{"id":51684,"date":"2019-05-17T19:53:43","date_gmt":"2019-05-17T19:53:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/?page_id=51684"},"modified":"2026-03-28T10:55:54","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T15:55:54","slug":"historical-authors","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/historical-authors\/","title":{"rendered":"Authors in the Romantic Period"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t\t<div id=\"mmDeferVideoEncompass_RrhtcUYqEH0\" style=\"position: relative;\">\n\t\t\t<picture>\n\t\t\t\t<source srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/circle-play-duotone.webp\" type=\"image\/webp\">\n\t\t\t\t<source srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/circle-play-duotone.png\" type=\"image\/jpeg\"> \n\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"eager\" id=\"videoThumbnailImage_RrhtcUYqEH0\" data-source-videoID=\"RrhtcUYqEH0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/circle-play-duotone.png\" alt=\"Authors in the Romantic Period Video\" height=\"464\" width=\"825\" class=\"size-full\" data-matomo-title = \"Authors in the Romantic Period\">\n\t\t\t<\/picture>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<style>img#videoThumbnailImage_RrhtcUYqEH0:hover {cursor:pointer;} img#videoThumbnailImage_RrhtcUYqEH0 {background-size:contain;background-image:url(\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/updated-authors-in-the-romantic-period-64bfdd85b8aca.webp\");}<\/style>\n\t\t\t<script defer>\n\t\t\t  jQuery(\"img#videoThumbnailImage_RrhtcUYqEH0\").click(function() {\n\t\t\t\tlet videoId = jQuery(this).attr(\"data-source-videoID\");\n\t\t\t\tlet helpTag = '<div id=\"mmDeferVideoYTMessage_RrhtcUYqEH0\" style=\"display: none;position: absolute;top: -24px;width: 100%;text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;font-size: small;border-top: 1px solid #fc0;\">Having trouble? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v='+videoId+'\" target=\"_blank\">Click here to watch on YouTube.<\/a><\/span><\/div>';\n\t\t\t\tlet tag = document.createElement(\"iframe\");\n\t\t\t\ttag.id = \"yt\" + videoId;\n\t\t\t\ttag.src = \"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/\" + videoId + \"?autoplay=1&controls=1&wmode=opaque&rel=0&egm=0&iv_load_policy=3&hd=0&enablejsapi=1\";\n\t\t\t\ttag.frameborder = 0;\n\t\t\t\ttag.allow = \"autoplay; fullscreen\";\n\t\t\t\ttag.width = this.width;\n\t\t\t\ttag.height = this.height;\n\t\t\t\ttag.setAttribute(\"data-matomo-title\",\"Authors in the Romantic Period\");\n\t\t\t\tjQuery(\"div#mmDeferVideoEncompass_RrhtcUYqEH0\").html(tag);\n\t\t\t\tjQuery(\"div#mmDeferVideoEncompass_RrhtcUYqEH0\").prepend(helpTag);\n\t\t\t\tsetTimeout(function(){jQuery(\"div#mmDeferVideoYTMessage_RrhtcUYqEH0\").css(\"display\", \"block\");}, 2000);\n\t\t\t  });\n\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t<\/script>\n\t\t\n<p><script>\nfunction vWU_Function() {\n  var x = document.getElementById(\"vWU\");\n  if (x.style.display === \"none\") {\n    x.style.display = \"block\";\n  } else {\n    x.style.display = \"none\";\n  }\n}\n<\/script><\/p>\n<div class=\"moc-toc hide-on-desktop hide-on-tablet\">\n<div><button onclick=\"vWU_Function()\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/toc2.svg\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" alt=\"show or hide table of contents\"><\/button><\/p>\n<p>On this page<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<nav id=\"vWU\" style=\"display:none;\">\n<ul>\n<li class=\"toc-h2\"><a href=\"#William_Blake\" class=\"smooth-scroll\">William Blake<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"toc-h2\"><a href=\"#William_Wordsworth\" class=\"smooth-scroll\">William Wordsworth<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"toc-h2\"><a href=\"#Coleridge\" class=\"smooth-scroll\">Coleridge<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"toc-h2\"><a href=\"#Lord_Byron\" class=\"smooth-scroll\">Lord Byron<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"toc-h2\"><a href=\"#Percy_Shelley\" class=\"smooth-scroll\">Percy Shelley<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"toc-h2\"><a href=\"#John_Keats\" class=\"smooth-scroll\">John Keats<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"toc-h2\"><a href=\"#Geoffrey_Chaucer\" class=\"smooth-scroll\">Geoffrey Chaucer<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"toc-h2\"><a href=\"#Thomas_Browne\" class=\"smooth-scroll\">Thomas Browne<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"accordion\"><input id=\"transcript\" type=\"checkbox\" class=\"spoiler_button\" \/><label for=\"transcript\">Transcript<\/label>\n<div class=\"spoiler\" id=\"transcript-spoiler\">\n<p>Do you know what the Romantic Age is in literature? I\u2019ll give you a hint: it doesn\u2019t have anything to do with Valentine\u2019s Day. It is actually a movement in arts and literature that became popular at the turn of the 18th century.