The Influence of Romantic Poets on Nature and Society

The speaker introduces the audience to the concept of Romanticism, taking them back 200 years ago when values, ideas, and dreams of the modern world were born. Monarchy was falling to people's revolutions, industry and commerce were rising, and advances in science were reshaping life. Poets and novelists like William Wordsworth, Mary Shelley, and William Blake pioneered an alternative way of living and looking at the world, inspiring artists worldwide.

During a time of increasing mechanization, the Romantics fostered an intense relationship with nature as a means of escaping the shackles of commerce and industry. This intense connection with the natural world revolutionized perceptions of life itself, emphasizing the freedom found in nature amidst a world becoming more industrialized.

In the 18th century, Britain was undergoing rapid urbanization and industrialization, with towns evolving into cities. The Industrial Age brought about a shift towards mechanization, imposing synchronized time and strict rules of human conduct. Public clocks dictated daily activities, and cities became like machines of trade, industry, and living, engulfing everything in their path.

William Blake, a poet and artist, had a profound vision as a child that influenced his work throughout his life. He saw angelic beings in trees, experiencing a glimpse of an eternal world far from the city's hollows. Blake believed in the power of childhood visions as a source of adult inspiration, contrasting the destruction of childhood by the Industrial Age.

Moved by the plight of children in the Industrial Age, William Blake expressed his compassion through simple lines and illuminated poems. He highlighted the wretched lives of child laborers, emphasizing the need for their redemption and freedom from exploitation. Blake's work, such as 'Songs of Innocence,' reflected his belief in the purity and joy of childhood amidst a harsh reality.

In February 1787, William Blake faced a personal tragedy when his brother Robert fell ill and passed away. Blake's innocence was shattered by this event, leading to profound visions of infinity throughout his life. The experience of witnessing his brother's spirit ascend marked a significant moment in Blake's artistic and spiritual journey, influencing his later works.

After Robert's death, Blake moved to the leafy outskirts of London, specifically Hercules Road in Lambeth, to build a new life free from the city's corruption. However, upon witnessing a horrifying sight from his window, Blake was intensely angered and demanded the immediate release of a boy subjected to miseries. This incident led Blake to write 'Songs of Experience,' reflecting his belief in the spiritual purity of childhood and his anger towards the mistreatment of children.

Blake feared for the future lives of England's children amidst the Industrial Revolution. He was one of the first to warn against the destructive potential of industrialization, envisioning a world where people's lives were disfigured by endless toil in factories. He expressed concern that the Industrial Revolution turned soul and life into a mill machine, stripping individuals of their spirituality and imagination.

Albion Mill, the first factory in London, symbolized the dehumanizing effects of industrialization for Blake. He saw the repetitive production lines of the mills as casting human identity into uniform molds, denying spirituality and imagination. Blake referred to Satan as the 'Miller of eternity' in his poems, expressing his fury at the industrial system that devalued human creativity and individuality.

Blake's famous lines, now known as 'Jerusalem,' were originally written as a radical protest against the corruption of industry and commerce. They served as a manifesto for the Romantic poets, highlighting the darkness descending upon England due to industrialization. The poem questioned whether divine presence could shine amidst England's 'dark satanic Mills,' challenging the impact of industrial progress on society.

In March 1791, Albion Mill caught fire and was destroyed, leading to its eventual demolition in 1809. Blake saw the factory's destruction as a symbol of hope in an increasingly mechanized world. The blackened and empty shell of Albion Mill served as a reminder of the consequences of industrialization, prompting reflection on the loss of simplicity and innocence in society.

William Blake's work, though not well-known to other Romantic poets, left a lasting impact on society. His critique of industrialization and advocacy for spiritual purity and imagination resonated with those seeking a simpler life free from modern constraints. Blake's writings, including 'Jerusalem,' continue to be celebrated as expressions of protest against the dehumanizing effects of industrial progress.

In 1796, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, a young poet, reacted to the Industrial Revolution similarly to Blake. Upon hearing of his son's premature birth, Coleridge expressed his emotions in a poem, reflecting on the anticipation and instinctive feelings of any modern father. His emotional response to fatherhood highlighted the universal experience of welcoming a new life amidst the societal changes brought about by industrialization.

Coleridge, upon becoming a parent, gave up his job as a traveling preacher and moved to the Quantock Hills to redefine parenthood. He believed in raising his children in the simplicity of peasants, with rustic food, drink, and habits. This period in Somerset was the happiest in his life, contrasting with his detested schooling experience in London.

In 1798, Coleridge wrote to his son celebrating the new romantic vision of childhood, contrasting his own city upbringing with the idea of his son wandering by lakes and sandy shores, experiencing the eternal language of nature.

For the Romantic poets, childhood was intertwined with nature, believing that early experiences shape our humanity. Coleridge's friend, Wordsworth, grew up in the Lake District, profoundly influenced by its landscape and nature's power.

Wordsworth's childhood experience of stealing a boat on Al's water and rowing out onto the lake defined his life. This event inspired one of his greatest poems, reflecting his deep connection to nature from a young age.

Wordsworth's childhood tragedies, including his mother's death, sister's absence, and father's death in the Lakeland Fells, deeply affected him. His terrifying experience alone in a boat on Al's water brought nature to life in his imagination, shaping his poetic vision.

