Concetti Chiave
- Romanticism emerged as a reaction against the controlled rationality of the "age of reason", promoting a "spontaneous overflow" of emotions.
- Romantic artists shifted from reason and science to imagination and feelings as tools for interpreting reality.
- A fascination with nature and the supernatural arose, with nature seen as a manifestation of God and a source of innocence and goodness.
- Romantic poets valued exotic and medieval themes, viewing them as distant in time and space, and considered themselves mediators between man and nature.
- Wordsworth and Coleridge published "Lyrical Ballads", establishing romantic poetry's focus on simple subjects and everyday language.
ROMANTICISM is a great reaction against the formal order and controlled rationality of the "age of reason". In contrast with the neoclassical idea of poetry, romantic poetry was a "spontaneous overflow".
The literary production shows a shift in taste and beliefs throughout Europe in the latter part of 18th century:
• Romantic artist lost their confidence in the reason and in the scientific method to get the truth and to interpret reality they turned to imagination, intuitions and feelings.
• The French revolution and industrial revolution changed the view of life and society as a concentration of evils.
• A twofold interest in the natural and supernatural was born.
• Middle Ages and exotic places were dear to the romantic poets, because They were far away in time and space.
• Romantic poet was considered a prophet, a teacher whose task is to mediate between man and nature. The poet is above common man because He could recreate the reality with symbols that men could easily understand. The poet had imagination a sort of inward eye or divine faculty that allowed to go beyond reality.
• Imagination was considered a living power and a way to see beyond the natural world, It was considered something linked with God and became a primary poetic subject.
Wordsworth and Coleridge belong to the first generation of romantic poets. They were called "lake poets" because They lived in the Lake District, it was a picturesque region in northern England, near the border with Scotland that was famous for its romantic landscape.
In 1800 the two poets published a second edition of their collection of poems "Lyrical ballads" with a Preface called "Observation". It was written by Wordsworth, this Preface was considered the Manifesto of English romantic movement. The Preface stated the theories of romantic poetry and explained that poetry should deal with simple matters and humble people and should be written in the simple language of everyday life.
The romantic poetry explore the field of extraordinary, supernatural or exotic events drawing inspiration from medieval legends or from the world of nightmares and dreams.
Wordsworth believed that poetry had the primary role of saving human from the evils of technological and increasingly urban society.
Domande da interrogazione
- Qual è la principale reazione del Romanticismo contro l'età della ragione?
- Come i poeti romantici percepivano la natura e il soprannaturale?
- Qual era il ruolo del poeta romantico secondo Wordsworth e Coleridge?
- Quali erano le idee principali espresse nella Prefazione di "Lyrical Ballads"?
Il Romanticismo si oppone all'ordine formale e alla razionalità controllata dell'età della ragione, promuovendo un "flusso spontaneo" di emozioni e immaginazione.
La natura era vista come una manifestazione di Dio, un mondo di innocenza e bontà, mentre il soprannaturale offriva un'esperienza mistica per esplorare la realtà più a fondo.
Il poeta romantico era considerato un profeta e un insegnante, capace di mediare tra l'uomo e la natura, ricreando la realtà con simboli comprensibili.
La Prefazione di Wordsworth affermava che la poesia romantica doveva trattare temi semplici e persone umili, utilizzando un linguaggio quotidiano e esplorando eventi straordinari e soprannaturali.
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