<\/p>\n<p>Romantic literature used dramatic images, a focus on self, and an emphasis on the everyday man. Emotion was much more important in Romantic poetry than reason, and most authors used nature as a metaphor or muse.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"William_Blake\" class=\"m-toc-anchor\"><\/span>William Blake<\/h2>\n<p>\nWilliam Blake wrote during the late 1700s. He\u2019s perhaps most well-known for his collection of <a class=\"ylist\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/structural-elements-of-poetry\/\">poems<\/a> entitled Songs of Innocence and their counterpart, Songs of Experience, two works that embody the romantic ideas of their time.<\/p>\n<p>In <em>Songs of Innocence<\/em>, Blake writes from the perspective of a light-hearted, pleasant piper and shepherd. He talks about God using the metaphor of a lamb, childhood, and divinity. In contrast, Songs of Experience gets down and dirty with the world, writing about the chimney sweeps and describing God as \u201cThe Tyger.\u201d Blake\u2019s writing is vivid, and his descriptions are bright and emotional like many romantic writers of his time.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"William_Wordsworth\" class=\"m-toc-anchor\"><\/span>William Wordsworth<\/h2>\n<p>\nWilliam Wordsworth was another well-known Romantic poet who wrote at the beginning of the 18th century. Let\u2019s take a look at one part of his well-known poem and see why he was considered a romantic at the time:<\/p>\n<div class=\"transcriptcallout\" style=\"text-align: left;\">I wandered lonely as a cloud<br \/>\nThat floats on high o\u2019er vales and hills,<br \/>\nWhen all at once I saw a crowd,<br \/>\nA host, of golden daffodils;<br \/>\nBeside the lake, beneath the trees,<br \/>\nFluttering and dancing in the breeze.<\/div>\n<p>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\nWhat\u2019s the first thing you notice when you read this? If you say, \u201clots of nature,\u201d you\u2019re right. That was one of Wordsworth\u2019s defining Romantic qualities. He wrote about nature often. Also, check out that first line: \u201cI wandered lonely as a cloud.\u201d Remember the focus on the individual self in Romantic poetry?<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"Coleridge\" class=\"m-toc-anchor\"><\/span>Coleridge<\/h2>\n<p>\nIn fact, Wordsworth and another author\u2014Samuel Coleridge\u2014are credited with launching the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication, Lyrical Ballads.<\/p>\n<p>Coleridge was even more well known for his long-form poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, where we read about an ill-fated ship that kills its good-luck omen, an albatross, and meets a ghastly end. This poem gives us some phrases and ideas we still use today. Have you ever heard the metaphor of someone \u201cwearing an albatross\u201d around his neck? What about the phrase \u201cwater, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink?\u201d That\u2019s an approximation of a line in The Rime. Coleridge used common, everyday language to express profound images and ideas, something Wordsworth and most of the Romantics did as well.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"Lord_Byron\" class=\"m-toc-anchor\"><\/span>Lord Byron<\/h2>\n<p>\nThree other common names from the Romantic period are those of Lord George Byron, Percy Shelley, and John Keats. They all wrote around the late 1700s and early 1800s, they had the style of the romantic age, and they were all, at some point, poets.<\/p>\n<p>Byron, as his name suggests, was actually a lord, and hugely influential in his age. He has been regarded as one of the greatest British poets, most famous for his epic poem, Don Juan, a long work that was considered somewhat shocking in its time. Humorously, even though Byron is now considered to be part of the Romantic Movement, he specifically talked about how much he disliked Wordsworth and Coleridge in one part of Don Juan.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"Percy_Shelley\" class=\"m-toc-anchor\"><\/span>Percy Shelley<\/h2>\n<p>\nWhile he may not have been a fan of those two, he was friends with our next poet, Percy Shelley. Shelley was never especially famous during his lifetime, although you may recognize the name of his second wife, Mary Shelley, who wrote the novel Frankenstein. Let\u2019s look at one of Shelley\u2019s well-known poems, \u201cMusic, When Soft Voices Die.