Romanticism

The story I chose was Rip Van Winkle. It was funny to me, it made me wondered what would life be like if I was to fall asleep for twenty years. It was confusing at first and I couldn’t really get into the story but around the chapter when he first woke up looking for his dog and his gun it became very exciting and interesting. I like how the story described how the villagers all glanced at him and how confused he felt.

When he returned home the story became very descriptive and I could actually picture the town in my head. I could actually envision how different the town appeared. And I could feel his sense of confusion. When he started talking about how his wife usually kept the house clean, I pictured a spotless little hut and then I switched my vision to see his run downed house. I think the story was creative and it left me pondering about the future.

I think this Rip Van Winkle showed Romanticism by how he would rather do for other people than he would do for himself. That proves that he believed it was better to help someone than just help yourself. Even when his wife constantly nagged at him for not taken care of himself, he stilled provided for others. "His wife kept continually dinning in his ears about his idleness, his carelessness, and the ruin he was bringing on his family. Morning, noon, and night, her tongue was incessantly going, and every thing he said or did was sure to produce a torrent of household eloquence".

He took care of neighbors and helped fix up their yards when his own yard would be covered with weeds. He would play with the kids in the village and helped them fix broken toys when his own kids would look wore than the others. He spent more time helping out the people and making sure they were doing okay rather than his own family. Whenever his wife would bring this to his attention he would shrug his shoulders and continue on about his day. "Children of the village, too, would shout with joy whenever he approached. He assisted at their sports, made their playthings, taught them to fly kites and shoot marbles, and told them long stories of ghosts, while his children, were as ragged and wild as if they belonged to nobody."

I think the poem is obviously talking about death. It tells how "nature" will call you to your sleeping place. And how you would lay with all the great kings and everyone else whom you probably admired that has passed on. It shields a light on eternal resting-place, it shows all the good things about passing on. It shows how the how your body goes back to becoming one with the earth I believe that’s the decomposing part of death. What makes this poem romantic is that the theme of nature is involved and it shows the feelings associated with death.

The poem was about him at work. He seems like he doesn’t want to be there, so while he works he looks around and notices all the things going on. He sees people playing around and he sees a little boy with his kite. And I think by him looking around and noticing other people it helps him get through his boring day at work.

This picture seems to bring out tranquility, it just calms you down just by looking at it. The setting looks peaceful and the lake seems to be calm and the skies are golden. It seems to show that there’s a better place in the skies rather than here on earth.

Romanticism is the idea that intuition is over logic. Romantics believed imagination is higher than reason and logic. They felt people could find themselves by listening to their hearts, or using their imaginations to reach better places than where they were physically. They felt as if life would be much better if people wee involved with their adventurous sides. The poems above fits this belief by just explaining how life would be better by going to heaven when you pass on

"so live, that when thy summons comes to join
The innumerable caravan, that moves.
To the pale realms of shade, where each shall take
His chamber in the silent halls of death, Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night, scourged to his dungeon, but sustain'd and sooth'd Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams."

This excerpt just explained that you should live life to the fullest, and that when you finally die you should not go scorned and mad as if you were going to a dungeon; but you should be happy because your finally going to be able to sleep peacefully and happily. This belief shows the romanticism belief by providing a thought that would keep you somewhat peaceful at your soul.