Romanticism Unit Test

ode on a Grecian um

- A Grecian Urn holds the cremated ashes of somebody- they were often very decorated and elaborate - This poem has a lot of negative capability—he writes about an urn he saw in a museum - This Grecian Urn held the ashes of the person depicted on the urn—he describes the events all over the urn and what he sees in them - He uses the word happy quite often in this poem - He says looking at that scene—with the boy and girl close to getting their first kiss. Everyone who looks at this understands the feeling of almost getting that first kiss. The feelings are eternal on this urn - There is another scene on the urn depicting a festival where they are about to sacrifice a cow—they all just look so happy. - This great art has made all those feelings last eternally - There is death inside of the urn, but the outside of the urn expresses great life and eternal happiness because of the feelings shown throughout to all who see it - People identify with what is going on in the picture or artwork; they become a part of it - Lines to be remembered: "'Beauty is truth, truth beauty,'—that is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know." - He saying that whatever is true is beautiful and he says that it comes from art and that it is eternal

the rime of the ancient mariner

- Frame story Part 1 - There is a sailor talking to a wedding guest and tells him a story and the guy is like let go of me you crazy old man. The wedding guest is captivated by the story - They are not on the ship, the story came from the sailor when he was on the ship; the wedding guest has to listen to this story- he is captivated - He starts the story of how they were on the boat headed south, around the Cape and ice, fog, mist, bad weather, dangerous situation and then came a bird (an Albatross) - As the Albatross is flying around them and they follow it, and they are feeding the bird and playing with it - Then the wedding guest asks why he looked like that, what was wrong with his face... and the sailor says he killed the Albatross (he shot the albatross with a crossbow) because he is a stupid boy. There is no reason for him to do this, he is old enough to know better Part 2 - His shipmates were very mad it him - They thought he was an idiot because he killed their good omen - But then the fog and mist went away when the bird died, and then they rejoiced - Now they are with him in his crime, they support him- guilty by association - Shortly after this the breeze is gone, and the boat become dead in the water and then they cannot move and they associate the bird with the wind and get mad at him again - The longer they are there the more serious the situation, they run out of fresh water and go dry - You can't drink seawater, it will kill you—they have no freshwater and they are mad at him - So they hang the bird around his neck- to make him feel guilty Part 3 - Coleridge is thought to have been a drug addict (opium)- he had a difficult childhood, and found solace in drugs and the imagination. Maybe these two things went hand in hand for him - He sees a ship moving—this is off because there is no wind. Everyone is dying of thirst and throats dry. When he sees the ship he wants to say it, but first he bites his arm and drinks the blood so he can speak, but then he thinks about why it is moving - Then the story turns almost gothic- when he says, without a breeze, without a tide, how is she getting here—this is kind of like death coming towards them - When it gets closer they see it is just a skeleton ship-- the two beings on the ship are a woman and death. The woman is life in death. Life in death is worse than death - Life and life in death are casting dice and the winner gets the sailor. The women wins and gets life in death and everybody else goes with death..... - Then all of his shipmates die one by one, and everyone of them turns and cursed them with their eyes—their souls go off, sounding as they pass by him like the whizz of his crossbow, showing it is what he did that brought this about Part 4 - This is a transformation section because now that he is alone and miserable and he knows what he did was wrong - He tried to pray but his heart was like dust and went on like this for 7 days and nights and then slowly he starts to talk about the fish and he sees their living beauty and sees the beauty deep down - He blesses them unaware—his blessing from nature comes from his heart- he did not even realize this change and he now sees the beauty and value in nature and all of a sudden he could pray and then the bird falls off his neck. - He is telling the story to someone and the wedding guest is afraid—this gives you some suspense, wondering how he gets out of this mess - His ultimate penance in life is to tell the story to those who need to hear it; he has to be life in death - When he tells the story he feels a release, like confession. But then it builds up in him again - The point of the story, theme of the story: appreciation for all living things, you should respect all things - He prayeth best, who loveth best All things great and small; For the dear God who loveth us, He made and loveth all - If life and death won the mariner, does he eternally live walking the earth forever making the message heard - The message has not been heard yet

