What crazy poets!

William Wordsworth and Samuel Coleridge were the fathers of the Romanticism period in which they collaborated together to piece-meal poems of their differing styles, that would explore the new face of poetry. While this collection became a revolution in the poetic world, both writers had opposing styles and characteristics. Their writing styles differed, which also created friction between the two, ending their friendship. Wordsworth investigated the naturalistic world through a common language, while Coleridge took a more supernatural approach of exploring the exoticness of the world.

Wordsworth said himself that his goal is not to create poetry through the typical poetic language, but to create a piece of work that is simplistic to understand and ordinary in tone. His use of common language easily gets his message across to readers without fixating on sophisticated and unnecessary jargon. Wordsworth was influenced by the French Revolution after spending time there following college. This influenced his thoughts and ideals of both social justices and individual rights. However, despite a political presence within his writings, his poem Tintern Abbey highlights his love for the calmness in nature. He uses contrast between the calm environment of the woods and an area not so gentled to further enhance his ability to portray his love for nature and its calmness. By providing the ‘absence’ from that environment following a description of the soft inland murmur makes his audience also long to return to its beautiful cliffs.

Coleridge’s writings were more centered on exploring the imagination and slipping into dreams. His childhood was a major influence on this characteristic poetry style, for he enjoyed leaving reality to escape to books and a fantasy world. He also, in his adult life, allowed the ideologies of radical politics to influence his thinking. Much like Wordsworth, he was intrigued by the French Revolution, which gave him the ideas of creating a Utopian society. Coleridge extended his exotic style into his piece Kubla Khan, which was a poem that was sparked by a dream that he had after reading about Xanadu. It was not uncommon for Coleridge to write based off of dreams and other ‘on the fly’ type of inspirations.