Romantic Poetry

These poetry picks highlight the emotional and nature-focused spirit of Romanticism, a movement that originated in the 18th century. The Collection features selections from Emily Dickinson, John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley, William Wordsworth, William Blake, and other exemplars of the Romantic poetry genre.

Light Shining Out of Darkness

by William Cowper

Publication year 1773

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Religion & Spirituality, Perseverance

Tags Religion & Spirituality, Lyric Poem, Depression & Suicide

“Light Shining Out of Darkness,” written by William Cowper, was first published in 1774 by John Newton, a Calvinist pastor, in Twenty-Six Letters on Religious Subjects; to Which Are Added Hymns. Later, the hymn was again collected in Olney Hymns in 1779, a text featuring hymns by both Cowper and Newton (“Light Shining Out of Darkness.” Representative Poetry Online, 1998.). In addition to being a hymn, the text could be labeled as a lyric poem... Read Light Shining Out of Darkness Summary

Mont Blanc

by Percy Bysshe Shelley

Publication year 1817

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Nature Versus Nurture, Objects & Materials, Place, Environment

Tags Philosophy, Science & Nature, Romanticism, Education, Education, British Literature, Classic Fiction

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Night

by William Blake

Publication year 1789

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Nature Versus Nurture, Religion & Spirituality, Appearance & Reality, Animals

Tags Romanticism, Religion & Spirituality, World History, Arts & Culture

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Ode on Melancholy

by John Keats

Publication year 1819

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Grief, Loneliness, Death, Plants, Place, Mental Health, Joy, Beauty

Tags Lyric Poem, Romanticism, Grief & Death, Education, Education, British Literature, World History, Classic Fiction

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Queen Mab

by Percy Bysshe Shelley

Publication year 1813

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Religion & Spirituality, Death, Place, Environment, Future, Politics & Government, Power & Greed, War

Tags Narrative Poem, Christian, Poetry: Dramatic Poem, Mythology, Fantasy, Philosophy, Politics & Government, Military & War, World History, Science & Nature, Religion & Spirituality, Grief & Death, Romanticism, British Literature, Health, Philosophy, Food, Classic Fiction

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She Was a Phantom of Delight

by William Wordsworth

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Love

Tags Lyric Poem, Love & Sexuality, British Literature

“She Was a Phantom of Delight” is a short lyric poem by the English poet William Wordsworth. Often regarded as the greatest of the English Romantics, Wordsworth composed “Phantom” in 1804 and published it in his 1807 collection Poems, in Two Volumes. He wrote it in praise of his wife Mary (née Hutchinson), whom he first met in 1787 and married in 1802. The poem explores three stages of development in William and Mary’s relationship... Read She Was a Phantom of Delight Summary

Song of Myself

by Walt Whitman

Publication year 1856

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Death, Politics & Government, Nation, Family, Perseverance

Tags Lyric Poem, Life-Inspired Fiction, Transcendentalism, Education, Education, US History, American Literature, World History, Classic Fiction

“Song of Myself” is a free verse poem by the American writer, journalist, and poet Walt Whitman. The poem is often classified as a work of transcendentalist literature. Originally self-published by Whitman himself in 1855, it was considerably revised and expanded over subsequent decades. In 1889, “Song of Myself” was released in its final form as part of the last edition of the collection Leaves of Grass. This final version—the version referenced in this guide—is... Read Song of Myself Summary

Thanatopsis

by William Cullen Bryant

Publication year 1817

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Death, Place, Fate, Community, Environment

Tags Lyric Poem, Science & Nature, Grief & Death, Romanticism, Education, Education, American Literature, World History, Classic Fiction

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The Book of Thel

by William Blake

Publication year 1789

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Love

Tags Narrative Poem, Love & Sexuality, Mythology, British Literature, Romanticism, Arts & Culture, World History, Fantasy, Classic Fiction

The Book of Thel was written and etched by William Blake in 1789. It is one of his prophetic illuminated books, crafted after Songs of Innocence but before The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. Blake’s recognition as an influential figure in the British Romantic literary movement only came after his death. The Book of Thel is a narrative, allegorical, and symbolic poem written in 14-syllable lines. Its themes include the expansiveness of God’s love, interconnectedness... Read The Book of Thel Summary

The Raven

by Edgar Allan Poe

Publication year 1845

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Memory

Tags Horror & Suspense, Narrative Poem, Classic Fiction, Animals, Grief & Death

Influenced by the English Romantic poets Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “Lord” George Gordon Byron, and Percy Shelley, Edgar Allan Poe represents one of the essential American Romantic poets of the nineteenth century. Romanticism here refers to a literary movement of the late 1700s and 1800s which focused on the emotional life of the individual and curiosity about the self. This movement complemented a larger geopolitical and ideological shift in the United States. As a young nation... Read The Raven Summary