Fall 2007 Courses

English 330-01: British Romanticism (Çelikkol)

M/W/F 10:50-11:50am, Old Main 009

Musing, my solitary seat I take,
And listen to the deep and solemn roar.
Charlotte Smith, Sonnet XII

Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive,
But to be young was very heaven! . . .
William Wordsworth, The Prelude

Imaginative spontaneity and emotional exuberance characterize the literary movement we now call Romanticism, which flourished in Britain in the decades following the French Revolution. As Romanticism developed, lyric poetry became increasingly popular and poets came to be recognized as unruly geniuses with passionate natures. In this course, we will trace the emergence and development of the Romantic imagination in Britain as we read poetry by Charlotte Smith, William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Mary Tighe, Percy Shelley, and Lord Byron. Our readings will take us to settings as diverse as the tranquil country side, tumultuous seas, Alpine valleys, and Greek Isles. Our inquiries in class will frequently focus on the role of the individual in the Romantic period. Why, for example, did Romantic poets claim to translate unique individual experiences into poetic verse? Is Romanticism inherently individualist? What are some models of collective or relational selfhood we find in Romantic poetry? Students will be expected to turn in response papers regularly, write two formal papers, and give a formal presentation.

Fall 2007 Course Listings