Who were
the Precursors of the Romantic Movement? Discuss why they were called so?
With the publication of Lyrical Ballads in 1798,
literally the Romantic Movement started in England. However, the
simplicity of diction, love of nature, attachment to human emotions, traits of
super naturalism which are the basic features of Coleridge
and Wordsworth’s poetry, can have its stress another fifty years
back. In the poetry of James Thomson, William Collins, Thomas Grey, William
Cowper etc. we have the fervent of early romantics. Let us discuss them under
the following heads.
James
Thomson (1700-1748): He took a deep
interest in nature. His poem, “The Seasons (1730) evokes interest
in the process of nature. He is fascinated by the
fearful aspects of nature such as floods and storms. He is described as “a poet
of pictorial landscape”. He speaks of the interactions between man and Nature
in The Seasons. The great variety and beauty of Nature move him
deeply. The following lines remind us of Wordsworth:
“Now the soft Hour
Of walking comes for him who lonely loves
To seek the distant Hills, and there converse
With Nature, there to harmonize his Heart,
And in pathetic song of breathe around
The harmony to others”.
The
Seasons II
