Romanticism in American Literature Essay Example for Free

amorousism in American Literature EssayWithin this paper will be an explanation of the ideals of Romantic writers in Early American Literature. We will also look at some aspects of Romanticism that were uniquely understood by the writers and artists in the united States. T here will be a brief discussion of graphic and dark Romantic writing and it is there that we will look at the lives, and one poem each, of Henry David Thoreau, a bright romantic writer and Edgar Allan Poe, a dark romantic writer. Romanticism began in Germany sometime around 1770.From there it spread to the rest of Europe including England and then in conclusion to the United States. In the late Eighteenth Century pecks ideas about themselves, their righteousness, their world and the art and literature in it were evolving rapidly. This was mostly due to a re-examination of priorities and beliefs because of constant new scientific discoveries and an enthusiastic hide of the uniquely human abilities of sto rytelling using ones imagination and a kind of rejection of reason and logic.For the first time since the concepts of religion and rulers began to regulate the spirit and creative energy of humankind people looked more to temper and deep down to define themselves and their humanity rather than to their Churches or to their Kings. The Romantic head of American Literature is from about 1830 to 1860 and it interestingly overlaps the period which is said to be Victorian (1830 to 1880) in the United States. Romantic writers believe in the natural probity of man and also that what is special in a particular man should be highly valued.They indulge heavily in introspection and self-analysis. Some determination their deity within themselves while otherwises found their religion in the beauty of nature. Nature was food for the soul that provided their inspiration and was a resource for their wisdom. Indeed, for some of the Romantic writers nature was their muse however, others found th eir inspiration in the dark corners of their human desires. As mentioned above the citizens of the United States were in a unique position to embrace the tenets of Romanticism through a political movement that focused more on the individual.By shedding the oppressive monarchy of old England they were well on their appearance to forming what Emerson called a Nation of men who were following Jacksonian democracy. By most historical accounts, (President Andrew) Jackson is seen as largely responsible for effecting this political and cultural interlingual rendition of the United States from a republic, governed by an elect few, to a democracy. Jackson persuaded Americans that sovereign power resided in themthat they would control the governing process by deciding questions of constitutionality, law, and government agency through the ballot box.Many writers, philosophers, and activists were also convinced by Jacksons rhetoric of democracy, believing that more concern for the rights of common individuals would yield a more comprehensive political and cultural environment receptive to the ideals of a younger generation of Americans, (Didion). One can easily see why the material that writers in the United States were putting out fell into line with the musings, literature and poetry of Romantic writers all over the world. By being exposed to the political aspects of the culture here they were in a position where their art reflected the lives of their patrons.Why, though, were some of the writings about the nature all around us and bright beauty found within it and some of it was about the dark nature of mankind and the sorrow found there? Bright Romantics used a merging of science and nature to consent to both to work together. Meanwhile they would put emphasis on the individuals ability to take themselves out of society to live in nature away from the rat race. A good example of a bright Romantic writer would be Henry David Thoreau. He is famous for having writte n, among many other works, Walden which is about living simply in nature.Thoreau was an abolitionist and his essay Civil Disobe handnce is a piece that inspired Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. to engage in peaceful civil disobedience to protest unjust governments. He also wrote Nature, a poem we will look at more in sense after in this paper. Henry David Thoreau (born David Henry Thoreau) lived from July 12, 1817 May 6, 1862. He was attending Harvard during Andrew Jacksons second inauguration. He was a freelance writer who seek but was unsuccessful at becoming a fulltime professional writer.Having not been quite as successful at his dream of writing as he is posthumously was a bit of a disappointment to Henry. He had grown up the son of a storekeeper and liquor salesman in respectable indigence and had his share of other sorrows as well having seen two of his beloved siblings die. His brother John died of typhus which he got while shaving. His younger sister