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"transcriptcallout\" style=\"text-align: left;\">Music, when soft voices die,<br \/>\nVibrates in the memory;<br \/>\nOdours, when sweet violets sicken,<br \/>\nLive within the sense they quicken.<\/p>\n<p>Rose leaves, when the rose is dead,<br \/>\nAre heap\u2019d for the beloved\u2019s bed;<br \/>\nAnd so thy thoughts, when thou art gone,<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-top: -1.5em; margin-bottom: 0em;\">Love itself shall slumber on.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\nFirst, we have bountiful nature imagery, but let\u2019s look at the content of this poem. Nature is a metaphor for how memories endure after something\u2014or someone\u2014is gone. It uses vibrant and emotional language; things we\u2019ve learned are hallmarks of the Romantic Age.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"John_Keats\" class=\"m-toc-anchor\"><\/span>John Keats<\/h2>\n<p>\nYou can\u2019t talk about the Romantics without talking about John Keats. Keats was a prolific writer while he was alive, which, sadly, wasn\u2019t very long. He died of tuberculosis at the bright age of 25, but before he did so he made a significant contribution to literature in general, and the Romantic period in specific.<\/p>\n<p>Keats\u2019 poetry is characterized by sensual imagery, most notably in a series of odes. Here\u2019s a part of \u201cOde to a Nightingale.\u201d Look closely at the themes of nature and emotion, and the focus on Keat\u2019s own individual self:<\/p>\n<div class=\"transcriptcallout\" style=\"text-align: left;\">I cannot see what flowers are at my feet,<br \/>\nNor what soft incense hangs upon the boughs,<br \/>\nBut, in embalmed darkness, guess each sweet<br \/>\nWherewith the seasonable month endows.<\/div>\n<p>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\nEven though Keats works were only in publication for four years before his death, he is considered to be one of the main figures of the Romantic poets.<\/p>\n<p>Before we wrap this up, I want to talk about two authors born way before the Romantics who had an influence on their work: Geoffrey Chaucer and Thomas Browne.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"Geoffrey_Chaucer\" class=\"m-toc-anchor\"><\/span>Geoffrey Chaucer<\/h2>\n<p>\nChaucer was an English poet and author who lived in the mid-to-late 1300s and is considered one of the greatest poets of the Middle Ages. He\u2019s best known for his collection of short poetic stories called the Canterbury Tales.<\/p>\n<p>He has been called the Father of English Literature, partly because he popularized the Middle English vernacular at a time when most of the written word appeared in French and Latin.<\/p>\n<p>The Romantic authors had a remarkable respect for Chaucer. Keats wrote enthusiastically about the poet in his letters, and even paralleled one of Chaucer\u2019s most well-known stories, The Wife of Bath\u2019s Tale, with the opening of his own poem Lamia.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"Thomas_Browne\" class=\"m-toc-anchor\"><\/span>Thomas Browne<\/h2>\n<p>\nThomas Browne was another English author that influenced the Romantics before the Romantic period. He was alive in the 1600s, and wrote largely about the mystery of God, nature, and man.<\/p>\n<p>Coleridge considered himself to have \u201crediscovered\u201d Browne\u2019s genius, and wrote a letter where he said \u201cSir Thomas Browne is among my first favourites, rich in various knowledge, exuberant\u2026.contemplative, and imaginative.\u201d As you can see, Coleridge clearly believed Browne had what it took to be considered a Romantic writer, even centuries before the Romantic Age.<\/p>\n<p>I hope this video has given you a little window into the wonderful world of historical authors!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"home-buttons\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/history\/\">Return to History Videos<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Return to History Videos<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":186467,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":{"0":"post-51684","1":"page","2":"type-page","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"page_category-history-videos","7":"page_category-video-pages-for-study-course-sidebar-ad","8":"page_type-video","9":"subject_matter-english"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/51684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51684"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/51684\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":280658,"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/51684\/revisions\/280658"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/186467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}