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Romantic Poetry (ENG -207): Course Outline(ENG -207)

Romantic poetry is the poetry of the Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement that originated in Europe toward the end of the 18th century.

Course description

The scope of this course does not admit the first Romantic Movement of the giants like Spenser, Sidney and Shakespeare etc. This is worth mentioning that romantic literature in fact, starts from the graveyard school of the 18th century primarily known for its classic taste. The period of romantic aesthetics covered in this course starts from 1789 with the advent of Blake’s work. This is the romantic revival period in which Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Shelley, Byron, Keats, etc. established its immense poetic and prosaic richness. This course aims to develop in the reader and awareness of the second wave of the Romantics and to enable them distinguishes between the poets of the age keeping in mind the similarities that group them together.The scope of this course does not cover the first Romantic Movement of the giants like Spenser, Sidney and Shakespeare etc. It is worth mentioning that romantic literature starts from the graveyard school of the 18th century primarily known for its classic taste. The period of romantic aesthetics covered under this course started from 1789 with the advent of Blake’s work. This is the romantic revival period in which Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Shelley, Byron, Keats, etc. established its immense poetic and prosaic richness. This course aims to develop in the reader and awareness of the second wave of the Romantics and to enable them to distinguish between the poets of the age keeping in mind the similarities that group them.

Course Objectives

  • To introduce the development of English poetry in the early 19th century in relation to themes and techniques
  • To impart vivid knowledge of the attributes that constitute the Romantic movement in poetry
  • To acquaint the students with the difference between Classicism and Romanticism
  • To develop the perception and analysis of the subtle variations in the Romanticism of major Romantic poets

Course Contents

Unit-I: William Blake  (A selection from Songs of Innocence and Experience)

  • Auguries of Innocence

  • The Sick Rose
  • London
  • A Poison Tree
  • A Divine Image
  • Chimney Sweeper
  • From Milton: And Did Those Feet

Unit-II: William Wordsworth

  • Tintern Abbey

  • The Solitary Reaper
  • I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
  • The World is Too Much with Us

Unit-III: S.T. Coleridge

  • The Ancient Mariner
  • Kubla Khan
  • Dejection: An Ode

Unit-IV: John Keats

  • Ode to a Nightingale
  • Ode on a Grecian Urn
  • Ode to Autumn
  • Ode to Psyche

Unit-V: P.B. Shelley

  • Ode to the West Wind
  • Lines Written in Dejection

Teaching-learning Strategies

Teaching will be done through the lecture method with a combination of tasks/projects and presentations

Assessment and Examinations

Assessment will be done as per university/department policy.

Textbooks

Suggested Readings