Sophia died in 184 6 at the age of 36 of the same affliction that would claim Henrys life, tuberculosis. Thoreau loved the outdoors and would rather live of the land than any other way.He enjoyed waling in the outdoors so much he had said while hunting never did he find his rifle to be too heavy. He held many odd jobs to support himself while traveling and writing but he was in truth well known in his fathers later business of pencil making. Biographer Robert Sullivan writes that while in the employ of the pencil company Thoreau studied various graphite laboriousnesses sic and invented a machine that manufactured a finer grind. The centerpiece was a cylinder, in which the finer graphite settled to the bottom for ready collection.The new invention pushed the company ahead of its rivals, (142). While his dreams of being a professional writer went mostly unfulfilled he found great joy and contentment as mentioned above in nature. He was well fantasy of in his life but revered as a writer after his deat h. In The Life of Henry David Thoreau, Sanborn writes, Thoreau had various missions in this world, some of which he fulfilled, and passed beyond them others he did not live long enough to complete, and only approached perfection at remote intervals.Versifying was one of these latter though the poetic intelligence and ideal nature was not only brought to a high point of excellence in his last twenty years, but he exhibited in his youth and early capacity for good writing, which his devotion to the art developed into what may easily pass for perfection in his best passages. (51). Dark Romantics wrote about how a person views their world and how their mind has the power to change the world they live in. They have a tendency to reject science for fiction and be very involved in the macabre. They are also very introspective.Arguably the best Dark Romantic writer was Edgar Allan Poe who lived from 1809 to 1849. Born December 9 to thespians David and Eliza Poe, who would both die two ye ars later in 1811, Edgar was raised by John and Fanny Allan of Richmond Virginia. John and Edgar never got along due to Johns disdain for how he viewed Edgars existence. Until John inherited great wealth, which he eventually kept from Edgar, he viewed Edgar as a drain on his hard fought earnings. Poe faced a lot of tragedy at a very early age and lived a life that was filled with challenges, some self-imposed.He had a lot of unrequited and lost love therefore, women in some form or another filled pages of his poetry. Poe believed that the goal of literature was not to mirror worldly concern but instead to pursue Beauty in its highest and widest sense. As Poe put it, A poem in my opinion, is opposed to a work of science by having for its immediate object, pleasure, not truth, (27) writes James Hutchinson in his book Poe. For Poe writing was at the very center of his existence. He wrote for some time before becoming keep but it did happen while he lived.Poe did make his living throu gh words though poetry prose and becoming the chief editor at several(prenominal) monthlies as well as writing pieces for magazines. Later Hutchinson notes that The Raven was an instant success and Poe woke up to find himself famous. (165). Though famous he seemed forever tragic. spear Ackroyd writes of his alcoholism saying that after a particularly strong binge in PA, Poe acknowledges that the whole experience in Philadelphia became for him a phantasmagoria of suffering, brought on by what he described as mania-a-potu, or alcoholic madness.It is the first indication that he realised sic the nature of his true condition. (185). Although feverish Poe had left Richmond VA to visit friends in Baltimore MD, days later, he was found unconscious in a tavern in Baltimore. His previous whereabouts were a mystery and Poe died in a hospital on October 7, 1849 at the age of forty, reminiscent of one of the characters in his works. Both men died young and that was all too common in those ti mes. Their lives were quite different.It is not a surprise that both men lived what they wrote, for Thoreau of the beauty of the outdoors and the nature there was his refuge from life and he died enjoying the Woods at Walden that he enjoyed so much. Although he married the daughter of his paternal Aunt when she was just thirteen, for Poe the love he searched for he never really found. It was maternal in nature and he would never fill that void through drugs and alcohol. The tragedy of his writing was told in his biography.The following are one poem each by Thoreau and Poe. They are similar in their rhythm and their rhyme scheme however, their symbolism and mood are very different. Poes poem is about a beautiful valley where many people died in battle and they haunt the valley still. Thoreau writes about the beauty of the outdoors and how he longs only to commune with his beloved nature and pass his days in the great outdoors. One does not need to be told who wrote which poem that is obvious by their content.