1st and 2nd romantic generations (1 Viewer)

[hendo144]

Hey can anyone link or tell me the main differences with the first and 2nd generation Romantic poets?????

 

[specky2009]

It would be the different reactions they had to the change in thinking. For example First generation poets Coleridge and Wordsworth tended to privilege emotion over rationality etc, whilst second generation composers such as Austen began to present intense passion and emotion as resulting in destruction. In a way warning the audience of the dangerous nature of the Romantic thinking. Sorry if this doesn't help. Try talking to your teacher

 

[aphorae]

It would be the different reactions they had to the change in thinking. For example First generation poets Coleridge and Wordsworth tended to privilege emotion over rationality etc, whilst second generation composers such as Austen began to present intense passion and emotion as resulting in destruction. In a way warning the audience of the dangerous nature of the Romantic thinking. Sorry if this doesn't help. Try talking to your teacher

Gravedigging! Check the dates first

I'll just say though, OP asked for difference between 1st/2nd generation poets. So we have for first gen, Coleridge/Wordsworth/Blake (Blake perhaps somewhat the odd one out) and for second gen, Shelley/Byron/Keats. I don't particularly agree with what you have to say about the second generation, since Shelley as an idealist often expressed passionate and surging emotions.

I would say the first generation directly challenged Neoclassical ideas, instead advocating a retreat to nature whilst also promoting the power of the imagination and individual emotion. In simple words, they took the ordinary in life and made it extraordinary (e.g. through the notion of the sublime, etc.). Second generation poets instead criticised the flaws of the first generation (not the flaws/nature of Romantic thinking - 'Romanticism' isn't defined by some preordained list of ideals, it's defined by the composers, the texts and the ideals that arose throughout the entire era). They weren't as 'disillusioned' with the French Revolution as perhaps the first generation was, after seeing the destructive consequences, but kept the 'spirit' of the rebellion and desire for change. This somewhat links with the view of the role of the poet as a "prophetic visionary" (versus 1st generation concerns with the everyday).

Keep in mind this is generalised, as each composer has their own unique characteristics and slight differences.

I would also argue against Austen being a second generation composer. I don't think she should be classified a 'Romantic', since she still retained many values of Neoclassicism. Her work was simply written during the Romanticism movement. It's also difficult to define anyway which generation she would belong to, since she began writing when the first generation had established themselves, yet was still writing when the second generation emerged. She died before many of the initial significant works of the second generation though, so I would be more hesitant to associate her with them.

 

[Arcelia]

I'd say that 1st-gen Romantics were vaguely more dramatic, though at the same time it's very difficult to distinguish between the two; there were quite a few outliers (as mentioned above.) In fact, attempting to define 'Romanticism' is hard enough; finding tangible differences between the first and second halves is somewhat pointless. It's true though that socio-historical paradigms did shift, thus affecting/shaping Romanticist work. For example, while Bronte, a late-ish Romantic uses the example of Cathy and Heathcliff to warn against excessive passion, the eventual triumph of Hareton and Young Cathy counteracts this - also, her social commentary is very much in line with that of the earlier Romantics.
Therefore, I'd say that there's really no point in the critical in making a distinction - the focus should be on how the individual composer has reacted to their personal and greater contexts and to tie it in with general paradigms/WoTs of the Romanticism movement as a whole.