NAEL: aspects of Romanticism

(mostly taken or inferred from NAEL, Wordsworth and Pope)

Romantic	Neoclassical
poetry as expression	poetry as mimesis (representation of the world)
poetry is organic; grows from seed of idea into integral whole	poetry is crafted; forms are derived from ancient models
lyric poetry is central	narrative or didactic poetry and mock forms central
lyric speaker has traits of author	speaker is a persona even when speaking in the author's name
poet is "chosen son" or Bard who will redeem humanity	poet is ordinary person with unusual wit and learning who should know his place
poetry is spontaneous	poetry is craft
common language varied meters and rhyme schemes avoidance of "artificial" personifications and poetic diction	language should be carefully crafted and appropriate to genre (decorum) heroic couplets or tetrameter couplets dominant poetic diction personifications
nature is primary poetic subject nature = natural landscape close observation important	poetry generally urban in sensibility nature = what is unchangingly true general more important than particular, so observation, while important, has a different meaning
poems endow landscape with human qualities; landscape is living entity participating in feelings of observer
poetry elevates outcasts, ordinary folk, rural poor, the insane, etc.	decorum: highest genres and most serious treatment reserved for highest classes
imagination, wonder are vital	wonder, Fancy associated with credulity, naiveté
the supernatural a legitimate poetic subject; interest in unusual modes and realms of experience such as dreams, visions, the forbidden, etc.	the supernatural (as opposed to the genuinely religious) is nonsense or mere poetic convention; reason is primary

Romantic

Neoclassical