Essays About The English Romantic Poetry Theory

The famous work Preface to the Second Edition of Lyrical Ballads of William Wordsworth is a microcosm. It reflects that the English Romantic literature had a significant shift from the standard of literature which was explained by Plato or Aristotle. During"imitation"changed into"performance", in terms of language poetry, poetry function, the nature of the poet, the evaluation standard of woks and so on all have changed.William Wordsworth defined the poetic language subjects, the use of rhetoric, the poetic language of the attributes. William Wordsworth thinks that poets should use"the language which people are really going to use". Poets can use the rhetoric such as Personification, when they based on the premise that all kinds of ideas and feelings are expressed naturally in works. In poetries, rhetoric isn't an appendage which functions as modification. Samuel Coleridge thinks that we should base on fundamental difference between the rules of poetry language self and other languages to judge the use of words and syntax and so on.In the 18th century, a literature concept has appear, the type of talent division. The difference between genius and ability is regarded as the opposition between natural talent and skills. In 19th century, critics make more analysis about the attributes of the poet's"genius", and defined it as a comprehensive create ability. Associated with this, the problem about poet's subjectivity and objectivity, the works personality and impersonality became a hot topic for critics. Although the thought of the emotional impact is inevitable, Coleridge, William Hazlitt, Keats all regards poets Omnipresent creativity, great poetry without self, to escape feelings as the evaluation standards of poets and works. Even Keats defined poet's impersonality as a"negative capability". Poetry is different from philosophy and science .It is an aesthetic activity.In romantic era, utilitarian measured poetries with the methods of positivism, which in order to belittle poems and think poetry is untrue, useless. Some poets refute"the idea which thinks poetry is useless", but they greatly exaggerate the value of poetry, particularly highlighted that the spirituality of poetry has Lofty status. Romantic receive a positivist premise, end, science and poetry are completely different from end, approach to value. Poetry is the revelation and performance of emotion, is a performance with a holistic natural language. Therefore poetry's most precise opposition is not history which records facts, but the objective description without any emotion. The function of poetry is enhancing the feeling of moral and giving a long, useful pleasure. But romantic greatly exaggerate the value of poetry, so that the nature of poetry word was drowned in general exposition. In 19th century, most critics agreed that there is an unconscious factor during the process of the poetry writing. Then, this view has been pushed to an extreme, which some critics believe that the birth of an art works is Spontaneous activities which are independent of intent, concept, even awareness. Poet can't control their inspiration. The poet's rational and judgment is difficult to achieve a great epic. On the other hand, the process of an unconscious creation makes poets far away from the imitation of ideas or natural viewpoints poets can refuse Questioning about the"true"standard in experience world. But poetry was regard as an inspiration degradation product, inevitably losing its value.In the exposition of organic, organic, living, natural and machinery, no live, manufacturing are regarded as an opposition. For organics the various attributes of organic plants are used to compare with the features of writes and works. For example, the creation of poets is similar to the plant growth, is an unconscious process. For instance, when a plant grows, it isn't reflected by human control, but strict compliance with natural rules. The growth of genius isn't restrained by dogma, but is an model of the laws of art. Wordsworth's"imagine"refers to recall with Arbitrary and the ability of combination imagery, or the rational insight on new Platonism. Coleridge's"imagine"can reconcile and integrate .It is organic and dialectical .The illusion only can light up. It is mechanical. However, most English romantic critics still use the methods of Wordsworth to define the imagination and functions. It is lack to comprehensively think about Psychological of poetry creation and some internal factors of poetry. Coleridge's organic whole Poetics is a comprehensive criticism framework and a holistic explanation. The premise of its theory is the distinction between organic and mechanical. Coleridge′s theory involved several features of literature which come from the metaphors of plants:1,the relationship of part and whole;2,The integration of heterogeneous factors;3,the structure of poetry is an organic whole;4,the internal(includes three aspects: the poet writing behavior is intrinsic, the rule of literature should be based on internal, the aesthetic standard has inherent attributes ).Romantic literature theories are the sense of literary criticism today, and impact our modern consciousness.