Edgar Allan Poe And Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Romantic Period in American Literature was from the years 1800 until 1860. The Romantic Period was a celebration of newfound independence from England. The Romantic Period was the complete opposite of the Colonial Period, not in writing, but in many forms of art as well. Romantics used the ideas of individuality, ideas of nature, philosophical idealism, religious ideas, opposition to politics, and ideas about supernatural and mystical beings. They used vivid descriptions and wild imaginations when writing various pieces. From this period came writers like Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, William Cullen Bryant, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and Ralph Waldo Emerson. While some of these authors write on opposite ends of the spectrum, they

Some might even call their writing morbid. Poe and Hawthorne liked writing about things that people did not want to talk about. In a world where religion and ideas about good works ruled over all, Poe and Hawthorne wrote about death, sin, and the darkness in everyone. Poe focused more about the tortured souls that every person has, while Hawthorne's focal point was on guilt brought on by the Puritan communities. While these two writers focused on the darkness of human nature, some writers from the Romantic Period wrote about the goodness of human nature and what comes after that. The Romantic Period had ideas of nature among life and humans. Ralph Waldo Emerson and William Cullen Bryant wrote about nature. They both had firm loves of nature and believed that nature was in the center of humanity. Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote a poem entitled Nature. Emerson intertwined nature with everyday human things in the urbanizing world. Emerson believed that humans can use nature, but cannot own it. He described nature as something that can reflect the emotions of a human. Emerson writes, "Nature is a setting that fits equally well a comic or a mourning

Bryant thought that after life, every person became to be the earth in different forms. Many writers from the Romantic Period used feelings to overemotionalize the piece of literature. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote the famed poem, Paul Revere's Ride, a poem about the soldier's in the Revolutionary War. This poem has earned critical analysis because, while it's a great story, it does not have the correct facts. Paul Revere has obtained a lot of fame over the years due to this poem. While some critics mock this poem due to its inaccuracy, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was not trying to create a factual piece, he was trying to invoke a sense of patriotism and nationalism among his fellow Americans. Longfellow, along with other writers, tend to romanticize the idea of war. There's something about war, especially for boys, that is provoking. Everyone wants to be a hero and to have recognition. Longfellow combined these ideas and themes from the Romantic Period into his writing, creating a feel-good poem about local heroes. The Romantic Period in American Literature was from the years 1800 until