For Friday, January 18
We will begin our study of Romanticism and German art song on Friday. To prepare us for German art song, we will begin discussing Romanticism in general, and English Romantic poetry, with an example from Wordsworth.
To prepare for Friday’s activity, read the following (and bring copies of everything to class—printouts, or a device with ready access to the readings online):
- Jonathan Sircy’s introduction to Analyzing poetry.
- Vanier College’s Poetry’s Language.
- Vanier College’s Poetry’s Structure and Form.
- Brooklyn College’s Introduction to Romanticism.
ENTRY TICKET 1: For the poem “London, 1802” by Wordsworth (below), look up every word you don’t know, and identify at least ten of the techniques or structures described in “Poetry’s Language” and “Poetry’s Structure and Form.” For example, you may find an example of olfactory imagery, a dactylic foot, assonance, or enjambment. Write down those techniques or structures for me to check when you arrive. Be prepared to explain them and discuss them with your classmates.
ENTRY TICKET 2: Write down a list of at least four major themes in Romantic poetry and literature, based on your reading of the “Introduction to Romanticism.”
If either or both of these entry tickets are missing, you will be counted absent for the day.
Wordsworth: London, 1802
Milton! thou should’st be living at this hour:
England hath need of thee: she is a fen
Of stagnant waters: altar, sword, and pen,
Fireside, the heroic wealth of hall and bower,
Have forfeited their ancient English dower
Of inward happiness. We are selfish men;
Oh! raise us up, return to us again;
And give us manners, virtue, freedom, power.
Thy soul was like a Star, and dwelt apart:
Thou hadst a voice whose sound was like the sea:
Pure as the naked heavens, majestic, free,
So didst thou travel on life’s common way,
In cheerful godliness; and yet thy heart
The lowliest duties on herself did lay.