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I MA English
Paper:
Romantic Age
My Visit to the Library
It was a freak incident as I look back.
I wanted to visit a friend of mine. While I was walking towards his house in
that village near my hometown, I came across a building which was small
outside. I just wanted to see what was inside the building. When I went inside
I was shocked to see that it was a library. So, I went on looking at each and
every book over there. I found so many novels, poetry books and kids’ books. I
forgot that I was going to my friend’s house and I spent so much of time by
seeing each and every book. Somehow, I lost track of time in that place.
When I came back for my Christmas
holidays, I had time in my hand. So, I remembered about that library. I just
felt like visiting the place again. When I went there, I was surprised to see
that the library was renovated and the book shelves and their order were
changed. So I decided to spend some time there, exploring the library and
enjoying all its facilities and also reading some books.
One of the things that attracted me
there was the staff. An old lady was manning the main counter, and two young
people were assisting her. She was the librarian, and the other two were the
library assistant and a computer assistant. I went and greeted them just to
make acquaintance with them. The lady was quite gentle and thoroughly informed.
She exuded knowledge. It was like she knew each and every book in that library.
I was surprised to see her handling a tab and accessing information and
responding to queries quite fast. Thus, they helped me find books. The computer
assistant helped me in searching the books online.
I found some of
my friends too in the library. I went and met them while they were searching
for books. As it was a very long time, we sat together and spent some time
reading books. I found some of the readers who visited the library when I
visited the library for the first time.
There were some
old gentlemen, avidly reading the books, and there were also some kids who were
looking at the kids’ stuff available there. I saw some new visitors in the
library. As they were in trouble in search of books, I helped them find them. I
liked this library because I could see so many books. I came across different
types of books and different types of people who read lots of books.
It’s an age old library, a rural library
and modern digital library. The land was donated by a rural landlord during the
freedom movement. And the local educated donated books and furniture for the
library. Government involvement was quite meagre. In fact, the maintenance of
that library was taken care of by the local people themselves. So, it was quite
heartening to see the library in shape and well-maintained. It is a library
established and run in the rural area. But it was no way inferior to any urban
library.
At the same time, the recent changes in
that library attracted the attention of the whole state. In the recent spate of
digitizing the libraries, and starting digital libraries all over the land,
this particular library received special treatment. It was declared the first
digital library in the rural area in the state. Computers were brought in,
internet connection was given, it was connected to the national libraries
network. And digital material was sanctioned by the government. The speaker of
the state legislative assembly inaugurated the new digital library, the first
of its kind in the state.
As the library was an age old
library, they maintained the library with a clean atmosphere around. It was
library, but still felt like home. It had the warmth of a home in which
generations lived. The tables and chairs belonged to the bygone age, with
old-time ceiling fans. The computers and digital stuff made the difference
quite stark.
The books were limited but there was a
wide range of books. In the library I found the books related to Arts,
Sciences, Philosophy, Agriculture, pop literature, classics and biographies,
and there were books related to our freedom movement and freedom fighters.
They maintain two types of catalogues.
One is a normal card catalogue and another one is the digital catalogue. When I
asked the librarian why they were still maintaining the card-catalogue, she
replied with a smile that it was there as a relic of the past. The digital
catalogue was user-friendly. It reflected all the normal and regular books,
video and audio CDs, audio files and computerized books.
When I saw each and every
section, I came across different types of Magazines related to health and
hygiene, society-related issues, agriculture, education, media and information.
There were reference books for different types of topics in limited number.
There were text books related to English literature and the text books for
various courses, from elementary to under-graduate courses. There were so many
journals related to English language and literature and some scientific
magazines and periodicals. I came across some digital stuff like e-books in the
library which I could I couldn’t access elsewhere.
Naturally I loved the books on English
literature and the books related to some science and English fiction. I checked
out different types of books like comics, fiction and some historical books.
The books I use depend on the mood I’m in. So I read comics. I read
biographies. And I also read journals on English literature. Different types of
books for different types of moods.
There I found books related to our
academic subjects. There I found books related to Shakespeare. And I was
surprised to see some old cloth-bound original editions of the English
poetry-anthologies. I found some first-copy editions of Shakespeare and I found
on the first page the name of the donor who donated those books.
When I found an old encyclopaedia, I
opened the entries on various English ages and English authors. The digital
sources also helped me collect information on various issues. I saw some videos
and listened to audio files. I connected to the national libraries through the
digital library there.
The Romantic Revival
During
the classical age, the classics were the best models and ultimate standards.
The writers of that period had no faith in individual genius but believed in
the laws and rules of the past. During this period, writers depended upon
patrons. Critical spirit led the society. There was no place for creative
effort and inspiration. Art became deliberate and self-conscious. It resulted
in imitation and poetic diction. The sameness and routine quality of the poetry
of those times vexed the readers. And they looked for a breeze of change.
“Romantic” is indispensable but also a little misleading.
