Question

How is Wordsworth’s definition of poetry as "the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" a reflection of the Romantic period? Why was poetry the literary form of choice for most Romantic authors? Your answer should be at least one hundred words.

Answer 1

The Romantic period is characterized by passion and emotion being more credible and trustworthy than logic and reason. Wordsworth defines poetry as "the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" reflects Romanticism because it is full of feeling, not thinking. An Enlightenment definition would be something like "literary work expressing something using style and rhythm." This definition shows the importance of feelings over thinking for Wordsworth, and how reality doesn't matter in his style. Poetry was the form of choice because it lacks structure especially since most Romantics wrote in blank verse, completely devoid of structure. Poetry is meant to be an emotional art form without structure in blank verse, and Romantics preferred feeling, so lack of structure would remove an obstacle to really let emotions shine in their work.

Answer 2

The Romantic period in literature can be defined as a period that developed as a reaction to the ideas of Enlightenment. The Enlightenment had encouraged people to become more rational, and to dismiss sources of knowledge that did not come from reason. On the other hand, the Romantics wanted to rescue these "sources of knowledge" that had been dismissed by the Enlightenment. These included myths, superstition, religion, feelings, the supernatural, the emotional, etc. Poetry was considered to be the best source to convey such knowledge due to the extremely flexible and lyrical nature of poetry.

In this case, Wordsworth's definition is characteristic of the Romantic period as it discusses the idea of "powerful feelings" and "spontaneity," two important concepts during this period.