Romanticism American Romantic poet and author Edgar Allan Poe

Poe is one of the early American poets of Romantic literature. In the poem Annabel Lee he uses idealism in Romance language to describe a relationship with a woman in first person. A description of the adult lovers as children most likely represent innocence or naivety. The Romanticism comes in by comparing the couple to elements of nature. The love that the two share is free from societal norms or influence. The joy of just being together and sharing themselves with one another is so great that even angels were envious of them.

The way that Poe wrote the literary prose is very rhythmic much like the movement of waves in the ocean. This imagery ebbs and flows as one reads the lines. The poem also has a dreamlike quality to appearing surreal or supernatural. In the world of Poe and Annabel the angels can determine the fate of humans. Annabel Lee dies from a chilling wind from heaven. The news of her death flows into the life of Poe and then just as softly ebbs the life out of him. However as Poe describes Annabel Lee as living in the stars of heaven, he realizes that death cannot separate them. The love they share is stronger than life itself. The eternity of heaven, earth, wind, ocean, and stars is somehow breached by an eternal love this husband and wife shared. Within that love they can again be together. In the closing, Poe goes to the sepulcher where Annabel Lee lays and joins her by the sea in death.

Annabel Lee, by Edgar Allan Poe (Online-Literature.com, 2012).

It was many and many a year ago,

In a kingdom by the sea,

That a maiden there lived whom you may know

By the name of ANNABEL LEE;

And this maiden she lived with no other thought

Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,

In this kingdom by the sea;

But we loved with a love that was more than love-

I and my Annabel Lee;

With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven

Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,

In this kingdom by the sea,

A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling

My beautiful Annabel Lee;

So that her highborn kinsman came

And bore her away from me,

To shut her up in a sepulcher

In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in heaven,

Went envying her and me-

Yes!- that was the reason (as all men know,

In this kingdom by the sea)

That the wind came out of the cloud by night,

Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love

Of those who were older than we-

Of many far wiser than we-

And neither the angels in heaven above,

Nor the demons down under the sea,

Can ever dissever my soul from the soul

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee.

For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side

Of my darling- my darling- my life and my bride,

In the sepulcher there by the sea,

In her tomb by the sounding sea.

Coppelia by Ernst Wilhelm Hoffmann (1870) is one of the last of the Romantic ballets/Plays.

The ideals of Romance in this play are that it is not highly formal or reticent of former periods of the arts that depict history or religion. Instead the story uses fantasy, the supernatural intervening into a natural setting along with high imagination that is unlike any previous...

The mayor has a contest offering the best ballerina gold as a prize. Coppelius is determined to win the prize. He puts the doll on the balcony in a life like pose. It looked human and one of the men in the village gazing up at the balcony named Frantz fell in love with the life sized ballerina, Coppelia. Frantz already has a fiance, Swanhilde however, that is jealous of the woman and the infatuation that Frantz has over her beauty infuriates her. Dr. Coppelius changes the pose of the doll and talks about Coppelia to others each day to make it appear she is human. Frantz cannot tell the difference and decides he must meet Coppelia. As Dr. Coppelius leaves his home, he drops a key that is found by Swanhilde. She and her friends go to Coppelius home and decide to meet Coppelia. They discover the mechanical dolls and the friends of Swanhilde dance a beautiful ballet using the mechanical dolls as partners. The girls break several of the mechanical dolls by dancing with them in Dr. Coppelius quarters. When the Doctor returns he runs the uninvited guests out of his home. All except Swanhilde, who hides and decides to play a trick on Frantz dressing up just like the doll, Coppelia and taking her place. Frantz sees her on the balcony, believes she is alive and attempts to see her. Dr. Coppelius captures him and drugs him for intruding and wrongfully accusing him of destroying his property. Swanhilde pretends to come alive and begins a beautiful dance of ballet. Dr. Coppelius takes Swanhilde and gives her dance lessons. Frantz awakens and is enthralled by the dancing of Coppelia who is really his own beloved Swanhilde. She reveals her true identify but not to the angry Coppelius. Frantz fear for their lives as Coppelius discovers the truth and attempts to harm them. They escape and all is forgiven when the mayor of the town rescues them and pays Coppelius for the damage. Frantz and Swanhilde are married in a grand romantic ballet type wedding.
The painting Liberty Leading the People by an artist named Ferdinand Delacroix, born April 26, 1798. This painting shows a woman named Marianne who is a leader of French peasant people, aristocrats, and bourgeois classes against for freedom from King Charles X (Pioche, 2002). This painting was a Romanticism piece depicting the French Revolution of 1830. Marianne is in the middle and is shown much larger than the other characters. She is uncovered above the waist and barefoot. This shows the Romanticism element of a female body undressed and free from constrains of order and decency. She is carrying a rifle that also has a bayonet. In her other hand is a French Flag (Everything, 2009). The flag shows three very vibrant colors. As she boldly strides forward, she carries the flag for all. Comrades united in arms from all walks of society and the foes of the King against his royal military forces. Her face is defiant and brave unafraid and very indelicate as she goes forward into battle. This is very uncharacteristic of women who were felt to be the weaker race, relegated to home, stay indoors away from conflict, and adequate only for childrearing and familial duties. The woman is also wearing a cap with a liberty symbol on it (Pioche 2002). Depicting Romantic art thematic elements is the flag which represents the values of equality, fraternity and liberty (Pioche 2002). The three colored flag shown also is allegorical as it is much brighter than the painting and draws the viewers attention. The soldiers that are in the painting are led by the woman, Marianne. One common young man has two pistols. Near him is a nobleman with a top hat who has grabbed a rifle. This is Romanticism showing the common man with the weapons of a nobleman and vice versa. These are united under the flag. Another man shown is from the proletarian who is brandishing a sword defiantly (Pioche 2002). In the foreground of the painting are fallen soldiers which the woman marches past to…