ozymandias

- He is Ramses II: he was a pharaoh in Egypt; "set my people free" - Ramses was not a very nice person - This is a sonnet; it can be broken up into two parts - The Romantics do not follow all the rules of Sonnets- they are following the Italian sonnet form - The speaker met a traveler in an ancient land—statue that is buried, all you can see is a head and two trunken legs - You can see the face on the statue—it is frowning, snearing, this is a mean man and the slaves built this statue. So the artist must have felt the cruelty of this person - He describes what is around him - Then he says on the pedestal there are words, "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye mighty and despair!"—he is the top and most powerful, he is talking to the mighty in the world. He has placed himself way above all else - The irony of the poem is that there is nothing there, it is gone. All you see now is this broken statue, this pedestal making him sound mighty. The thing that lasted the longest was created by a slave - It is a nice poem, that says if you think you are so great—just know that you will be nothing one day - Zeller thinks this poem is very Shelley- like beucause there are so many people and writers out there who do not accept his works they will fall down one day and be nothing too. - Unless you feel oppression, how will you be happy with what you have

to a mouse

- He is addressing the mouse - An apostrophe is a type of write in which you address something that cannot reply back - Like the mouse, he is talking to the mouse - Since this is for the people (farming), by the people (he is a farmer), it has to be something the people can understand (dialect of the people) - First stanza: The mouse has responded in fear, the author says no need to fear or run away so quickly because he would hate to run you down with the plough blade. The author doesn't understand why the mouse is so afraid - Second stanza shows the Romantic movement: he is saying what he and the other romantic poets believe to be at the root of society and he says it is man's dominion and greed over everything and desire for power over all. Men owns everything, this does not mean you can just use it all up, you must take care of it all. This is the time of the industrial revolution with pollution and mess where the earth needs taking care of - Severe climate change is a big proof of this man taking dominion over what is here on earth - he understands the fear and what is wrong with the world - Stanza four: the mouse has nothing to go build a new house with, it is all gone - The farmer feels badly - That winter he was planning to sleep in a nice little nest, warm and chill- but he was offset - Winter signifies death, the end is coming--- he was all nice and prepared against it - This was difficult for the mouse to do, took time, and now he has nothing - Finally, burns brings us to the point he is trying to make - He had a dream, worked for it, but then circumstances get in the way and he left with nothing but grief or joy - Man fears the future - The mouse just moves on when something terrible happens to it; That is the difference between man and mouse

auld lang syne

- It is a poem by Robert Burns about the Old times - They play this song on New Years - One of the most recognizable poets - Talking about friendship, not a romantic relationship - You cherish the old times - Things went on, you have moved on and made new memories

ode to a nightingale

- Ode means celebratory poem - This is an apostrophe poem - In 1818 is when his brother died; 1821 is died. So the bookends for the poem are death in his life - Shortly after his brother died he was staying with friends; he was in the back sitting in a chair. The friend said he looked outside and noticed Keats madly writing. When he came inside Keats organized the paper and created this poem. This followed exactly what Wordsworth said to do in order to create Romantic poetry—experience, and then organize - Keats said he experienced some form of a reverie. You put the body asleep, but the soul expands and that is what Keats claims was going on - The poem is broken into separate parts- and then end of each part introduces the next part—stream of consciousness - There is a definite contrast between the beginning and end of the stanza—the two moods - He is depressed- so depressed that he feels drugged—it is more of desolation - At some point in everybody's life they feel this - Then he hears a bird and it sparks a desire for him to have that kind of happiness - He is getting so drunk that he can go with the bird into the forest - That stanza ends with fade away - He wants to fade away and go into the forest with the bird because the bird does not understand what it means to be human—the reason the bird can sing with such happiness because the bird does not feel strong emotions like humans do - To be human means to think and grow old and die—palsy shakes a few last grey hairs. If you don't grow old and die - The bird does not have the mental capability to know that he is dying like humans do - Here we have the option—we can grow old or die young (like his younger brother) - In his negative capability he is talking about what happens to everybody, not just him, he is looking it as a universal situation and sadness - What it means to be human is that you are sad—happiness is missing from his equation (you do not have to be sad all the time) - In part 4 he says he will not drink he is going to use poetry—nature and imagination guide and are essential to the poems. He says he will find peace through imagination and not drink - As soon as he says he will use his imagination he is instantly in the forest with the bird and there is a little light coming through the trees, but he cannot really see - Part 5: He cannot see what is around him and therefore experiences his surroundings through hearing and smelling and other senses. He can tell what is around him through his other senses. It's too dark to see - Part 6: he wants to die because he wants to end his pain and he is so happy at this point and he wants to die happy—he is completely at peace and he feels deep serenity. He doesn't just want to die, he wants to disappear and melt away—almost like becoming a part of the forest floor. The word requiem messes him up because the bird's song becomes the requiem (funeral song) - Part 7: then he says that that won't work; the bird will die, but the bird is not made FOR death. The song he is listening to is a song of life not death. For generations people have listened to this song and felt comfortable—he calls it an immortal bird (the sound the birds make is immortal)- a sound of spring. He says the Nightingale brings sound and happiness to so many people since the beginning, and he can't just turn that into a death song now that will not work—his plan does not work - Part 8: reality checks in—he is back, the bird is gone (it flew away). He ends by asking if this really did happen, was it really a vision, was he really in this transcendence state or was he just dreaming. He was just dreaming, this goes along with Wordsworth in Tintern Abbey with his soul going back to the place he loved. Did Keats do the same thing. So was Keats dreaming or he did have this outer body experience—it doesn't really matter, because either way he found this place of peace and calm and serenity

