Wordsworth, Blake, Shelly and Other Greats of the Romantic Era

¶ … Romantic Era

The years in which the Romantic Era had its great impact -- roughly 1789 through 1832 -- were years in which there were "intense political, social, and cultural upheavals," according to Professor Shannon Heath at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville (Heath, 2009). The beginning of the Romantic Era actually is traced to the French Revolution, and though that tumultuous event was not in England, William Wordsworth and others sympathized with the French Revolution -- at least at the beginning of the Revolution.

The demands for democracy in the Era were manifested through poems that reflected solidarity with principles of "equality and individuality," Heath explains. The principles of fairness and equality were needed in England as well as in France, and Heath suggests that poets were not just responding to revolutions but rather were critiquing English government. According to Giovanni Pellegrino the struggles for democracy and the "political and social problems of the time" in England caused romantic poet to "withdraw into himself indulging in introspection and meditation" (Pellegrino, 2011). Moreover, the "egotism and individualism" of the poet in the romantic period led to a "…constant intrusion of the poet himself into his work," Pellegrino writes. For the first time ever in literature, "the poet spoke of himself, of his joys and fears, of his melancholy and triumphs of his passions and his rebellions" (Pellegrino, p. 2).

Percy Shelly's "Ode to the West Wind"

Shelly used the metaphor of the wind -- and all that it does -- to reflect his passion for reform and revolution. The wind in this poem is the driver for change, and there is no doubt that Shelly was drawn into the consciousness of revolution and change, and in the fourth canto of this poem it becomes clear that the poem is about him, not just about seasons and leaves.

In his first lines he personalizes the poem: "If I were a dead leaf thou mightiest bear; If I were a swift cloud to fly with thee…" and in the fourth canto he uses personal pronouns nine times. In the first three cantos Shelly uses the words "cloud," "leaf," and "wave," as linked to the "wind"; but in the fourth canto those nouns are linked to the poet. He prays that he will be lifted up above the "thorns of life" because he is bleeding. He doesn't mention God but clearly these lines are meant as an appeal to a higher authority: "As thus with thee in prayer in my sore need. Oh, lift me as a wave, a leaf, a cloud! I fall upon the thorns of life! I bleed." There cannot be new life without death and rebirth, and he is alluding to the revolutions going on in the world when he mentions the years that have passed and "chained and bowed" apparently refers to the many years people have lived under dictatorships, some imprisoned fighting for freedom.

William Blake's "The Tyger"

The "Tyger" in the Romantic Era uses thirteen questions and appears to be dealing with spiritual issues and issues that were mysterious. Since was considered one of the fiercest and most feared wild animals, so it is reasonable to assume Blake used the Tyger image to make the point that God should be feared. "What immortal hand or eye, Could frame thy fearful symmetry?" The poet asks. In the minds of people living in England in the Romantic Era who else but God would have an "immortal hand or eye" -- and who else but God would live in the "distant deeps or skies"?

It should be mentioned that in England at the time of the Romantic Era the tiger was considered one of the most fierce and dangerous wild creatures. There are numerous references available to point to how the tiger (Tyger) was respected and feared in the literature of the day (but not enough room in this paper to quote them). When the poet asks, "When the stars threw down their spears And watered heaven with their tears, Did he smile his work to see? Did he who made the Lamb make thee?" It is though Blake is saying, "Who made you, Tyger?" And the answer is of course, God.

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelly -- "From the Introduction to Frankenstein"

The introduction to Mary Shelly's classic story of Frankenstein is seemingly about God and His mysterious workings. This in a hazy way is similar to Blake's questions about the creation of the Tyger. Shelly notes how "supremely frightful" it would be for anyone to "mock the stupendous mechanism of the Creator of the World." To mock God in the early 19th century (Shelly wrote this in 1816) would be heresy, and it appears that this is what Shelly was suggesting. "Some powerful engine" could only be God, or a force equivalent to God.

Wordsworth -- "She dwelt among the untrodden ways"

While this poem is part of Wordsworth's "Lucy" series, there are deeper thoughts than just the love of a woman. The mystery of where she "dwelt" is apparent because no one else knows of her origins; but it was "Beside the springs of Dove," which Wordsworth may have intended to symbolize the origins of life or the origins of new beliefs. In England during this time (the poem was published in 1800) there a new way of thinking and believing was emerging, a kind of revolution of ideas. And those new ideas were dreamed up by individuals each with unique thoughts. Venus is the goddess of love, and Lucy was "Fair as a star, when only one Is shining in the sky" -- so this could be the theme of the Romantic Era -- love shining from the sky.