Romanticism + William Blake

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo
• Leerjaar 5

Literature

Poems from the Romantic Era

1798-1850

Romanticism

Not romantic...

Literature this period

•  We will work through the reader/poems/exercises together
• There is a lot of information in the reader, I will not discuss everything, so you will have to read some on your own as well.
  
• In class we will focus on discussing the poems
  
• Questions?
  

Romanticism

- Introduction to the Romantic Era

William Blake "The Lamb"

- William Blake "The Tyger"

Robert Burns "A red red rose"

-  Lord Byron "She Walks in Beauty"

William Wordsworth "I Wandered Lonely"

Walt Whitman "O Captain! My Captain!"

Late 18th/early 19th century: great changes!

• Society - industrial cities; poverty among workers
• Nature - large-scale environmental pollution

Outside Britain:

• Declaration of Independence (1776)
  
• French Revolution (1789)
  
• = Inspiration for many British intellectuals (liberty, equality, fraternity)

• Focus on nature / country life
• Emotions vs power of reason
  
• Imagination vs logic
  
• originality was prized
• Individual vs society
  
• Longing for the past, supernatural and mythology
  
• Anti-authoritarian, anti-establishment (French revolution)
  
• Simple language, simple subjects (everyday life)
  
• Children are pure, whereas adults are corrupted

Characteristics

Romanticism

Characteristics

Imagination

Emotions

Nature

Pastoral life

Symbolism

Individualism

Imagination

Emotions

Love of nature

Pastoral Life: Belief in the individual and the common man

Symbolism

Individualism: The romantic hero

William Blake

 1757-1827

• Poet, painter, engraver, and visionary

• No formal schooling, but at age 10 he went to drawing school and at age 14 he became an apprentice to an engraver
• Songs of Innocence (1789) and Songs of Experience (1794).
• He was not very well known in his time and the responses to his work were mixed.
  

Let's read the poem 

William Blake - The Lamb

www.litcharts.com

1. What is the central question of this poem?

2. What is the clothing of delight?

1. fleece
2. silk
3. wool
4. iron

3. What does: "Making all the vales rejoice" mean?

1. Bringing happiness to everything is the surrounding valleys
2. The valleys are sad
3. The sheep are glad

4. For He calls Himself a Lamb. Explain please.

What elements of Romanticism are represented in this poem?

1. Imagination, nature, pastoral life and symbolism.
2. Nature, pastoral life, emotion
3. Individualism, nature, imagination
4. Individualism, pastoral life, emotion

Let's read the poem

William Blake - The Tyger

www.litcharts.com

• By detailing the tiger’s fearsomeness and by directly comparing it to the innocent and gentle lamb, the poem hints that perhaps both creatures are necessary parts of God’s creation. 
• Perhaps without fear and danger, there could be no love and joy.

Which of the following statements best summarizes how Blake describes the tiger?

1. Blake depicts the tiger as a fearsome, dangerous animal that should be avoided.
2. Blake describes the tiger in terms of its light and dark elements.
3. Blake depicts the tiger as an awe-inspiring creature made artfully with powerful elements.
4. Blake describes the tiger as a peaceful part of nature that is unchallenged by its own origins.

How does the line “Did He who make the Lamb make thee?” contribute to the the development of the poem?

1. It implies that the tiger is actually a gentle creature like the lamb’s namesake, Jesus Christ.
2. It implies that God is cruel for making a dangerous tiger that can tear an innocent lamb to pieces.
3. It questions the judgment of a creator that would create such vastly different animals with such different components.
4. It reveals the creator’s incomprehensible motivation to create both a powerful creature like the tiger and a weak creature like the lamb.

Which of the following statements best describes the author’s purpose in this poem?

1. The author aims to explore the question of existence and how things came to be as they are.
2. The author aims to talk about biology and evolution by posing questions in a spiritual way.
3. The author aims to reveal a gap in human knowledge regarding where life came from.
4. The author aims to prove that only a higher power could create such a magnificent creature as the tiger.

Which characteristics of Romantic poetry can you find in this poem?

What poetic devices can you find in the lines: What immortal hand or eye / Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

1. simile, onomatopoeia, alliteration
2. alliteration, metaphor, enjambment
3. enjambment, onomatopoeia, metaphor
4. metaphor, simile, alliteration

Did He who made the lamb make thee?------ Who does the lamb refer to?

1. Jesus
2. A lamb is a lamb is a lamb
3. An innocent human being
4. A harmless human being

What part of a tiger burns bright?

1. eyes
2. teeth
3. fur
4. tail

What does the tiger represent?

1. power
2. evil
3. guilt
4. mystery and fear

3. What is the central question of the poem?

4. What do distant deeps and skies represent?

What profession is referred to in stanza 4?

1. butcher
2. hunter
3. blacksmith
4. god

6. Why does the poet use the word 'dare' in the last line?

What immortal hand or eye / Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

Who do the immortal hand and eye belong to?

1. The Universe
2. The Christian God
3. Greek god/goddess
4. Mother Earth