Poetry

1
Poetry

• A Brief Introduction

2
Poetry

• Poetry is a unique form of writing.
• Poetry was used in ancient cultures because it
  was concise, memorable, and a useful tool for
  passing on cultural histories.

3
Poetry

• In ancient societies, poetry was used to record
  cultural events or tell stories.
• The term, poetry, comes from the Greek poesis
  meaning 'making' or 'creating'.

4
Poetry

• Poetry is among the earliest records of most
  cultures.
• The oldest surviving poem is the Epic of
  Gilgamesh -- based on the history of King
  Gilgamesh, written around 3000 BC in Sumer,
  Mesopotamia in cuneiform script on clay tablets.

5
Poetry

• Tatakiewicz, a Polish historian of aesthetics,
  wrote in The Concept of Poetry "poetry expresses
  a certain state of mind."

6
Poetry

• Aristotle's Poetics describes three genres of
  poetry epic, comic and tragic.

7
Poetry

• In Europe the lyric emerges as the principal
  poetic form of the 19th century, and comes to be
  seen as synonymous with poetry itself.
• Romantic lyric poetry consists of first-person
  accounts of the thoughts and feelings of a
  specific moment feelings are extreme, but
  personal.

8
Poetry

• The Big Six Romantic poets are William Blake,
  William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Lord
  Byron, John Keats, and Percy Bysshe Shelley

9
Romanticism

• A Movement Across the Arts

10
Definition

• Romanticism refers to a movement in art,
  literature, and music during the 19th century.
• Romanticism is characterized by the 5 Is
• Imagination
• Intuition
• Idealism
• Inspiration
• Individuality

11
Imagination

• Imagination was emphasized over reason.
• This was a backlash against the rationalism
  characterized by the Neoclassical period or Age
  of Reason.
• Imagination was considered necessary for creating
  all art.
• British writer Samuel Taylor Coleridge called it
  intellectual intuition.

12
Intuition

• Romantics placed value on intuition, or feeling
  and instincts, over reason.
• Emotions were important in Romantic art.
• British Romantic William Wordsworth described
  poetry as the spontaneous overflow of powerful
  feelings.

13
Idealism

• Idealism is the concept that we can make the
  world a better place.
• Idealism refers to any theory that emphasizes the
  spirit, the mind, or language over matter
  thought has a crucial role in making the world
  the way it is.
• Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher, held that
  the mind forces the world we perceive to take the
  shape of space-and-time.

14
Inspiration

• The Romantic artist, musician, or writer, is an
  inspired creator rather than a technical
  master.
• What this means is going with the moment or
  being spontaneous, rather than getting it
  precise.

15
Individuality

• Romantics celebrated the individual.
• During this time period, Womens Rights and
  Abolitionism were taking root as major movements.
• Walt Whitman, a later Romantic writer, would
  write a poem entitled Song of Myself it
  begins, I celebrate myself

16
Origins

• Romanticism began to take root as a movement
  following the French Revolution.
• The publication of Lyrical Ballads by William
  Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1792 is
  considered the beginning of literary Romanticism.

17
The Arts

• Romanticism was a movement across all the arts
  visual art, music, and literature.
• All of the arts embraced themes prevalent in the
  Middle Ages chivalry, courtly love. Literature
  and art from this time depicted these themes.
  Music (ballets and operas) illustrated these
  themes.
• Shakespeare came back into vogue.

18
Visual Arts

• Neoclassical art was rigid, severe, and
  unemotional it hearkened back to ancient Greece
  and Rome

• Romantic art was emotional, deeply-felt,
  individualistic, and exotic. It has been
  described as a reaction to Neoclassicism, or
  anti-Classicism.

19
Visual Arts Examples
Romantic Art
Neoclassical Art
20
Music

• Classical musicians included composers like
  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Franz Josef Haydn.

• Romantic musicians included composers like
  Frederic Chopin, Franz Lizst, Pyotr Ilyich
  Tchaikovsky

21
Music Components

• 1730-1820.
• Classical music emphasized internal order and
  balance.

• 1800-1910.
• Romantic music emphasized expression of feelings.

22
Literature

• In America, Romanticism most strongly impacted
  literature.
• Writers explored supernatural and gothic themes.
  
• Writers wrote about nature Transcendentalists
  believed G-d was in nature, unlike Age of
  Reason writers like Franklin and Jefferson, who
  saw G-d as a divine watchmaker, who created the
  universe and left it to run itself.

23
What could the following animals symbolize?

• Fox
• Owl
• Raven
• Serpent
• Ant
• Butterfly
• Fish
• Lion

24

• When voices of children are heard on the green,
• And whisperings are in the dale,
• The days of my youth rise fresh in my mind,
• My face turns green and pale.
• Then come home, my children, the sun is gone
  down,
• And the dews of night arise
• Your spring and your day are wasted in play,
•  And your winter and night in disguise.

1 What dire offence from am'rous causes
springs, What mighty contests rise from trivial
things, I sing--This verse to Caryl, Muse! is
due This, ev'n Belinda may vouchsafe to
view Slight is the subject, but not so the
praise, If she inspire, and he approve my
lays. Say what strange motive, Goddess! could
compel A well-bred lord t' assault a gentle belle?
25
Historical Context

• A time of revolution American French rev.
• Wars
• Social problems
• New communities didnt have representation
• Growing cities
• Poverty, health issues, slums
• Criminal justice system
• Corruption in India
• Slavery

26
William Blake

• Grew up in working class family
• Earned living as an engraver, painter, and
  illustrator
• Spent time in the company of radical thinkers
• Charged with treason
• Best known for collections of poetry Songs of
  Innocence and Songs of Experience

27
William Blake

• Blake was into a hosiers (a handicraftsman)
  family in London. He showed a precocious talent
  for painting. He was sent to a drawing school and
  was later apprenticed to an engraver.
• In 1779, he began his career as an engraver,
  drawing book illustrations and making engravings
  for other painters pictures.

28
Blake (2)

• Throughout his life, Blake served as both a poet
  and an engraver. He live in solitude and poverty.
  He never tried to adapt himself to worldly
  affairs. He was a rebel all his life.
• He cherished great enthusiasm for the French
  Revolution, which advocated equality, liberty and
  fraternity.

29
Blake (3)

• He severely criticized the society of his time
  and had controversy with modern science,
  especially the theory of Issac Newton.
• Literarily he was a Romantic poet, treasuring
  individuals imagination while opposing the
  neoclassical rule of reason.

30
His Major Works

• Poetical Sketches
• Collection of youthful poems, the keynote of
  which is joy, laughter, love and harmony.
• Songs of Innocence and Experience
• Innocence A lovely volume of poems presenting
  a happy and innocent world.
• Experience A response to the poems of
  innocence.
• Marriage of Heaven and Hell

31
Marriage of Heaven and Hell

• The poem is written at the climax of French
  Revolution. It explores the relationship of the
  contraries. According to Blake, life is a
  combination of opposites, of good and evil, of
  innocence and experience, of body and soul. The
  word marriage means the reconciliation of the
  contraries, not the subordination of one side to
  the other.

32
Comment 2

• Blake writes his poems in plain and direct
  language.
• Symbolism is a distinctive feature of his poetry.
• Blake paves the way for the English Romanticism
  in early 19th century.

33
Poetry Dictionary- Due Wednesday/Thursday
October 14/151

• 15 correct definitions,
• 15 examples that demonstrate superior knowledge
  of terms, poems authors
• No errors
• www.poemhunter.com
• www.poets.org
• www.emule.com/poetry/
• Modern American Poetry web site
• www.loc.gov/poetry/180/