In the absence of parents, Wordsworth's education was guided by the natural forces around him. At 20, he traveled to the Alps not for a specific destination but to seek solitude, danger, and overwhelming experiences, reflecting his unique approach to inspiration.

Wordsworth's perilous journey through the Alps, facing danger and solitude, mirrored the conditions that had killed his father. Despite the personal fear, he found inspiration in the unknown birds, visible darkness, and wilderness of clouds, drawing closer to the source of his poetic inspiration.

Wordsworth experienced an almost uninterrupted succession of beautiful natural objects that left a lasting impression on him. He witnessed immeasurable woods, decaying yet eternal, stationary waterfalls, and torrents shooting from the clear blue sky, all of which deeply impacted his perception of nature.

Wordsworth began to realize that nature was more than just an escape from personal pain; it was the core of his creative imagination, the romantic imagination. Nature could make him feel insignificant yet connected to eternity, allowing him to have a profound and unconscious connection with beauty in all its creations.

In 1798, Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy embarked on a walking tour of the Y Valley, where they visited Tintern Abbey. The abbey symbolized a harmonious pre-industrial past, filled with spirits, inspiration, and a connection to nature that transcended human constructs. This experience deeply influenced Wordsworth's perception of nature and his relationship with it.

Wordsworth's response to nature was central to the romantic worldview that persists today. He learned to view nature not as he did in his youth but with a deeper understanding, hearing the 'still sad music of humanity' and feeling a sublime presence that elevated his thoughts and connected him to something greater than himself.

The romantics, including Wordsworth, were the first to express a yearning for the sublime in nature. This longing for the sublime, characterized by grandeur and divinity in the natural world, continues to influence how we appreciate nature today. The sublime represents a desire for freedom and a transcendence of the mundane and mechanical aspects of modern life.

The key to experiencing the sublime in nature, as understood by the romantics, was to lose oneself in the vastness and grandeur of the natural world. This experience involved a sense of boundlessness and freedom, where one could escape the confines of society and rational understanding, immersing oneself in the awe-inspiring power of nature.

John Clare, a young boy from Northamptonshire, embarked on a journey to the 'end of the world' to experience the freedom and beauty of nature. His disappearance for a day and an evening, oblivious to the search efforts, reflected his entrancement with his dreams of freedom and exploration in the natural world.

John Clare, who grew up to be a poet, found inspiration in the village of Helpstone and its surrounding countryside. Working at the Bluebell Inn from a young age, he considered it the nursery for his poetic rhymes, where the village and its natural beauty nurtured his creativity and love for the freedom that nature provided.

John Clare, a poet, wrote poems about his childhood and the beauty of the open countryside he loved. His poetry vividly described the landscape with dribbling Brooks, rivers, floods, hills, vales, and darksome woods. He found immense pleasure in nature that language failed to express.

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, enclosure Acts were passed in England to maximize agricultural profits. John Clare's beloved countryside was enclosed, leading to the exploitation of common land for commerce. This transformation confined Clare, restricting his freedom and contributing to his descent into madness.

John Clare spent the last 24 years of his life in a lunatic asylum, where his doctor noted his insanity was preceded by years of poetical posing. Neglected as a romantic poet, Clare's works depicted an England where nature's freedom was curtailed by profit-driven progress, reflecting the impact of enclosure Acts on his life.

On April 12, 1815, Mount Tambora in Indonesia erupted, releasing a massive amount of dust into the atmosphere. The eruption caused global temperatures to drop significantly, leading to the 'year without a summer' in 1816. The catastrophic event resulted in the death of thousands and had a profound impact on climate and society.

The eruption of Mount Tambora symbolized nature's retaliation against human attempts to control it. The 'year without a summer' challenged the Industrial Revolution and advancements in science and technology. This event sparked a new generation of Romantic poets who presented dark visions of nature, questioning humanity's ability to dominate the natural world.

A new generation of Romantic poets, including Lord Byron, rebelled against the conservative nature of earlier romantics. Meeting at the villa Diodati on Lake Geneva, these poets rejected the idea of controlling nature and presented awe-inspiring visions of the natural world in response to the fear and chaos caused by the Tambora eruption.

Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, daughter of feminist Mary Wollstonecraft and philosopher William Godwin, was a young woman surrounded by intellectuals and radical ideas. At 18 years old, she was a guest at Diodati, where she engaged in conversations with Lord Byron and Shelley about the principles of life and the possibility of reanimating corpses or creating new life.

Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, after hearing tales of experiments with electricity, had a nightmarish vision that inspired her to write 'Frankenstein.' In her vision, she saw a student of unhallowed arts creating a hideous phantasm of a man that came to life through a powerful engine, leading to the creation of the iconic horror story.

Frankenstein, a fable about a young Genovese student obsessed with occult science and creating new life, serves as a cautionary tale about the misuse of science to alter nature. The novel reflects the romantic sublime and emphasizes the importance of respecting and revering nature, warning against the consequences of tampering with natural order.

The Romantics, through their visionary imagination, have influenced how people perceive nature and their place within it. Their profound debt to the Romantics is evident in the contemplation of nature, which also leads to introspection about the human soul. The Romantics' exploration of nature revealed the terrors and secrets of the sublime, shaping the way individuals connect with the natural world.

The next episode of the program will air next week on TV. Viewers can learn more about the poets and poems featured in the series by ordering a free booklet from the Open University at 0870900311. For further exploration of Romantic poetry, visit BBC's website at bbc.co.uk/romantics.