Poem #1

I chose to use the same poem that I used for my paper because it has some very Romantic traits that would be worthwhile for the class to see.

"To the Lake" By Edgar Allen Poe

In spring of youth it was my lot
To haunt of the wide world a spot
The which I could not love the less-
So lovely was the loneliness
Of a wild lake, with black rock bound,
And the tall pines that towered around.

But when the Night had thrown her pall
Upon that spot, as upon all,
And the mystic wind went by
Murmuring in melody-
Then–ah then I would awake
To the terror of the lone lake.

Yet that terror was not fright,
But a tremulous delight-
A feeling not the jewelled mine
Could teach or bribe me to define-
Nor Love–although the Love were thine.
Death was in that poisonous wave,

And in its gulf a fitting grave
For him who thence could solace bring
To his lone imagining-
Whose solitary soul could make
An Eden of that dim lake.

The poem is about a man who gets enjoyment out of finding beautiful places in nature. Two of the most visible Romantic traits in this particular poem are the connection between man and nature and the individualism in which the speaker portrays.

The speaker is obviously infatuated with this lake. There is a strong connection between this place in nature and the speaker which becomes evident when he refers to the night as a woman in line 7. It seems as though the speaker is attracted to this place as a man is attracted to a woman, and vise verse.

Individualism is also very apparent in this poem as the speaker talks about how lovely the loneliness is in line 4. He would rather be alone with nature than a part of society, which is a very strong characteristic of the Romantics. Furthermore, he states that this place would be a perfect place to die. The speaker doesn't want to die while in society, but out in nature all alone.

Poem #2

"I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" by William Wordsworth

I WANDERED lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze

There is an obvious connection with nature in this poem, as a part of nature is mentioned in every line exept line 4. Right away I noticed individualism in that the speaker is out in nature and sees a crowd of people. Wordsworth then leaves it up to the reader to fill in the ending. What action does the speaker take when he sees the crowd of people? Does he approach the people or stay with nature? Knowing that Wordsworth is a Romantic I would say that the speaker remains with nature because Romantics tend to shy away from society while enjoying being alone with nature.