British Romantics on the Rise
Acts), pushed Romanticism forward.
Common Themes &
Underpinnings
The End of an Era
Popular Poets & Notable Poems
William Blake
-Shift in ownership (Enclosure What machine gave way to a
mass readership?
-Writers were now more aware that
they had a responsibility to be relevant
toward an in order to make a
living--critics especially.
-Educated women were called " ."
-Define ballad: Romantic poetry is often clichéd
_______________________________
as what?
-Formation of the first-person speaker
as a rhetorical device--use of "I" was not
common prior to this.
-Rights -->revolution--
>glorification of /ordinary
man/common language
-Unlike other nations, Britain did not What happened in 1832?
have a , e.g., France and
America.
-Throughout period, government tried
to raise to
keep information from masses
-1807:
-1812:
-1819:
-1820:
-Anna Letitia Barbauld (1743-1825): What color was the caterpillar in
-William Blake (1757-1827): Anna Letitia Barbauld’s poem?
-Robert Burns (1759-1796):
-William Wordsworth (1770-1850):
-Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834):
-George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-
1824):
-Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822):
-John Keats (1795-1821):
- man What was Blake’s
-Many themes of his poetry and writings entrepreneurial occupation
had .
prior to writing?
-Accompanied many of his writings with
____________
Songs of Innocence and of -Songs of Innocence published in _____ What do you think is the
Experience -Songs of Innocence and of Experience significance of juxtaposing the
published in _____
two collections of poetry?
-Collections explore the of
_______________.

“The Lamb” Little Lamb who made thee
Dost thou know who made thee
Gave thee life & bid thee feed.
By the stream & o'er the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing wooly bright;
Gave thee such a tender voice,
Making all the vales rejoice!
Little Lamb who made thee
Dost thou know who made thee
 Do you think "The Lamb" came
from Songs of Innocence or Songs
of Experience? Why?
 Who do you think is the speaker
in this poem?
 Is the speaker writing literally of a
lamb?

Little Lamb I'll tell thee,
Little Lamb I'll tell thee!
He is called by thy name,
For he calls himself a Lamb:
He is meek & he is mild,
He became a little child:
I a child & thou a lamb,
We are called by his name.
Little Lamb God bless thee.
Little Lamb God bless thee.
 What is the rhyme scheme here?
 What types of repetition do you
see here?
 How would this poem be
different if Blake had chosen a
fish as the subject?

“The Tyger” Tyger Tyger, burning bright,
In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
In what distant deeps or skies.
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand, dare seize the fire?
And what shoulder, & what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? & what dread feet?
 Which collection of poems do you
think "The Tyger" came from?
Why?
 What are the differences and
similarities between this poem
and "The Lamb"?
 Does the tiger symbolize
something?
 Why did Blake choose a tiger as
the subject?

What the hammer? what the chain,  Who is the "He" in both of these
In what furnace was thy brain? poems?
What the anvil? what dread grasp,
Dare its deadly terrors clasp!  How does diction lend to tone
here?
When the stars threw down their spears
And water'd heaven with their tears:
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?

Tyger Tyger burning bright,

In the forests of the night:
What immortal hand or eye,
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?