11 characteristics of romantic POETRY

The characteristics of romantic poetry is the interest in the land, the mystery, the metric or the fusion with other genres., among many others. Romanticism is a cultural and artistic movement that emerged at the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century, in Germany and England, but which did not take long to spread throughout Europe. The most important poets of this period were Zorrilla, Espronceda, Duque de Ribas, among others.

In this lesson from a PROFESSOR we are going to explain the characteristics of romantic poetry so that you are able to identify it when you find yourself in front of a poem of this literary current.

1. Interest in the land. The authors of romantic poetry write everything that they consider to be genuine manifestations of the soul of the peoples. This characteristic includes the return of romances, the legends, etc.
2. Original texts. Faced with the classical balance, the rules and the didacticism that dominated during the 13th century, the romantic poets decided to break with all this. They defended the
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   originality above all, assuming that the poet was an artist who had his own creative ingenuity and did not need to copy what was already done before.
3. The mystery in poetry. This is another of the characteristics of romantic poetry. And it is that this type of poetry reflects a taste for the most mysterious and supernatural world. Some very frequent elements in this type of literature are cemeteries, death and mystery environments. The romantic poet is very attracted to everything that reason is unable to explain or understand rationally. Therefore, the world and human destiny are appreciated as unknowns that seem to be completely dominated by irrationality.
4. The metric. As for the forms, romantic poetry is characterized by showing a metric known as "polymetry". This concept refers to the fact that the authors used different types of verses and stanzas in the same poem, depending on what suited them best at each moment. In the same way, it also highlights the revitalization of popular metrics, especially the octosyllabic and minor art verses.
5. idealism vs. reality. Romantic idealism collides head-on between the wishes of utopia and reality. This contrast is what often causes a feeling of disappointment, anguish, disappointment and skepticism that the authors show in their works. By rejecting the circumstances of the present, the poems become a defense of justicesocial or in a desire to return to times past or to more exotic places.
6. It merges with other genres. Another of the characteristics of romantic poetry is that it merges with other genres in the sense that use the same themes and the same environments as the other types of writing, since they are the most typical of the romanticism movement.
7. The soul and its state. As a consequence of putting all the emphasis on feelings, the authors begin to delve into his soul to see what state it is in. Writers reflect through poetry, their tormented moods and their afflicted and lonely souls, who find no comfort.
8. Narrative and lyrical lines. Romantic poetry is capable of growing, both in its narrative field and in its most lyrical part. Lyrical poetry, however, is where his expressive medium is best found. The romantic tendency to mix of genres It causes the works to have features and lines mixed simultaneously, which means a very innovative idea at the time.
9. The fantasy. In addition to putting importance on the feeling, romantic poetry welcomes other elements to inspire their works and some of them lack existence. This is where the fantasy, imagination or dreams that we can find in this literary current.
10. More subjective works. Romantic poetry is characterized by the dominance of feelings and desires. You can feel a desire for freedom and love, which become the ideals of life of the authors. Romantic love acquires, in most cases, tragic nuances. Usually, the passion of lovers faces various barriers or ideals that are completely unattainable.
11. Individualism is taken into account. Individualism is the last of the characteristics of romantic poetry and is highly reflected in romantic poetry, through the theme of loneliness. The man, in most of his works, feels isolated and different, either because of his thoughts, his ideas or his feelings.

The era in which romantic poetry arose They were years in which the texts once again acquired the importance they deserved, after having been forgotten for a while. Prose created new genres and revitalized existing ones, while poetry returned to claim acquiring very recognizable signs of identity.

Let's put a example of romantic poetry, in which you will be able to clearly recognize the characteristics that we have explained to you in the previous section. It is a poem by Rosalía de Castro entitled Black Shadow, that tells us about the emotion of surprise and the bewilderment generated by its own shadow.

“When I think that you are running away, black shadow that amazes me, at the foot of my heads, you turn around making fun of me. If I imagine that you are gone, in the same sun you appear, and you are the star that shines, and you are the wind that blows.

If they sing, you are the one who sings, if they cry, you are the one who cries, and you are the murmur of the river and you are the night and the dawn. In everything you are and you are everything, for me in myself you dwell, you will never abandon me, shadow that always amazes me.

Now you know what the characteristics of romantic poetry and what is the way that their authors used to communicate through their texts. If you are interested in continuing to delve deeper into this subject, do not hesitate to consult our section on the history of literature, where we will explain all the literary currents in detail.