Many refer to the Romanticism era as the era that focused on the common traits of humankind.  However, it was almost the opposite.  Romanticism was the era that showed how people are different from one another, and how nature and emotions can open up many doors to other experiences and imagination, that keep people alive.  Romanticism was a movement that placed importance on artistic emotion and appreciation of nature through many different forms of art such as literature, and fine arts.  The movement was also commonly referred to as the reaction to the enlightenment, that allowed for deepened spiritual appreciation.  Painters, poets, and scientists showed interest in simplicity and steered mainly clear of the importance of industrial revolution.  People of the era wanted to express themselves and not be not be ordered by rules society placed.  The movement was extremely powerful to the individuals involved, and certainly left the world with a great collection of art and creativity.

"A multitude of unknown to former times are now acting with a combined force to blind the discriminating powers of the mind, and unfitting it for all voluntary exertion to reduce it to a state of almost savage torpor."
-William Wordsworth

 WHEN? 

The movement of Romanticism took place in the late 1800's through the very early 1900's, but started in 1700.  The exact years fell between 1700-1832, with an extended period to 1870.  At the time of the movement, the world was experiencing vast changes in the rising of technology.  People were becoming involved with industry and focusing on the future.  The scientific attitude of making man, machine, and that all statements need to be proven by fact, made Romantics frustrated.  Romantics went against that belief and concentrated on the learning you can only get from yourself and nature.  Romantics were sick of the quick escalation of technology, and believed simplicity and imagination was key to new experiences.  They felt that nature brought about self-worth and interesting factors of life.  William Wordsworth was the man that started writing his romantic based poems in England.  Wordsworth was so passionate of the era, that he has been considered to influences the spread or romanticism to countries like America.  Wordsworth wrote his famous poem "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud," in the year 1804, around the time that he felt very influenced to write his poems.  Romanticism came to a quick end, when people did begin to fall in to the interest of industrial technology.  The time of the Romanticism movement definitely was due to and came about because of the industrialization that began to take place.

"I listened, motionless and still; And, as I mounted up the hill, the music in my heart I bore, long after it was heard no more.
-William Wordsworth

WHERE? 

Romanticism began in Germany and England, with artists, like Wordsworth expressing their gratitude of nature and the world around them.  The era started off very late in the 1700's in Germany and England, and spread rapidly through Europe by 1820.  It took a short while before the ideas of romanticism moved west into the America.  The popular form of Romanticism in America was music.  Music and poetry shed light on Americans and shortly conjured to eras such as the Harlem Renaissance with poets like Langston Hughes.  Clearly, the Romantic era had a worldly affect, and although not lasting long, it's outcome was positive.

"Faith is a passionate intuition."
-William Wordsworth

WHY?

The era of Romanticism has had a large impact on the world and I chose to create a blog about it to show that it was very important.  The idea of creating and imagination allowed for poets, artists, and musicians to prove themselves and their talent.  William Wordsworth was indeed important in the role of the movement, influencing people everywhere to express themselves.  I believe Romanticism to be one of the most interesting topics and important movement in the world, relating to Enlightenment among the world.  Therefore, I did show major interest in the movement, especially William Wordsworth and his fantastic poetry.

"Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility."

-William Wordsworth

Works Cited:

Brians, P.. N.p.. Web. 5 Apr 2013. <http://public.wsu.edu/~brians/hum_303/romanticism.html>.

Melani, L.. N.p.. Web. 5 Apr 2013. <http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/cs6/rom.html>.

N.p.. Web. 5 Apr 2013. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/wordsworth_william.shtml>.

N.p.. Web. 5 Apr 2013. <http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/w/william_wordsworth.html>.

Pioch Nicolas, . N.p.. Web. 5 Apr 2013. <http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/glo/romanticism/>.