Many of the age’s foremost writers thought that something new was happening in
the world’s affairs. William Blake’s affirmation in 1793 that “a new
heaven is begun” was matched a generation later by Percy Bysshe Shelley’s
“The world’s great age begins anew.” “These, these will give the world another
heart, / And other pulses,” wrote John Keats, referring to Leigh
Hunt and William Wordsworth. Fresh ideals came to the fore; in
particular, the ideal of freedom, long cherished in England, was being
extended to every range of human endeavour. As that ideal swept
through Europe, it became natural to believe that the age of tyrants might
soon end.
Cowper, Collins,
Crabbe, Gray and Blake, the Transition Poets, paved the way to Romanticism. The
French Revolution also influenced it. The English Romantic Movement started
with the publication of the Lyrical
Ballads in 1798 by Wordsworth and Coleridge. The most notable feature of the poetry of the time is the new role of individual thought and personal
feeling.
Walter Pater defined Romanticism as ‘the addition curiosity to the desire of beauty’. Victor Hugo interpreted it as ‘liberalism in literature’. Romanticism
can be roughly translated as ‘rebellion’.
It is a rebellion against reason and rules of Classicism.
Characteristics:
1. Reaction against rules: In the eighteenth century, rules and regulations governed poetry. The
romantics strongly reacted against this. They broke loose from the bondage of
rules in matters of theme, language and form.
2.
Imagination and emotion: For the Romantics, poetry was the spontaneous
overflow of powerful feelings. They never cared for form, but gave more
importance to the subject matter. And, imagination and emotion replaced reason
and intellect. Wordsworth defined poetry as ‘spontaneous overflow of powerful
feelings’ and ‘emotions recollected in tranquillity’. Keats longed for ‘…a life
of sensations rather than of thoughts’.
3. Interest in nature and common life: Nature became the friend, philosopher and guide to
the Romantics. They showed great interest in the lives of the common people.
They had great sympathy for everything human. So, nature and common life became
their main themes. They practiced liberty, equality and fraternity in their
poetry.
4. Lyric: Lyric
dominated once again in the Romantic period because it suited feelings and
passionate and sensuous music. Particularly Shelley mastered the lyric form.
‘To the Skylark’ is the best example.
5. Supernaturalism: This is another outstanding quality of the Romantics. They satisfied
the emotional wonder of these poets. Coleridge and Scott used it for wonder and
mystery. Ex. ‘Christabel’, ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’
6.
Middle Ages: The beauty and joy of the Middle Ages attracted the Romantics. They
satisfied the emotional wonder of these poets. In order to express this, they
once again started using the ‘ballad’ form.
7.
Variety: In the Classical Age, sameness was the main drawback. But variety was
the hallmark of the Romantics. They gave importance to individuality. They
respected the individual’s right to express himself. So, the moods, feelings
and expressions vary.
8.
Simple style: The Romantics rejected poetic diction. They used ‘a selection of
language really used by men’ as Wordsworth stated in is Preface to the
Lyrical Ballads. They were eloquent but simple. It was the everyday and
common language.
9. Subjectivity: Objective realities are given subjective interpretation in the writing
of the Romantics. So, individualistic outlook became prominent n their
writings. Inspiration and intuition replaced rules and customs of the past age.
Some Main Writers / Poets of The Romantic age
William Blake
Blake was
a visionary poet, and also an artist and engraver, with a particular interest
in childhood and a strong hatred of mechanical reason and industrialization. He rose to prominence after his death and is now
considered a highly influential figure in the history of poetry and
one of the greatest British artists. His most renowned work in poetry is Songs
of Innocence and of Experience. It is considered one of the leading poetic
works of the Romantic era. Blake claimed to experience visions throughout his
life. He revered the Bible but was hostile to the Church of England and
organized religion in general. His poetry and art often created mythical worlds
full of gods and powers, and sharply criticized industrial society and the
oppression of the individual. He is also highly regarded for his expressiveness
and creativity as well as for the philosophical and mystical undercurrents in
his work.
William Wordsworth
Wordsworth,
along with Coleridge, launched the Romantic Age in English literature with the
publication of Lyrical Ballads in 1798. He lived at the Dove
Cottage in the village of Grasmere in the Lake
District of England. He is known to have walked all over the Lake
District. Wordsworth, Coleridge and Southey were the three main figures of the
group known as Lake Poets. After struggling initially, Wordsworth became
one of the most renowned poets in his later years and was appointed Poet
Laureate of Britain in 1843. The Prelude, an
autobiographical epic, is widely regarded by critics as his greatest
work. His noted works include Immortality Ode and Tintern Abbey.
William Wordsworth is considered a pioneer of
Romanticism and one of the greatest poets in English literature.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Coleridge,
along with William Wordsworth, founded the Romanticism movement in England. He
is considered one of the best minds England ever produced. In 1798, Coleridge
and Wordsworth published their collection of poetry Lyrical Ballads.
