Poetry, Nature and Self - A Quest for Happiness and Acknowledgement during the Romantic Age

Abstract

The Romantic period was turbulent in many aspects. The French Revoluion, the Industrial Revolution and literary development had great culture-historical consequences. The increasing industrialization forced a group of poets back into nature, resulting in a poetic language that revered the past and glorified nature. Apart from that, oppression based on gender and social status limited and influenced poets, calling for new means of self-justification and -definition. An interaction occurred between the poets, nature poetry and society. Based on three case-studies focussing on the preface to Lyrical Ballads by William Wordsworth, the journals and poetry by Dorothy Wordsworth and the natural poetry of John Keats, an overview of this interaction is given.