McLovin

William Wordsworth and Samuel Coleridge seem to have been pretty cool dudes. They took on the common held ideas about literature, specifically poetry, and completely go against it. These fellas focused on simple language, eliminating the ridiculous diction that is incredibly hard to read for a 21st century student. Furthermore, they focused on concepts like nature, looking at the more abstract parts of life, and finding the lack of structure in things. Both were influenced by the French Revolution, with Coleridge even wanting to establish a utopia based on his new radical viewpoints. These two gentlemen were close friends, working together on their poetry and developing the new way of writing: Romanticism.

Wordsworth poem definitely shows the influence of nature on his life and writing. The poem is essentially a narrative about this journey he takes through Tintern Abbey. Focusing more on the aspects of nature than rhyme or crazy diction, Wordsworth is able to easily get his point across. He is easily to display the beauty of nature through his basic images and descriptions. He also describes the profound impact nature has on life, particularly on him. In contrast to his friend Coleridge, Wordsworth in his poem focuses on the very concrete aspects. He is describing what he sees, what's actually there. That's it. No fantasy. No imagined things. It's all definite things. This contrast between the two is interesting and shows the different subjects and ways a Romantic poet can write; using concrete aspects of nature or more abstract, imagined things.

Coleridge's poem was much different. While still ridding his poem of all "flowery language" and weird diction, Coleridge's poem focuses more on imagination and that aspect of nature and politics. Based in a political center, his poem emphasizing imagined things, like a "dome in the air." Yet his poem still focuses on nature. It still shows an interaction with nature, even though it is mostly fantasy. He focuses on letting the writing just come to him naturally, (he came up with it all in a dream, pretty impressive) not forcing it. He doesn't try to force in diction, or force the lines to sound a certain way. He simply writes, letting the lines just come to him, just as Wordsworth does.

Romanticism focuses on nature and eliminates the "flowery language." It seems that the writing is less forced, less focused on making it sound a certain way and more on just making something that everyone can enjoy and understand. Interesting contrast from neoclassical writing.