copy of final exam

Sample Answers to Question 2.

How has American Romanticism continued or changed in post-Romantic American literature?

Kristin Hamon

Residual Effects of Romanticism: Understanding the Rhetoric of the “Common Man”

By integrating principles of realism with ideals of Romanticism, a new form of romantic came to life. Romanticism is often represented by Transcendentalists such as Jonathan Edwards or Ralph Waldo Emerson – men who were overwhelmed by a love for the untouched wilderness. One component of this transcendent movement was the idea that one should remain in awe of the beautiful and spiritual characteristics of nature. One needs only to get closer to nature in order to recognize that which is beautiful, lest he miss out on this experience due to the bustling city. The eventual infusion of realism into the Romantic dogma made it possible for writers and poets like Whitman, Hughes, and Hurston to revel in this same transcendent movement – even if the beauty that surrounded them may have appeared as less than desirable. Therefore, this “realistic romantic” became the basis for the rhetoric of the “common man.” No pristine pictures or perfect landscapes are required for this romantic. All that is needed is an appreciation for the present reality in order to reach a sublime and transcendent moment which will overwhelm the soul.

In order to understand how the modern romantic writer has emerged, it is necessary to consider the various aspects of romanticism that have influenced and remain as residual forces in the realm of the modern-day romantic. The way in which an author describes the sublime is one notable point for comparison. For example, Emerson’s essays may be largely consumed in the average American classroom, but he is hardly the picture of the “common man” if students are primarily analyzing his diction and syntax. The Emersonian essay is filled with hyperbolic language and countless metaphors. In order to create a suspended sublime state for the reader, Emerson uses this elevated diction in order to produce a sense of awe and admiration. For example, in “Nature,” he utilizes words filled with religious overtones such as “illuminated,” “heaven,” “perpetual,” “sanctity,” “reign,” “faith,” and “infinite” (N 494). The incorporation of this consecrated language helps depict the Romantic desire for “anything but the here and now” so one can “transcend” reality and entertain a spiritual moment while being “separate from the masses” (Objective 1a).

Emerson is not the only Romantic or pre-Romantic known for infusing religious overtones into his language. Jonathan Edwards is also recognized for his elevated diction, which is not altogether unusual considering his similar ministerial mindset to Emerson. He also uses phrases such as “majestic meekness,” “awful sweetness,” and “holy gentleness” to describe the inspiring landscape to which he often escaped (N 172). The landscape exists as something for which the speaker can desire, hence the natural comparison to God.

This similar Romantic style can also be seen in the work of distinguished poets, such as Walt Whitman. Whitman represents many elements precious to the Romantic author, including the occasional use of elevated diction to create a sublime or transcendent moment. However, Whitman is different than many romantics because the landscape he often celebrates does not fit the typified version of natural beauty as illustrated by many of his contemporaries. For example, in Whitman’s poem “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry,” the speaker joyously describes how he is “refresh’d by the gladness of the river and the bright flow” (N1058).  The narrator ultimately reaches a point of exaltation in section nine as he closes the poem by using words such as “spiritual,” “lasting,” “insatiate,” “ministers,” “eternity,” and “soul” (N 1061-1062). It is easy to forget that the beauty which he describes belongs to the murky waters carrying an unattractive cargo ship to the shores of crowded Manhattan. Whitman finds unexpected beauty in this entirely urban place. His novel approach to beauty and the sublime instituted a new kind of romantic. Also, his elevated language assigned importance to a sullied cargo ship that had previously existed only as an unlikely setting for a spiritual encounter. This kind of description is what helped name Whitman as “a poet of democracy” (N 991). From Whitman’s perspective, every man or woman, even the one without a countryside cottage, could learn to bask in the beauty of his or her present reality in order to experience a new kind of urban and modern transcendence.

Not only is elevated language used to give importance to seemingly insignificant moments, but seemingly insignificant diction can be used to create a sublime moment. The resulting feeling of a transcendent or sublime moment is a very Romantic notion and the opportunity for words to say so little and hold so much meaning invented new ways for the sublime to be captured on paper. For example, Carl Sandburg employs this method when he personifies the “fog” of the city as creeping in “on little cat feet” (N1989). Using only six lines filled with words never exceeding two syllables, Sandburg is able to create the quiet isolated feeling of the fog moving through the city. Sandburg used these telegraphically short phrases in his poem in order to introduce a reverence for small moments of beauty, later known as Imagism. Although his syntax is noticeably different than the style of the early Romantics, the emphasis on one solitary instant is remarkably similar.

The importance of being “separate from the masses” is another central aspect of Romanticism that colored the works of later writers (Objective 1.1a). For example, in Jonathan Edward’s personal narrative, he describes his constant yearning for a “solitary place” (N 172). Along this same desire, Emerson proclaims that “in the woods, we return to reason and faith” (N494). The idea that one needs to be separate from the masses in order to relish a truly sublime moment is a highly Romantic notion. In post-Romantic literature, this idea was altered so that being isolated in the woods was no longer the only place one could experience the sublime. In “How It Feels to Be Colored Me,” Zora Neale Hurston describes a moment in which she is “separate from the masses,” while she is among the masses. One moment she is in the “New World Cabaret” and the next instant she is suddenly lost “in the jungle” (N 2160). The speaker does not have to retreat from her environment to contemplate her race. In fact, the integration of the club and her inability to quickly escape a social situation may be what ultimately led to her moment of sublime contemplation. Although jumping dramatically from one moment of reality to another is a modern technique, the notion of being separate from the masses in a large group was experienced and described much earlier. For example, the congregation of Jonathan Edwards may have been listening to the same fiery sermon, but each member was likely to conjure up different images during his homily.

            Another aspect of Romanticism that seems to reach all humankind is the power of “nostalgia,” especially as it relates to “desire and loss” (Objective 1.1a). Many Romantic authors were fixated on the past and transfixed by the powerful influence it had over their present reality. This nostalgia can be observed in Langston Hughes’ poem, “Mother to Son.” In this poem, the speaker implores her son to learn from her mistakes and explains that “life for [her] ain’t been no crystal stair” (N 2265). Hughes blends the mother’s desire for the son to succeed with the nostalgia of her own life experiences.  The more modern aspect of this poem is not the interest in the past, but the idiomatic phrasing and dialect that Hughes employs. Therefore, the blending of two techniques creates a moment of nostalgia that every human being might appreciate considering his novel use of diction.

Robert Hayden also employs this same colloquialism and reverence for the past in his poem “Those Winter Sundays.” Hayden aptly gives the poem a nostalgic title and then proceeds to write the poem entirely in past tense supporting his nostalgic tone. In the final sentence of the poem, the speaker eventually regrets his ignorance as a child when he asks, “What did I know, what did I know of love’s austere and lonely offices” (N 2424)? Similar to Hughes, Hayden also uses a past event to add importance to a present reality. The speaker looks foolishly at his past and desires to have the knowledge of an adult when he was just a child. Nostalgia is used to rouse a Romantic impulse, even if that impulse only leads to a moment of quiet contemplation.

Perhaps the reason Romantics such as Emerson are so widely read is because the relevance and residual effects of Romanticism are still felt in modern literature. The Romantic wanted to relish the sublime, become isolated in a moment, and look to the past to define desires and losses. One can try to create an identity entirely modern and free from all constraints of past literary movements, but it seems that the powerful pull of Romantic tendencies is simply a human condition.