William Blake's Influence on the Romantic Period as Seen Through His Poems London. Milton,

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In the Preface to the 2nd edition of Lyrical Ballads, William Wordsworth said that poetry should be the “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.” The poets, painters and writers of the Romantic era reflect this in many ways. Their progressive thinking, revolutionary action, dramatic anti-establishment artistry and outspoken spontaneity often led them to criticize the aristocratic and political climate of the Age of Enlightenment. They also tended to have a strong disapproval for the scientific rationalization of nature. The Romantics influence was not only on literature, its movement spread throughout the artistic community of Europe and the world causing new developments in the fields of Philosophy, Social Science, Sculpture, Paintings, Music, and much more. In 1822 Jan Vaclav Vorisek published the first impromptu piano piece under the title “Impromptu.” The influence of this piece of music would cause a wave to spread through the way in which composers thought and felt. This Impromptu style of playing music would play a major role in the creation of a new movement in the 1920’s known as Jazz. The Jazz movement was also an expression/protest for the rights of free form, free love and freedom for all races and equality for all men. The artists and thinkers of the Romantic period didn’t see themselves as mere reactionary artist who passively reflected the historical undertakings of their day. They believed the artist had the power to play a crucial role in actual change. As Simon Bainbridge once said about the Romantic writers, “writing in a highly politicized climate, they conceived their roles as crucial to the ways in which history was understood and how it would be enacted in the future…’ By examining the works of the Romantics and of two authors/artists of the Era it may be seen just how this feeling of change and devotion to spontaneous, political, free

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