Differences between Enlightenment and Romanticism: a literary comparison

Differences between Enlightenment and Romanticism

There are some differences between Enlightenment and Romantic Age like the prevalence of Reason during the 18th century while romantics believed in feelings. Another different feature is the literary genre, in fact in Enlightenment the books were Novels for the middle class characterized by a high level language while romantics were devoted to poetry written in simple language to be understood by every­body. Another important feature of Enlightenment was the return of Greek and Latin literature to achieve harmony and perfection, instead in Romanticism are rediscovered the Middle Ages and Celtic's works. The main themes of this period were the nature, the death, the childhood and the imagination and also the solitude and the freedom.

Main themes of Romanticism

Romanticism is a cultural movement characterized by a new kind of sensibility and way to see the world. It was born in Germany with the Sturm Und Drang movement and then moved to France and to England. The main themes of this movement are nature, childhood, imaginations, solitude, death, brotherhood, equality, freedom and chaos. In England there were two romantic poet's generations. The first generation is formed by William Blake, Coleridge and Wordsworth while the second generation is formed by Keats, Shelley and Byron. It is said that the English Romanticism begins in 1798 when the first collection of poems was published. This collection of poems called Lyrical Ballads was written by Wordsworth and Coleridge in 1798 and then was published a second edition in 1880 with some differences.

Lyrical Ballads and the Romantic manifesto

The first edition was anonymous because poets were afraid of public reaction as the poem's themes were innovative. The most important trait of the second edition was the preface, that contains all the topics of the collection. The preface was written only by Wordsworth, which became the romantic Manifesto, while it was signed even by Coleridge. According to Wordsworth the new poetry had to deal with com­mon people, daily actions and it had to be written in simple language so that it could be understood by everyone.

The Romantic worldview

Romanticism began to conceived the world as an entity pervaded by spirit and no longer as a machine like the Enlightenment vision. This movement was also characterized by a new kind of feeling called Sublime that was a mixture of fear and wonder. An important theory is the recollection in tranquillity, in fact the poem is born from the memory of feelings, and it is written down when the poet is lonely and calm.

William Blake: poet and visionary artist

William Blake was a romantic poet and artist belonging to the first generation. He was born in London in a poor family and for this reason he didn't have a regular education. He entered a drawing school and at fourteen he became an apprentice to an engraver until he moved to the Royal Academy where he drew, sculpted and wrote. He married an illiterate woman and taught her how to read and write and together published and illustrated Blake's literature.

His first collection of poems was named Poetical Sketches. He believed in the potential of arts for chan­ging people's minds. He was defined as a visionary poet because of his vision of his dead brother and of God. Great part of Blake's works were made with a particular method designed by himself and called “il­luminated painting” because texts and images were engraved on the same plate.

Blake's theory of opposites

He also developed a theory of opposites: he claimed that in the human mind there were two opposite forces that coexist creating energy, progress and change. He says that we have to accept the complement­ary of these opposite tension like Evil and Good, Love and Hate, Life and Death, Innocence and Experi­ence.

The most important Blake's works are The Songs of Innocence and the Songs of Experience. In the Songs of Innocence he deals with childhood and innocence. These poems are full of joy and imagination, so even the language is simple, like that of a child. In this collection of poem Blake had a positive view of the world where everyone was equal and perfect but then he discovered that it was all a lie. So in the next collection of poem called Songs of Experience he had matured the language and he had a more crit­ical and pessimistic view of the world. Here there's a loss of innocence due to child's growth.

Wordsworth and the influence of nature

Wordsworth was born in the Lake District and the natural landscape influenced his love for nature. In 1790 he went on a walking tour in France, Switzerland and Italy and he was impressed by the ideas of the French Revolution so much to come back the following year.

Although he had already started writing, the meeting with Coleridge, it was decisive for his career. The two poets and the Wordsworth's sister Dorothy started to discuss poetry and to develop theories. They lived together in the Dove Cottage in the Lake District.

They wrote the collection of poems named Lyrical Ballads, that marked a break with the poetry of the period. The second edition was published in 1800 and included the Preface written by Wordsworth, which is considered the Manifesto of English Romantic poetry.

The next five years he wrote some of his best poems like The Solitary Reaper and I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud (also named Daffodils).

In this period he started writing an autobiographical poem named The Prelude, this poem was published after his death. He slowly became estranged from Coleridge until they finished their collaboration. His poetry started to be more rhetorical and he became more conservative.

Coleridge and his troubled life

Coleridge was son of a clergyman and headmaster of grammar school, and when his dad died Coleridge was sent to school in London. He entered Cambridge University but did not find it stimulating so he drif­ted away his studies. He had a licentious life and began associating with religious and political radicals, including the poet

The project failed and Coleridge got married. He had to make a living so he began to write a newspaper. He also wrote the conversation poem

He spent a winter with the Wordsworths and back in England went with them in the Lake District. Col­eridge suffered from painful attacks of rheumatism so he became addicted to laudanum. This problem drove him apart from his wife and had negative effects for his creativity. So he went on a trip in the southern Europe to improve his health and to end his addiction but it failed, when he came back to Eng­land the relationship with Wordsworth was compromised.

He wrote a collection of poems named Christabel and Kubla Khan, composed after an opium-induced sleep. He published also the Biographia Literaria, a collection of his aesthetic reflections, considered a milestone in the history of literary criticism.