British Literature Exam Study Guide
British Literature Exam Study Guide Semester 2
Romantic Poets
Burns- farmer/poet who preserved Scottish dialect; collected, edited, and rewrote Scottish folk songs; symbol of Scottish literature * Works * To a Mouse- After a farmer plows up a mouse's nest, he apologizes to the tiny creature while assuring it that he means no harm. He also says he does not mind that the mouse occasionally steals an ear of corn. After all, the farmer reaps a bounty of food from the land; surely, he cannot begrudge the mouse a tiny harvest of its own. Finally, he tells the mouse that it is not alone in failing to build wisely for the future; men fail at that too.
Blake- the poet that lived a life that was “unromantic” in the poetic sense of the word b/c he lived a quiet uneventful life; organized Innocence which was a state where sense of divinity of humanity-coexist with oppressions and injustice; during his life his work received little attention and the attention it did was negative * Works * Songs of Innocence- innocence in which everyone is born; childlike tone; the lamb symbolizes Jesus * Chimney Sweeper- Darkside; Innocence of believing that doing the right thing will lead to going to Heaven; amd all burdens are gone; all things will be taken care of in Heaven * Songs of Experience- can the same God who made the innocent lamb make the powerful tiger; did the tiger come from God or the Devil; did God allow the angels to rebel or why didn’t he stop it; more popular in the time b/c Satan seems powerful and dynamic; we are both good and bad; God lets us choose * The Chimney Sweeper- his parents sold him to sweep; blames parents, king, priest, b/c it’s not what God would want him to do; the representatives are not doing their jobs on Earth, but they go to pray and praise the king
Wordsworth- the poet who came to be thought of as a “living monument”; with Coleridge, began the Romantic poetry movement with the publication of
Romantic Poets
Burns- farmer/poet who preserved Scottish dialect; collected, edited, and rewrote Scottish folk songs; symbol of Scottish literature * Works * To a Mouse- After a farmer plows up a mouse's nest, he apologizes to the tiny creature while assuring it that he means no harm. He also says he does not mind that the mouse occasionally steals an ear of corn. After all, the farmer reaps a bounty of food from the land; surely, he cannot begrudge the mouse a tiny harvest of its own. Finally, he tells the mouse that it is not alone in failing to build wisely for the future; men fail at that too.
Blake- the poet that lived a life that was “unromantic” in the poetic sense of the word b/c he lived a quiet uneventful life; organized Innocence which was a state where sense of divinity of humanity-coexist with oppressions and injustice; during his life his work received little attention and the attention it did was negative * Works * Songs of Innocence- innocence in which everyone is born; childlike tone; the lamb symbolizes Jesus * Chimney Sweeper- Darkside; Innocence of believing that doing the right thing will lead to going to Heaven; amd all burdens are gone; all things will be taken care of in Heaven * Songs of Experience- can the same God who made the innocent lamb make the powerful tiger; did the tiger come from God or the Devil; did God allow the angels to rebel or why didn’t he stop it; more popular in the time b/c Satan seems powerful and dynamic; we are both good and bad; God lets us choose * The Chimney Sweeper- his parents sold him to sweep; blames parents, king, priest, b/c it’s not what God would want him to do; the representatives are not doing their jobs on Earth, but they go to pray and praise the king
Wordsworth- the poet who came to be thought of as a “living monument”; with Coleridge, began the Romantic poetry movement with the publication of