It is now considered a landmark work which changed the course of English
literature and poetry by launching the influential Romantic movement.
Coleridge is one of the most important figures in English poetry who deeply
influenced the major poets of his era including Wordsworth. Among other
things, he is credited with utilizing everyday language to express
profound poetic images and ideas.
Lord Byron
Lord
Byron was one of the leading figures of the Romantic Movement in early 19th
century England. The beauty and brilliance of his writings are unsurpassable.
After leading an unconventional lifestyle and producing a massive amount of
emotionally stirring literary works, Byron died at a young age in Greece
pursuing romantic adventures of heroism.
His full name was George
Gordon Byron. He was the 6th Baron Byron. He was a Romantic poet and satirist whose poetry and personality captured the imagination of Europe.
Renowned as the “gloomy egoist” of his autobiographical poem Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, he is now more generally esteemed
for the satiric realism of Don
Juan.
Percy Bysshe Shelly
Percy
Bysshe Shelley was one of the leading “second generation” Romantic
poets. In an age of strong customs and traditions, he dared to be identified as
an atheist. His love life was also controversial. He poems are marked
by uncompromising idealism and great personal conviction. Though
he produced works throughout his life, most publishers and journals declined to
publish them for fear of being arrested for either blasphemy or sedition. As a
result, Shelley couldn’t gather a mainstream following during his lifetime.
However, his popularity grew steadily following his death and ultimately
he achieved worldwide fame and acclaim. He is known as the most romantic
of all the romantics. He was a dreamer, a visionary and longed to be a prophet.
He is considered the master of lyric. Though he died young, history granted him
a place beside Shakespeare to be a representative of England at the world
congress of writers.
John Keats
Along with
Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley, John Keats was one of the most prominent
figures of the second generation of English Romantic poets. Keats died
of tuberculosis at the early age of only 25. He was ridiculed as
a cockney poet and it was not generally well received by
critics during his lifetime. However, his reputation grew after his death
and by the end of the 19th century, he became one of the most beloved of
all English poets. The most famous and acclaimed poems of Keats are a series of
six odes known as the Great Odes. The most highly regarded among
these is To Autumn, which has been called one of the most
perfect short poems in the English language. Called an escapist and a pessimist
for his pain and suffering and depression and despair, Keats still garnered
respect much beyond his age, and became ‘immortal’ through his writings as he
always wanted to be.
Jane Austen
Known as the picture-perfect
novelist, Jane Austen wrote during the romantic period. She is viewed as one of
the most respected authors in the romance genre whose novels are considered
pure classics. Her six novels include Sense and Sensibility,
Persuasion, Northanger Abbey, Pride and Prejudice, Emma, and Mansfield Park.
These novels shared common plots involving the marriages of young women and the
realities of their lives. The social class structure in England was also a
prominent theme in her works. The admired females in Austen’s books are
independent women who share ideals in a male-dominated society. In her novels
she expresses the feminist feelings of her time.
Charles Lamb
Lamb is
best-known for his essays and literary criticism; a Londoner, he was especially
close to Coleridge. Charles Lamb achieved
lasting fame as a writer when he captivated the discerning English reading
public with his personal essays in the London Magazine. They are
collected as Essays of Elia (1823) and The Last
Essays of Elia (1833). Known for their charm, humour, and perception,
and laced with idiosyncrasies, these essays appear to be modest in scope, but
their soundings are deep, and their ripples extend to embrace much of human
life—particularly the life of the imagination. While Lamb was an
occasional journalist, a playwright (of small success), a writer for children,
and a poet, it is his prose which has endured. He early realized that poetry
was not his vocation; his best poetry was written in youth. He is known as the
Prince of essayists. Along with his sister Mary, he narrated the dramas of
Shakespeare and that is the now famous Lamb’s Tales from Shakespeare.
Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott is one
of the most successful authors of all time and is the second-most quoted writer
in the Oxford English Dictionary after William Shakespeare. Scott’s creativity,
wit and understanding of human nature remain on display in his works, but it is
only through visiting Abbotsford that one can truly understand the man himself.
Walter Scott developed his interest in old tales of the Border and early
European poetry into a career as poet and novelist. He was a Scottish novelist,
poet, historian, and biographer. He is often considered both the inventor and
the greatest practitioner of the historical novel. Sir Walter Scott’s
early work consisted of poetic romances such as The Lady of the Lake (1810). He later wrote The Waverley Novels,
a series of historical novels published anonymously between 1814 and 1832 that
were popular in his day. The earlier books are set in Scotland and demonstrate
Scott’s knowledge of Scottish history and society.
Conclusion
My freak experience turned me into a
frequenter of the place. It reminded me of the importance of books and
sanctuaries of books.
It also showed me the progress the
book-houses have made. From an age-old type to the modern digital version, I
could see the future of libraries. I in fact grew in my love for books. I have
also seen that libraries need me, us humans, just as we need them. It is a
mutual support system we need to care for.
Works cited