lines composed a few miles above tintem abbey

- There is very vivid description. He is describing what the whole scene and area looks like, not just the Abbey - The color is green - It has been 5 years since he has been to this place, and he describes this time with the length of 5 long winters, meaning he is describing it as if there is a death inside of him, since he is away in the city where he has to work - For a romantic poet to be stuck in the city, it is like death - He talks about how the scenes have never really been absent for him - They have not been nothing—therefore, they are something, everything to him while he has been gone - He gives specific description of what it was like in the city: it brought a weariness to him, an unintelligible world, lonely and isolated, loud and busy - This place, he likes, came with him—transcendentalism; this allowed him to put his body go to sleep and let his soul expand until he could see into the life of things, until he felt an enlightenment because of the nature - He has figured out that this place he loves will always be there, and it will always be there with him—it is a different way of experiencing it. This is what he needs to be able to go back to the city to do the work he needs to do - From five years ago he got joy, pure unadulterated joy. Nature to him at that point was all an awe - Now he has lost that, that time was past. He has learned to look on nature that we are all connected through nature. That kind of senseless joy is gone, now he has something much deeper, he understands that power and he will be able to use this further on Nature connects all humanity over time and space - He sees a divine force that lives in nature—it is a place to connect to the eternal divinity - Nature is so significant to him, it guides his being - The second half is about his sister Dorothy being in nature at this place: - He hopes she will be able to feel and remember this place since he got to share this fabulous place with her

when i have fears

- When I have fears that I may die - This is a sonnet - Sonnet made their resurgence at this time; but they aren't following all the original rules - English Sonnet—repetition - He is talking about when he becomes frightened that he may die before and then he makes a list of things: - First quatrain talks about his intellect and knowledge that leads him to grow intellectually - Second quatrain talks about symbols of a high romance and what is important to a romantic poet being imagination - The first two parts have to do with his writing and trying to create poems that everybody thinks he is capable of - The third quatrain has to do with his love and how he will not grow old and have a family and be able to love people - How can he go on and write poetry that has meaning in the universal sense if he knows that he will not go on - He was in a paniced, chaotic mode about imcompletion and stands on the shore until he feels that peace and his individualist problems sinks to nothing in the world, and it isn't all about him—him saying "it's not all about me" - Keats is pretty mind-blowing - He is saying he doesn't matter—the world matters - That is what he is saying in this poem—this is the negative capability - He starts off in a personal note afraid about death and then he stands on the shore and discovers what the real meaning is

