ANALYZE CRAFT AND STRUCTURE LITERARY MOVEMENT: ROMANTICISM
Ode to a Nightingale and Ode to the West Wind
John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley
The Romantic period in English literature began with first-generation poets
such as William Wordsworth and continued with second-generation poets such
as John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley. Both generations focused on the
importance of the self, heightened emotional expression, and appreciation of
nature. However, while the first generation often explored these themes, or key
ideas, in poems that did not follow a specific form, the second generation
showed a preference for traditional forms such as the ode, a long poem with a
serious tone that pays tribute to some person, thing, or idea that the speaker
usually addresses directly.
While both first- and second-generation Romantics rejected the ornate, overly
intellectual style of the neoclassicists, the second-generation Romantics were
fond of the fanciful mythology of the ancient Greeks and Romans. As idealists,
they did not grow disappointed with revolutionary movements as their
predecessors had done but instead displayed great enthusiasm for the political
movements of the time that were out to change the world.
DIRECTIONS: Fill in the chart to show how "Ode to a Nightingale" and "Ode
to the West Wind" display features typical of the forms and
themes of
second-
generation Romantic poetry.
Questions
How does the poem fit
the definition of an
ode?
What tone does the
speaker use?
What is one example
showing interest in
ancient Greek or
Roman mythology?
What main theme does
the poem convey, and
how is that theme
typical of the concerns
of Romanticism?
What is one more way
in which the poem
exhibits concerns of
Romanticism?
Ode to a Nightingale
Ode to the West Wind