Nature imagery in Romantic poetry by Shelley, Keats, and Whitman

Landscape Neoclassical Painting

One unifying characteristic of the works of the English and American Romantic poets Shelley, Keats, and Whitman is that all of these writers used images of nature to further their artistic self-expression. In "Ode to the West Wind," Shelley does not merely observe the wind; he sees his own wildness and passion for life within the activity of the wind: "Shook from the tangled boughs of heaven and ocean, / Angels of rain and lightning..." Nature is not merely beautiful or something to be observed, it is a force of energy and inspiration, and is just as emotionally stormy as the poet's interior landscape. Keats' "Seep and Poetry" shows a more gentle view of nature: "What is more gentle than a wind in summer?" But it likewise looks at the natural, unadorned world, away from civilization and institutions as the ultimate expression of the poet's Self, rather than historical circumstances or abstract ideas, as was typical of the Neoclassical style. Finally, the American Whitman adopted the English Romanticism of Shelley and Keats to an American context, making poetry and the poetry of nature specifically an expression of proud, American self-reliance and individualism: "I celebrate myself, and sing myself."

Discussion 2

Until the 19th century, nature in art was usually, if present at all, merely the in background of portraits. History and human beings were considered the true, fitting subjects of art. However, as nature began to retreat from everyday life with the rise of technology, artists began to look on nature as a source of inspiration. As nature became rarer, artists gave nature more significance and importance -- nature became more symbolically significant, even as 'real' nature was being overrun by factories, cities, and railroads. Rather than something to be tamed, nature was now something precious.