New Member needs advice on Romantic Poetry Assignment and wants to say 'Hi'!

[Ashley83]

Hi everyone, I am a University student in England and so I thought it would be useful to sign up to this forum. The site itself is great and has proved indispensable to my needs.

I do wish to ask for some advice however, on an assignment I am currently working on.

The question is as follows:

'In what ways, and to what ends, is Romantic Poetry characterised by autobiographical impulse?'

The question seems fine, it is the answering I'm having problems with!

Not really, I actually think this seems pretty straightforward, but the assignment is 3000 words and while I would know where to begin and could probably write about 1000 words on it, I feel I will very quickly run out of things to say. I'm sure you all know what that feels like!

I have particular Romantic poets in mind. Namely, William Wordsworth, Lord Byron and John Keats, all of which write in a very personal manner and there is a lot of their life experience in the happiness, anger and sadness of their poetry.

Is there anything in particular, regarding their personal lives, or the nature of their poetry that you would recommend I discuss with regard to the question? Can you advise me on a particular poem that matches up with an era or even a moment of their lives and is therefore self-reflective and in a sense autobiographical?

Any advice would be recieved with the utmost gratitude, and just a simple 'hello' would still be recieved with thanks!

My name is Ashley, but you can call me Ash or whatever you like (within reason!). I am male, 20 years old and live in England.

Thanks and I look forward to a response and any future discussions we may have on the boards.

[verybaddmom]

hello Ash. welcome to the best forum on the internet.
unfortunately i am unfamiliar with the biographies of the poets that you are trying to write about. the only poet that i am very familiar with is John Donne, and i know that there is a lot of autobiographical elements in his work. im sure that doesnt help you at all, but i just wanted you to know that someone has read your post, and wishes you the best on your assignment. good luck!

[ravana]

Welcome Ash!
I just wished to greet you. I don't know anything about English poetry. Wait for Amuse, Den, Emily, Ajoe, Sancho, Koa, Simon, etch. They will help and greet you certainly. That's why I'm fond of them, inclooding v.b.mom.

[Ashley83]

Thanks for being so welcoming! I will be patient, don't worry. I'm sure there'll be someone who will be familiar with Romantic Poetry! :) Thanks anyway.

[xby]

Hello! Ashley!
I am a University student too. But I am not from English-spoken contries.
I very like English literature, though my knowledge about it is so poor.

Ok, as to your question, I can say a little I know.

Wordsworth's Prelude is an autobiographical work I think. It's very famous as his masterpiece. In view of its importance in English romantic period, I think you can talk about it because it reflected all charecteristics of the works of that period.

[xby]

I can still remember the comment on the poem on my class. So I list what I can remember as possible as follows. wish it can do a favor to you.

Wordsworth is a poet in memory of the past. To him,life is a cyclical journey. Its beginning finally turns out to be its end. His philosophy of life is presented in his masterpiece The Prelude. It opens with a literal journey whose goal is to return to the Vale of Grasmere. The journey goes through the poet's personal history, carrying the metaphorical meaning of his interior journey and questing for his lost early self and the proper spiritual home. The poem charts this growth from infancy to manhood. We are shown the development of human consciousness under the sway of an imagination united to the grandeur of nature. Later books of The Prelude describe his expriences in france.THe concluding description of the ascent to Snowdon become a symbol of the poet's climb to the height of his inspired powers and to that state of vision in which, dedicating himself to humanity, he becomes one of the "prophets of nature".

[ben]

I'm by no means an expert, but as for Keats, in terms of context his father died falling off a horse and his brother died of TB as he himself did (unless I'm mistaken? Shoot me down!) and there's some elements of escapism / escaping from life in his work which might / can be relevant to his sickness. I haven't looked at Keats' work for around a year and was never an expert, so off the top of my head I'm struggling, but Ode to a Nightingale could be one to look at in this respect. As i recall Keats also got heavily criticised in his work, people viewed poetry as more a gentlemans hobby and thus rejected his work on this basis (although others did for other reasons). I don't exactly know the quote, but Keats said something along the lines of 'I will be among the great poets after death' and only then got recognised to the extent he does today. This is all a bit vague I know, but the best i could do!

[emily655321]

Welcome aboard, Ashley! :D

I'm afraid I can't help you on this one. :( I'm a big fan of the Romantics, but I've only read them independently. I haven't studied them in school or heard anyone speak on them from this angle.

It seems a bit odd to me, actually, to assign someone to analyze Romantic poetry that way. The Romantic era was about throwing out the stuffiness of traditional poetry and having fun and being raucous with it, not dissecting its various elements line by line. But maybe that's the autobiographical element; they started writing simple verse about their lovers and friends, instead of great pompous odes to royalty. The focus was put on the poet himself and his feelings, rather than the subject about which he wrote. (Maybe? :D Stab in the dark?)

[Ashley83]

Well, I'd just like to thank all of you for your help. Xby, your notes should prove useful for me in writing this essay. I will certainly refer to them.

I agree completely with you Emily, on the irony of the task I have been assigned. It is odd that they want me to critically analyse such loose and vibrant poetry, something that wasn't written for critical unpicking.

And thanks for the info on Keats Ben. Some of what yoy said about the sickness and his poetry being autobiographical in the sense that he wrote as a form of escapism, and therefore for himself, will provide some contrast with the lifetime celebration of Wordsworth's Prelude.

Thanks all of you- I hope to speak to you in the future!

[amuse]

Ashley, saw my help offered up there, and sad to say, i've had no exposure to the romantics in years.

:) that aside, welcome home. ;)