Answer: The Romantic Movement had a profound impact. In English poetry, poets like William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge led the way. They emphasized the importance of emotion, intuition, and the individual's connection with nature. Wordsworth's "Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey" shows his deep love for nature and how it nourishes the soul. In American poetry, the movement inspired works that focused on the new nation's landscapes and the pursuit of freedom. Poets such as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow incorporated Romantic elements. The Romantics also valued the imagination highly, believing it could reveal truth. Their use of vivid and often sublime imagery, as well as their exploration of the self and the natural world, left a lasting mark on the development of both English and American poetry, influencing themes, styles, and the way poets expressed themselves.
The Romantic Movement had a profound and far - reaching impact on English and American poetry:
Themes
Nature Worship: Romantics emphasized the beauty and power of nature. Poets like William Wordsworth in England saw nature as a source of inspiration, solace, and moral guidance. His poem "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" is a prime example, where the daffodils in nature bring a sense of joy and spiritual renewal to the speaker. In American poetry, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow also had works that showed an appreciation of nature's grandeur.
- Emotional Intensity: There was a focus on intense emotions such as love, passion, and melancholy. Poets were no longer restrained by the rational and objective tone of neoclassical poetry. For instance, John Keats explored themes of love and loss with a highly emotional and sensuous language in his odes. In America, Edgar Allan Poe's works were filled with dark and intense emotions, as seen in "The Raven," where the narrator's grief and longing are palpable.
Style
Imagination and Fantasy: The Romantic Movement gave free rein to the imagination. Poets created vivid and often other - worldly images. Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "Kubla Khan" is a dream - like poem that shows the power of unfettered imagination. In the United States, Nathaniel Hawthorne's poetry sometimes delved into the realm of the fantastic and the supernatural.
- Language and Diction: There was a move away from the highly formal and artificial language of the previous era. Romantics used more accessible and expressive language that could convey the depth of their feelings and ideas. They often incorporated elements of common speech and vivid, colorful words to bring their poems to life. For example, in Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass," his use of free verse and a more democratic language was a revolutionary step, allowing him to celebrate the common man and a wide range of human experiences.