ENGL1000
Introduction to British Literature
ROMANTIC POETRY
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Think about, and be prepared to discuss, questions 1, 2, 6, 7, and one other.

Make brief notes so you're in a good position to exchange information with your colleagues.

Check any words you don't understand in a dictionary or glossary of literary terms.

Blake

1. What sort of world does Blake display in "Echoing Green".

2. Compare it with that of his "London". Whatās the effect of the relentless repetition that marks this poem? How might the parallelism between the sweep, the soldier, and the harlot, "work"? How does Blake play on the contrasting meanings of "chaterād"? (Use the O.E.D.) Who has created the "mind forgād manacles"? Who is manacled?

3. Is "The Tyger" evil? Why are there so many questions in the poem?

4. What does Blake say about human nature in "Several Questions Answered"?

Shelley

5. What exactly is Shelley calling on "The Men of England" to do? (What's the historical context for his song?)

Wordsworth

6. What benefits does Wordsworth derive from Nature in "Lines Written in Early Spring" and "Tintern Abbey"? It has been suggested that in the latter poem, Wordsworth arrives at his "myth of memory". Coming to a place he has visited some years before, he is able to see himself more clearly.

  • Describe what actually happens in the poem: think about what the poet actually sees, what he does, and his companion.
  • How does he describe the development of his attitude to nature through time?
  • How does he view urban life?
  • How is his affection for Dorothy Wordsworth connected to the poem as a whole?
  • Is the poem celebratory, or sad, or both? Explain.

Keats - "La Belle Dame Sans Merci"

7. Can "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" be read as an allegory? If so, what might it mean?

8. List three aspects of the poem that distinguish it as a ballad.

9. The last line of each stanza has one less foot than the preceding lines. Read the poem aloud. What effect might the sound produced by this "missing foot" have on your interpretation of the poem?

10. Describe what actually happens. What time of year is it? What kind of landscape is described? Given what you know of Romantic poetic practice, how do these things influence your interpretation of the mental and emotional state of the poet?

11. This is another poem about writing poetry. Given what you know about courtly love poetry and the Renaissance sonnet, why might Keats have made his poetic speaker a knight? In terms of poetic production, what is the role of the lady?