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Romantic Poets - Coggle Diagram
Romantic Poets
La Belle Dame Sans Merci. A Ballad John Keats
Key Quotes
'Alone and palely loitering?'
'Knight-at-arms'
'No birds sing'
'A lily on thy brow'
'On thy cheeks a fading rose'
'A faery's child'
'Her hair was long'
'Her eyes wild'
'I made a garland for her head, and bracelets too'
'Made sweet moan'
'Pacing steed'
'She would bend, and sing, a faery's song'
'She found me roots of relish sweet and honey wild, and manna-dew'
'In language strange she said'
'Her elfin grot'
'I shut her wild wild eyes'
'She lulled me to sleep'
'Pale warriors, deathly pale'
'Their starved lips'
Destruction
The fae has destroyed many men prior to the knight, as he sees kings, princes and warriors on this cold hillside and in the end, ends up there. The fae, follows her archetype as a mischievous creature who wreaks havoc on all the men who try and seduce and tame her, ultimately destroying them.
Structure
Written as a Ballad which is a longer, narrative poem derived from Chanson Balladee.
The metre is Iambic Tetrameter for the first 3 lines of each quatrain/four-line stanza. This is used in a trotting rhythm like how the knight is like a knight in shining armour from fairy tales whereas the fae is the opposite and is wild and mischievous.
The Ballad follows a Rhyme Scheme typical of English ballads which is ABCB.
Gender
The fae's beauty is constantly described by this knight which objectifies her just to her beauty and body parts. However, the long hair of this fae shows her feminine sexuality, which she is extremely confident in and acts unlike a woman of the 19th century. The knight also presents himself as extremely masculine with his pacing steed and his attempt to tame the fae by making her garlands and bracelets which shackle her. The fae doesn't want to be tamed by men which is why she abandons him in the end.
Context
Keats died of Tuberculosis at 25 because he nursed his brother who also died of TB.
Faerie's were human and extremely sexual, who seduced men and were seen as dangerous.
He had a passionate affair but had his heart broken.
La Belle Dame sans Merci means the beautiful woman without mercy in French.
Faeries who come from the world of the fae are seen as mischievous and thieving creatures, sometimes less human than fairies. They are known in mythology to steal babies or children and keep them as slaves or pets and leave a changeling in its place.
Faeries are extremely beautiful and even though they are normally portrayed as mischievous, they can sometimes be kind to humans.
Faeries are powerful beings who can wreak havoc upon humans.
Keats wanted to write poetry that sought truth in the imagination without getting muddled with any rigid belief systems.
Deception
As a fae, she is wild and unpredictable, leaving the knight to fall for all her traps by becoming dependent on because she's beautiful and keeps him interested in her by using her sexuality, rewarding the knight with sex. He then lets himself be enchanted by the food the fae gives him which could seem like a magical concoction, he gets enchanted by the strange language she uses to tell him she loves him before singing him into a sleep for an unknown length of time, as she gets rid of him. Ultimately deceiving him.
Sex and Passion
Both female and male sexuality are seen, the fae subverts women's 19th century roles by using her sexuality to keep men enthralled with her and doesn't seem to care for the need to be pure and virginal. The knights sexuality is seen through his pacing steed and strength but ultimately the fae is in control because she gave him the sex he wanted to keep him interested in her.
Obsession
The knight is obsessed with this woman's beauty to the point when he likens her to a faerie, which emphasises her danger and her sexuality which the knight looks past because he's in love with her beauty and devotes all his emotional energy into making her garlands and bracelets which he is then rewarded for with sex. As the poem goes on, this obsession turns into dependence on this woman, as she provides food and sings him to sleep, which this dependence then destroys him when she leaves as the knight is forever waiting for her to come back.
Poetic Literary Context (AO3)
Early 1800's.
Focus on emotion.
Focus on the natural world.
Reacting against the industrial revolution.
Reacting against inequality and the mechanisation of life.
Wanted to write for everyone, using emotion and spontaneity.
Sought to reflect these ideas through their form, meter and language.
Felt poetry could restore the world and restore mans spirit.
Ae Fond Kiss Robert Burns
Key Quotes
Then we sever;
Deep in heart-wrung tears.
While the star of hope she leaves him?
Nae cheerfu' twinkle lights me;
Dark despair around benights me.
I'll ne'er blame my partial fancy.
Naething could resist my Nancy.
Never met - or never parted - we had ne'er been broken-hearted.
Thou best and dearest.
Peace. enjoyment, love and pleasure!
alas, forever!
Warring sighs and groans I'll wage thee!