ode to the west wind

- Whenever the speaker addresses something that cannot tlak back this is an apostrophe—that is what this is; the wind will not respond - This is a celebratory poem- it is celebrating the wind - Part 1: the speaker describes the West wind as being the breath of autumn. The West Wind sweeps away the dead leaves; these dead leaves are multicolored—diseased like. The West Wind carries seeds to their grave-like places in the ground, where they stay until spring revives them, they will be woken by the spring wind, which is the cause to regeneration. The speaker also refers to the west wind as a "Wild Spirit" that's everywhere at once. The West Wind brings death to winter, but also rebirth to spring - Part 2: the wind is described as having clouds spread through it the way dead leaves float in a stream. There is a storm coming with destruction and death; the Maenads represent the rejuvenation and springtime in this poem. The West Wind is described as being very powerful - Part 3: the Mediterranean Sea has lain calm and still during the summer, almost as though on vacation "beside a pumice isle in Baiæ's bay," a holiday spot for the ancient Romans. But the West Wind has woken the Mediterranean, presumably by stirring him up and making the sea choppy and storm-tossed. The Mediterranean is personified here as male. The Wind disturbs the water and makes waves; being submissive to the wind - Part 4: The speaker begins to describe his own desires more clearly. He wishes he were a "dead leaf" or a "swift cloud" that the West Wind could carry, or a wave that would feel its "power" and "strength." He imagines this would make him almost as free as the "uncontrollable" West Wind itself. The Wind is incredibly powerful and He wants to be like that. The speaker wishes he could at least have the same relationship to the wind that he had when he was young, when they were friends—he was faster and more powerful. But he is bleeding because he falls upon the thorns of a life. He begs the wind to treat him like he does the waves, leaves, and clouds. A heavy weight of hours has chained him down—he is depressed. Time is holding him down. The wind is the solution to his pain and hurting - Part 5:The speaker asks the West Wind for something—he wants the wind to turn him into its lyre. The speaker describes himself as wanting the wind to play him. The speaker and the trees of the forest are decaying—but if the wind plays them both as instruments, they'll make sweet, autumn-ish music. The wind is his inspiration—speak through me. Later he asks the wind to become him. The speaker himself is the "unextinguished hearth from which the sparks fly; his fire is slightly going out. The speaker describes his mouth as a trumpet through which the wind will blow its prophecy. The speaker ends by asking the wind a question that seems very simple: "If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?" The symbolic weight that he's attached to the seasons, however, makes us realize that this is more than a question about the wheel of the year. He's asking whether or not the death and decay that come at the end of something always mean that a rebirth is around the corner. He's hoping that's true, because he can feel himself decaying.

intro to songs of innocence

1. Identify the speaker and describe. The piper is the speaker and he is happy and cheerful, songwriter, singer piper. He is happy to sing for the child 2. Who is the "child on a cloud"? the child on a cloud is an angel, like a cherub angel 3. What does the structure of the poem suggest to the reader? The structure of the poem, suggests to the reader that it is happy, cheerful and it is happy-go-lucky, nothing is wrong. It is very lyrical, and song like 4. What is the speaker "called" to do? Why is he asked to do this? The speaker is called to pipe the songs and write them down, so that other children may have the joy to hear the songs and be happy one day.

intro to songs of experience

1. Identify the speaker and describe. The voice of the Bard (a poet), he sings and plays music to his poetry as he is reciting. The term Bard was used for ancient Greeks, Homer was considered the Great Bard. They both write poetry and sing. The difference between the piper and the bard was that this was more somber. The one from the bard has much more significance worldwide, whereas a piper is just sing-songy 2. Who is the "Holy Word"? Jesus. Again Jesus is stronger and more significant than just a cherub 3. What does the structure of the poem suggest to the reader? The tone is much more serious than the innocence; The rhyming is all over the place, there is no ballad-like rhyme like the first poem. The beat of the poem is slower and less lyrical. You must slow down and look behind the scenes in life as well as in this poem—he says this through the punctuation 4. What is the speaker "called" to do? Why is he asked to do this? Called to experience the church's role in politics and see how it affects society and the individual mind. The speaker is asked to do this because experience will add a layer to innocence that darkens the church's hopeful vision while compensating for some of its blindness. He is called to stop and see what is going on. The Bard is called to tell people to try and make a difference and do something- he is giving Jesus' message to the world. The lapsed soul is humanity, who has sinned. He is weeping in the evening dew- the end of life is coming, time is running out. He is calling people to pay attention. Choose to stand out and help out. It is not just the ones that are doing the bad, it is also the ones who are not doing anything about it. The break of day is new life and rebirth—that is your judgment day. He tells you why is writing the poems

