Unit 3 - Romanticism & Transcendentalism Flashcards
Romanticism
- Nature is a source of knowledge and inspiration
- Romantics valued emotion/imagination over reason
“Thanatopsis” by William Cullen Bryant:
Gives voice to the despair people feel in contemplating death, then finds peace by viewing death as a harmonious part of nature.
The “narrow house” that “makes thee to shudder”
Refers to a coffin and how people fear death, even though it is inevitable.
“The Planting of the Apple Tree” by William Cullen Bryant
Explains the significance of an apple tree, its benefits, and what all the tree “witnesses.”
“he pours its fragrance through open doors”
Personification
“Winds go howling through
the night”
Personification
“To a Waterfowl” by William Cullen Bryant
The speaker sees and admires the flight and grace of a waterfowl. Suddenly the
speaker can’t see the bird anymore, God will be there to guide him when he feels most alone. Nature inspires and loneliness isn’t always bad.
“The Last Leaf” by Oliver Wendell Holmes
Compares an old man to the last leaf on a withering branch. The “last leaf” is the last surviving person.
“The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The poem tells of a “traveller” who arrives at a shore, hurries to a nearby town, and never returns the way they came. The poem can be read as an extended metaphor for the brevity of human life and the mystery of death.
Transcendentalism
A philosophical and social movement that taught that spirituality goes through nature and humanity and included feelings of the sublime, self-reliance, and intuition.
Nature by Ralph Waldo Emerson
If stars only shone one night in a thousand years, people would appreciate them and not take
them for granted.
Self-Reliance by Emerson
Urged that individuals should simplify their lives and resist conformity.
Walden by Henry David Thoreau
Thoreau went into the woods to discover new things in life, to simplify his own life. In his book,
he compares fighting ants to warring humans.
Dark Romanticism
an offshoot of American Romanticism in which writers explored the dark side of humanity and the natural world; as sinister and evil.
“The Devil and Tom Walker” by Washington Irving
A satire where the trees in the forest symbolize people’s souls. The trees with the names scored in them are people who the devil has hold of. Some of the trees look good on the outside but are rotten to the core. This symbolizes that greed can lead to destruction.
