ROMANTIC POETRY

ROMANTIC POETRY

'Romantic' meant: "typical of the old romances."

From the eighteenth century the term became: "something marked by feelings, such loneliness and melancholy, rather than by intellect." The romantic poets were 'inspired' by moon, darkness and from all the feelings and emotions that come from the dark side of man.

The first poets who used the term 'romantic' were German writers as Goethe or Schiller, who belonged to the movement "Sturm und Drang". The Romantic Movement developed in many European countries as France, Germany, Italy and England, with different interests.

In Great Britain the Romantic poets are divided into two waves: to the first one belong W. Blake, W. Wordsworth, S. Coleridge; to the second wave belong G. Byron, P. Shelley and J. Keats.

The Romantic Movement rediscovers themes as individualism and subjectivity, the importance of imagination, a sort of religiosity (often a pantheistic religion). These poets stressed their individualism isolating from society, which took various forms: isolation in nature, revolt and love for revolution, exile, love for exotic places, interesting for history and folklore.

Another important purpose of these poets was the search for infinity, an impossible task that became a sort of mission. This made the poet as a prophet.

Romantic love of nature is represented in the glorification of simple scenes and commonplaces. The counterpart of this interest was fascination in supernatural.