According to Duxford, Icon, (1999:pg4-5) English Romanticism is described as a 'renaissance of the Renaissance' and included 'distinctly contemporary modes of thought'. This theory is evident throughout the work of the romanticist William Blake.
What do you understand by the term 'Romanticism'? Show why any of the ONE poets deserves to be catogorised as 'Romantic
Romanticism is an artistic and intellectual movement, dating from the eighteenth to mid nineteenth century. It specifically generated during the French Revolution, which promoted liberty and fraternity equality. It particularly emphasises the individual’s expression and imagination, specifically focusing on the influence of nature. Nature plays an important part in Romantic poetry, as well as childhood, imagination, youth, innocence, truth, supernatural, sublime and beauty. All of these elements give a spiritual feel, focusing largely on a peaceful and pure world, catching emotion from the reader.
According to Duxford, Icon, (1999:pg4-5) English Romanticism is described as a ‘renaissance of the Renaissance’ and included ‘distinctly contemporary modes of thought’. This theory is evident throughout the work of the romanticist William Blake.
Blake used long, flowing lines with violent energy throughout the majority of his poems. He typically approached subjects clearly with a mind unclouded by current options, although this made him a controversial outsider in society. He is categorised alongside the Romantics, using a large amount of visual imagery, biblical allusion and symbolism during the majority of his work. Blake tends to be narrative in style, with 'The Divine Image', constantly using arguments through use of symbolism or abstract concepts. Personification is evident throughout his work, and his use of biblical language appears to make his poems have a spiritual feel. His poems try to catch emotion, by being split into Songs of Innocence, and Songs of Experience. Songs of Innocence uses simple language, almost as if they were written for children, however, they were emphasising the souls perfect existence, until the child would become corrupted by civilisation. The latter, Songs of Experience, appeared to address a more confident approach whilst juxtaposing the innocent and pure world of childhood, against adulthood involving corruption. They have a gloomier tone, giving negative language and showing a jaded view of life. Many of his poems fall into pairs, so that the same situation is first seen through the innocence, and then into experience, often giving ranging from a positive to a negative approach. It is clear to see that the Songs of Innocence shows how a child would think through their hopes and fears of reaching adulthood, and their feelings towards this. ‘The Chimney Sweeper’ in the Songs of Innocence portrays a mournful and problematic tone. The repetition of the word ‘weep’ sets the scene for the poem in the third line of the first stanza, with ‘weep’ almost being onomatopoeic to the crying sound. An element of Romanticism, symbolism, is used throughout the poem, with the metaphor ‘coffins of black’ representing the chimneys. Biblical imagery of the ‘lamb’ is used within Blake’s poem, which may represent sacrifice here. The child in the poem is described to have ‘white hair’, associating hair with age here, which is extremely unlikely for a child to have white hair at such a young age. Here, Blake categorises one element of Romanticism, childhood, which can be seen evidently throughout his work.
