Literary Analysis of Wordsworth, Coleridge and Blake

During the Romantic period in literature three poets, William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Blake made an immense and lasting impact in the world of poetic literature. All three possessed elements in their past experiences that influenced them in their works of art. Wordsworth exhibited an everlasting love with Nature. Coleridge used revelation of emotion and language to best fit what he is expressing, to reach out to who ever read his work. Blake has a unique style in the way that he used contrast and imagery. He used such detail in his poetry it made one feel such compassion for the subjects of his works. This paper will display each of these poets’ use of their prominent characteristics in their works of literature.

Wordworth’s poetry he exudes such fondness for Nature. Although he is often viewed as a “nature poet” his poetry is not exclusively concerned with picturesque evocations of nature, but rather with the issues of Man, Human Nature and Man’s relationship with the natural and supernatural world. Wordsworth felt that Nature and the natural world was man’s natural home. He described Nature as giving him “unremembered pleasure” (ln. 31) and “tranquil restoration” (ln. 30) The alliance of the

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It seems as if Wordsworth felt that the importance of the poet was to express the relationship between man and nature, but he also realized that no matter how strong a poet’s connection with nature, he is still separate from it because it is so magnificent and mysterious. The simple style that Blake used in the Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience made it easy for a child to understand with lullaby-like verses used in “A Cradle Song” such as:

Sleep sleep happy child

All creation slept and smil’d. inner life with the outer world is at the center of Wordsworth’s descriptions of Nature. 17-20)

The two sets of lyrics show two opposite worlds: one in which God is trusted persistently and there is no question of moral issues; and one in which the fallen state and religious hypocrisy is examined. Coleridge uses whatever language that is best for the idea he wants to express, whether it be lucid and intense or common.

In the two collections William Blake’s lyrics, Songs of Innocence and of Experience, Blake has several contrasting poems with the same titles, which bring into focus the differences between the two states of being which the collections describe. 22-23), which creates the image of numb despair that is unable to move itself into action. Wordsworth’s ideas about memory, the importance of childhood experiences, and the power of the mind tie everything together when observing his work. Blake’s poetry seems t implicate that true innocence is impossible with experience. Wordsworth had an immense love of Nature, he worshiped nature and looked upon her as an emblem of God.

These three poets had their own way of expressing the way they felt in the best way they knew how.

While o’er thee thy mother weep. But instead of using such a “common” word as “grief” he uses the more expressive words, “Stifled, drowsy, and unimpassioned” (ln.

Approximate Word count = 840
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

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