Loss
Burns has lost his affair who meant a lot to him and he is broken. He could be writing as if he was going through the five stages of grief starting with denial, then moving into depression before finally reaching an acceptance that she's gone. He's lost his true love and yet is selfless to wish her to be happy for the rest of her life even if that means he had to be heart broken in the process.
Structure
AA BB Rhyme Scheme in rhyming couplets which could signify Burns wish for them to still be together.
Iambic Tetrameter signifies the spontaneity of the poem and the thoughts constantly spilling out before it's too late to say them.
Written in the Scottish Dialect of the working man, so everyone can read it and you can hear Burns' voice.
Ballad form, which is a poem that tells a story and it's a poetic form the working class would've used and understood.
Cyclical Structure (where the beginning is repeated) which emphasises the sadness he feels for the loss of his love.
Romantic/Idealised Love
The imagery of light shows a beautiful and romantic relationship that Burns had with Agnes and this love continues even after Agnes has left because Burns gives an act of selflessness wishing Agnes to be happy for the rest of her life and letting her go, never blaming her for her reasons for going away.
Context
Burns was born in a farming family.
He was nicknamed the ploughman poet.
Burns gets accepted in higher class parties/elite societies as a romantic poet.
He had an affair with Agnes McLenose who was married to a rich man who lived in Jamaica and they were estranged.
Eventually, Agnes had to go away back to Jamaica and Burns could never see her again.
Obsession
Burns is still obsessed with Agnes and this is seen in his cyclical structure that he still keeps going back to his saddening feelings about her leaving him. He pledges himself to Agnes showing his devotion to her even though she is gone and is never coming back. The 'alas' shows his devastation and his regret and his want for Agnes to come back.
She Walks in Beauty Lord Byron
Key Quotes
Of cloudless climes and starry skies.
Best of dark and bright.
Tender light.
One shade more, one ray less.
Every raven tress.
Thoughts serenely sweet express ... How dear their dwelling-place.
The tints that glow.
A heart whose love is innocent.
Romantic/Idealised Love
The natural imagery represents the woman's beauty and the natural love Byron has for her. The use of celestial and light imagery, likens the woman to an angel or divine being, as if Byron worships her and all her internal and external beauty. She is described as having pure thoughts which emphasises the kindness of this woman that Byron is drawn to and that her beauty is the inner beauty that is the light shining out of her. There is no sense of sexual love and just natural love.
Structure
Iambic tetrameter
Regular Rhyme Scheme (AB) which gives a melodic and fluid sense. It's uniform and perfect like this woman's beauty.
Alliteration in 'cloudless climes and starry skies'
Antithesis (the complete opposite) is used in 'one shade more, one ray less' juxtaposing light and dark to emphasise her internal beauty different from her dark hair.
Context
He was eccentric.
He was friends with Percy Shelly.
He had lots of extra marital affairs and homosexual affairs and had a reputation for it.
He was a troubled man (he was in debt and had a reputation as a womaniser).
He was characterised as mad, bad and dangerous to know.
Gender
This woman is objectified by a man resorting back to the social norms of women, referring to her beauty being because she is internally beauty and her thoughts are sweet and pure. He also likens the woman to her black hair and that he is looking at this beautiful woman but he can't form a relationship with her.
The Garden of Love William Blake
Key Quotes
A Chapel was built in the midst.
Where I used to play on the green.
And Thou shalt not.
That so many sweet flowers bore.
I saw it was filled with graves.
tomb-stones where flowers should be.
Priests in black gowns, were walking their rounds.
Binding with briars, my joys & desires.
Loss
Innocence and beauty and naturalness is lost and covered up with graves as the Church and organised religion takes away the innocence and naturalness of people. There is a loss of sexual freedom as that is now policed by the Church especially as the priests are described like prison guards, locking up all personal freedom.
Structure
AA BB Rhyme Scheme as it is simple to understand and gives a nostalgic nursery rhyme feel which can emphasise the move from innocence to experience.
Internal Rhyme which gives a nostalgic nursery rhyme feel which can emphasise the move from innocence to experience.
Iambic Tetrameter which emphasises how fast the change is from innocence to experience and the speed of change there is in the world.
Social Convention
Blake is criticising the social convention at the time as he felt there was no personal freedom because of how organised religion takes it away and polices everything they do and it's painful to have his person freedom taken away.
Context
Unrecognised in lifetime.
Considered mad by his contemporaries.
Claimed he could see angels and divine beings.
Wanted to delineate spirituality from the church.
He was deeply spiritual.
Felt attacked by organised religion, he felt is was repressive and caused shame.
He was liberated sexually as he was a nudist and also in terms of gender as he taught his wife to read.
Blake also attacks the monarchy with his poetry as he also sees them as corrupt and repressive.