romanticism in 'The Tyger' by William Blake, 'On This Day I Complete My Thirty-Sixth Year' by Lord Byron and 'The World is Too Much with Us' by William Wordsworth.

The poem is romantic in many ways; it has the sentiment of individual faith of God which would have been objected by classicists. It also tries to shock the reader by questioning the nature of God; this adds to the original way of writing. Furthermore, the tiger represents nature and to some extent primitive life which displays romanticism.

The second poem which I shall be evaluating is 'On This Day I Complete My Thirty-Sixth Year' by Lord Byron. George Gordon Lord Byron was a leading romantic; he was a noble and the unique 'bad boy'. He was ultimately thrown out of England for his bad behaviour and status as he travelled around the continent with unusual people. After that he went to help the Greek revolution against the Islamic-Turks. This poem is written at Missolonghi, Greece, shortly before he died. This poem starts by Byron urging himself to get up and fight: ''Tis time this heart should be unmoved, since others it hath ceased to move'. The poet believes that he cannot feel love therefore he should stop loving. He than changes his mind and say 'Still let me love!' During the second stanza he thinks that he is going to die and that 'the flowers and fruits of love are gone'. During the third stanza he thinks of himself as lonely and isolated 'Is lone as some volcanic isle; No torch is kindled at it's blaze - A funeral pile.' In addition he shows how he feels unloved and uncared for. By considering the first three stanzas you can notice that there are feelings which change all the time, this is a romantic aspect as Byron shows how he is thinking. He continues talking about how he is weighed down by love and how he is depressed. In the fifth stanza he remembers that he is in Greece and says he shouldn't think pessimistically in the land of heroism, soul and bravery: 'But 'tis not thus - and 'tis not here - such thoughts should shake my soul, nor now, where glory decks the hero's bier, Or binds his brow.' This is romantic as it refers to heroism and how heroic deaths are remembered.

During the next stanza Byron mentions that he has glory, the battlefield of Greece and that he shouldn't be thinking about death: 'Glory and Greece, around me see!' In following stanza Byron speaks of Greece as the parent and the source of Western life and education: 'Awake! (not Greece - she is awake!)... Think through whom thy life-blood tracks its parent lake, and then strike home!' Here Byron shows his love towards Greece, the land in which he shall die. Throughout the eighth stanza Byron keeps on reminding himself that it is worthless to think about love and that he should just fight. All through the second last stanza he talks about his youth and how he regrets it: 'If thou regret'st thy youth, why live? The land of honourable death...' The poet carries on telling himself to die, to sacrifice himself in a place which is highly regarded. In the tenth and final stanza Byron tells himself to just 'look around, and to choose thy ground, and take thy rest.' He feels he has to do this for himself.

The romantic aspects in this poem include young death, as Byron was only thirty six when he wrote this poem and died. There is a lot of powerful passion throughout the poem which shows Byron's state and how he was trying to hold onto life. The subject of revolution is a large part as Byron went to help in the Greek revolution. Romanticism took place in connection with the French revolution; so the importance of this is great, as it shows thoughts and feeling. Another romantic aspect is the interest Byron shows in the ancient world. Romantics were drawn towards places far away and long ago some of them offered an imaginative escape from everyday life.

The third and final poem which I am going to be looking at is 'The World is Too Much with Us' by William Wordsworth. Wordsworth has produced some of English poetry's greatest works; as a romantic he believed that language used in poetry should simple and passionate. This poem starts off by saying that 'The World', which refers to everyday life, overwhelms us and that, we are flooded in it. Also, he says that modern age has lost its link to nature, we no longer feel in touch with it as we are always spending or earning money: 'Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers: Little we see in Nature that is ours; we have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!' He then goes on to say that even when the 'Sea bares her bosom to the moon' and the 'Winds howl at all hours', mankind is still ungrateful to nature. The wind and the sea are personified, the sea is calm and sleeping, the wind is anxious and violent, yet we still don't take much notice of it. What's more, due to this ignorance, Wordsworth wishes that he were a 'Pagan' raised according to an 'outworn' religion. The fact that he questions his faith is also a romantic aspect. The edge of his wish can be seen as he bursts out saying 'Great God!' He then says how happy he would be if he could see the ancient Gods; '...standing on this pleasant lea, have glimpses that would make me less forlorn...' Wordsworth ends by saying how he might then be able to see images of ancient gods rising from the waves. The poet pictures 'Proteus rising from the sea' and 'Triton blowing his wreathed horn.'

There are many romantic aspects throughout the poem, the most common and obvious being nature. Nature was a huge part of Wordsworth's life and he even worshipped it thinking that God was there in nature. In addition questioning faith and rejecting conventional feelings by saying that he wants to be a Pagan is a romantic aspect as writers looked inwards for God, not towards religious rituals. Moreover, ancient religion was of huge importance during the romantic period. Then there is also genuine, straightforward passion which would be rejected by classicists. Wordsworth uses very simple words, portraying how passionate he is about nature and how important it is to him. The poem is a sonnet and is divided into two parts, an octave and a sestet. The rhyme scheme of the octave is ABBAABBA, and the sestet follows a rhyme scheme of CDCDCD. This shows some dramatic power which is romantic as it is unusual.

Overall all three of poems have firm connections with romanticism and are full of passion and unusual feeling. The three poems use language and thoughts which would have been detested by the classicists and are consequently very interesting.

Romanticism 24th February 2005