the tyger

1. Identify the speaker and explain why this speaker is "experienced." The speaker could be an adult because he is questioning things and knows about the tiger. It is not bad for the tiger to protect itself, or find food by being considered rough and mean. We know the speaker is experienced because he questions and his tone is more sophisticated as well as harsher and stronger, less lyrical and light-hearted 2. How does this poem show a theme related to the awe and mystery surrounding the relationship between the creation and the creator? The questioning of God making everything for a reason. This tiger is powerful, fearsome, terrifying creature. The questions about the creator go to the lamb as happy and not to be feared, but he also made the tiger who is powerful. This shows that God is powerful and fearsome in some ways because he made things that were powerful and terrifying. Did he who made the lamb, make thee?- experience, shows questions with no answers, he is questioning things that we will not get a definitive answer from- we don't have all the answers. Blake is trying to say, when you die and are there for judgment you would want to see the lamb's creator, but you must be aware of the fact that the tiger's creator does exist. Nothing is really definitively stated in this poem 3.) What statement does this poem make about the presence of good and evil in this world? The poem states that evil might be in the world also, you wouldn't need a powerful and fearsome God if evil did not exist

the lamb

1. Identify the speaker and explain why this speaker is "innocent."- the speaker is a child, speaking to a lamb- and he is telling the Lamb that God made him, and is called by his name, "Lamb of God". We know that this speaker is innocent because he is a child. The speaker is like the lamb- they are all connected 2. How does this poem show a theme related to the awe and mystery surrounding the relationship between the creation and the creator? The relationship between the creator and the creation is that he is meek and mild; we all the same because we are created in the image of God. He is a child 3.) What statement does this poem make about the presence of good and evil in this world? This poem shows that there is only good in the world, due to the fact that evil was not mentioned in this poem

byronic hero

a moody, turbulent individualist, self-exiled from society after exhausting all possibilities of human excitement, and tormented by remorse over secret sins committed in the past; this is the speaker/ character in many of lord byron's poems

my heart leaps up

a rainbow is a beautiful gift from God with NO logical explanation for its existence; see rainbow= takes a breath; in awe with nature; father is focused on spending; child is teaching the man what is important (enjoy nature); paradox that son is teaching father; wants everyone to be in reverence to nature

samuel coleridge

co-wrote lyrical ballads; goal was to show the power of imagination; his works are more imaginative

william wordsworth

father of romanticism; lyrical ballads; imagination will solve the world's problems

john keats

his mother, brother, and him died of TB; died in italy away from wife; negative capability

percy shelley

his works are not accepted; died in boating accident; body washed up carry John Keats' books

negative capability

it is the ability of the poet to negate or subordinate his own personality so that he can focus purely on the topic. You get rid of your own voice, so that whatever your topic is, is the thing that has a voice.

lord byron (george gordon)

life is awful; father was nuts (mad jacks, drinker, gambler, left family); mother was bipolar; had a deformity; became lord at age 10; wife left him and took kid; left england for switzerland

william blake

poet and artist; spends entire life in London; elaborate garden in his yard; a mystic (spiritual being in connection with God and spirits); very religious individual

robert burns

romantic poet; scottish farmer; one of the most recognized poets in our society now

she walks in beauty

she is perfect in beauty; compared to a starry sky; her mind- internal beauty; who she is inside is beautiful as well; she is content with who she is written about cousin whose husband just died (she is not supposed to go out in public); she did what she wanted and went out in public; byron loves that she did what she wanted to do.. you go girl

the world is too much with us

sonnet about not payign attention to nature and being consumed with materialism instead; he is talking to God, and rather have the pagan religion because they focus on nature; pagan had gods for every form of nature so therefore they took care of nature; society does not take care of nature properly; poem still works in society today

apostrophe

type of writing in which you address something that cannot reply back; "to a mouse"