Paper #1: Romantic
Collaborations
Nor
perchance,/If I were not thus taught, should I the more/Suffer my genial
spirits to decay” (Wordsworth,
“Lines Composed Above Tintern Abbey”)
My
genial spirit fail,/And what can these avail/To lift the smothering weight from
off my breast?” (Coleridge,
“Dejection: An Ode”
The Romantic Period of
British Poetry (roughly 1799-1830) is a period of intense collaboration between
poets, some of whom were close friends, others who were fans and admirers of
other poets (Shelley adored Wordsworth and Coleridge, as did Keats). When
reading through the poems of this period, we often feel as if we’re reading one
vast poem parceled out to several different poets. These poets often use the
same ideas, metaphors, imagery, and even exact phrases (see quotes above) as
they transform their lived experience into poetic expression. (click below to see the rest...)
Your first paper is an
exercise in close reading, the art of examining how literature works on
the level of words, sentences, syntax, metaphor, and imagery. I want you to
find two poems (from different authors) that seem to be sharing the same
Romantic ‘conversation.’ How is each poem collaborating with one another by
borrowing, expanding, quoting, and rephrasing similar ideas, images, and
emotions? Does one poem seem to answer or refute the other, or does it affirm
it in new and interesting ways? You might consider how earlier poets (Blake,
Wordsworth, Coleridge) find echoes in the slightly later poets (Shelley and
Keats), or you could simply focus on poets who worked closely together, such as
Wordsworth and Coleridge. NOTE: You can use poems we didn’t read in class, too,
but don’t feel you’re required to do this—there’s an advantage to using poems
we actually discussed and you already wrote about.
Make sure you QUOTE from
each poem and show us how the small details contribute to all overall
conversation between the poets. Consider each poem like a letter, with one poet
responding to another just as you would respond to a friend’s e-mail (does
anyone write letters anymore?). For this paper I want to see how well you can
trace Romantic ideas from one poet to another, and show how the language of
each poem illustrates this. That’s really all I’m grading you on for this short
assignment. And yes, you can revise it for a higher grade if you wish.
REQUIREMENTS
* 3-4 pages, double spaced
* Use no more than 2 poems
(and not 2 poems from the same poet)
* Quote significantly from
each poem you use
* Due Monday, February
8th by 5pm [no
class that day]
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