Romanticism: An Anthology

by Duncan Wu (Editor)

ROMANTICISM Praise for the third “An outstanding anthology, an excellent choice for advanced undergraduate courses on the Romantic era. This edition’s improvements include illustrations, a detailed chronology, and expanded selections from women poets. I look forward to using this edition of Romanticism for years to come.” Kim Wheatley, College of William and Mary “This anthology, even more magnificent and indispensable in its Third Edition, is not simply the most useful or the most learned anthology of English Romantic poetry and thought; it is the most exciting.” Leslie Brisman, Yale University Duncan Wu’s An Anthology has been appreciated by thousands of literature students and their teachers across the globe since its first appearance in 1994, and is the most widely used teaching text in the field in the UK. Now in its fourth edition, it stands as the essential work on Romanticism. It remains the only such book to contain complete poems and essays edited especially for this volume from manuscript and early printed sources by Wu, along with his explanatory annotations and author headnotes. This new edition carries all texts from the previous edition, adding Keats’s Isabella and Shelley’s Epipsychidion , as well as a new selection from the poems of Sir Walter Scott. All editorial materials, including annotations, author headnotes, and prefatory materials, are revised for this new edition. An Anthology remains the only textbook of its kind to include complete and uncut texts As well as generous selections from the works of Mary Robinson, John Thelwall, Dorothy Wordsworth, Robert Southey, Charles Lamb, Thomas De Quincey, William Hazlitt, Leigh Hunt, John Clare, Letitia Landon and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Visit www.romanticismanthology.com for resources to accompany the anthology, including a dynamic timeline which illustrates key historical and literary events during the Romantic period and features links to useful materials and visual media.

Genres: Poetry, Romanticism, Classics, Anthologies, Fiction, Reference, Literature

1640 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Sean Barrs · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve been diligently working my way through this massive tome of writing since the start of September. And it has been so much fun. One day I hope to lecture on the Romantics at a university. It would be glorious, me spieling out my thoughts on the poetry and prose of my favourite literary era. I don’t think I’d ever consider it work.

The Romantic writers were such an optimistic bunch; they really wanted to change the world. They directly addressed the constructs of society along with arguing for new connections with nature and emphasising the power of the human imagination. As a group, as a literary movement, they portrayed so much genius. Never before has one century produced so many fantastic writers and thinkers. The poets were more than mere artisans; they were philosophers and historians. And the novelists, they were a witty bunch too.

Not all fitted the mould. Byron was his own man, determined on forming his own distinct legend. Jane Austen attacked the nuances of cultural etiquette through the barebones on of her romance plots. Each writer had their own unique form of romanticism. Percy Shelley’s branch was so far removed from that of Wordsworth and Coleridge’s: he wanted a vegetarian utopia. Keats did something else entirely and Blake, Blake was a mad genius. If you put all these writers in the same room, they’d likely spend the day arguing about politics, philosophy and the nature of the poet’s role in society. I think it would be fun to watch.

They wouldn’t get on; yet, we link them in this loosely defined movement of Romanticism. It’s an interesting idea, one that downplays the role of women writers (booo!) in this era that was dominated by male poets and the ideas they presented. I love studying their work, and I love trying to find writers that did not quite fit the standard model or present it in a different way. Most of them wrote in long drawn out blank verse, and it can become repetitive at time, though the real masters of the craft placed words in such a way that the writing flowed taking you away into a mirage of ideas, thoughts and patterns.

For now though, I’m going to be moving away from such writings. My reviews over the next year or so will be focusing on global literature, magical realism and postcolonial modernist writing. I’m in the process of building an academic profile, and I don’t want to put all my eggs in one basket so to speak. Even if it is a very good basket.

[Kate♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5stars

read a ton of these poems for class - liked some, didn't like others

[Sofia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Per chi è interessato al romanticismo e vuole approfondirlo, o inoltrarvisi, questa antologia è perfetta. Contiene di tutto, dai grandi classici ad autori meno noti, con una ricchissima selezione e corredato di pratiche note. Personalmente avrei preferito che oltre alla saggistica e alla poesia fosse stato riservato spazio anche ai romanzi romantici (almeno qualche brano di Frankenstein sarebbe stato doveroso), ma tutto sommato è una raccolta estremamente ben realizzata. Essendo un libro di 1500 pagine in inglese ottocentesco e scritto in piccolo non è proprio una lettura agile, ma ne vale assolutamente la pena.

[Beatrix]

My favorite part was how sometimes there would be a weird word in the text and Duncan Wu would put a footnote and just be like “‘weird word’ as in [sentence using the word the same way it’s used in the text and not helping to define it at all]” or when he’d just not put notes about very important thing. Also how ridiculously heavy it is !!!

The Mary Robinson, Coleridge, Charlotte Smith, and Keats parts are like 5/5 for being good or at least entertaining. The Wordsworth parts are largely not as good and earn like a 3/5 because I do like “Tintern Abbey” and “Goody Blake and Harry Gill.” There’s other authors’ works but I don’t feel like giving opinions on them right now. Maybe later

[Leilani Tañeza]

To her fair works did Nature link
The human soul that through me ran;
And much it grieved my heart to think
What man has made of man.

I didn’t expect to love Romantic poetry and its cast of sentimental poets, but it was highly worth bringing back this textbook all the way home.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection of Romantic texts, really enjoyed studying some of them at uni 🥰 Only knocking down a star as it broke my back every week carrying it around 😂😂

[Eshaah]

excellent background to the poets which provides context to understand their works better

[Kristin Chapman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read parts of a different version for romantic lit. Wordsworth, Blake, Coleridge, Shelley, Keats, Clare etc

[Abi Clarke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Working my way through for uni.

[Benevbooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for uni - lots of interesting poems in here, and discussions sprouted from that.

[Jenni · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is on my reading list for one of my modules (Monstrous Bodies, which looks at the depiction of 'monsters' and medical discourse in 19th century literature), so this review is slightly less personal than many of my others.
Truth be told, I am not a fan of 19th century poetry. I find it to be overtly descriptive with not enough substance. However, the poetry in this anthology has enabled me to change my mind, especially on Wordsworth's works. I have particularly come to enjoy 'The Thorn', as it manages to combine poetic discourse and social commentary with ease.

My disappointments with this book are twofold. One, I would rather read a book with equal distribution of poems - there was an over-abundance of Wordsworth, for example. Secondly, I think the introductions for each author/poet are too focused on their history rather than their influences.

Lastly, I still dislike Hannah More's work. I do not think she had much influence in the progression of women in society, as her ideals still are constrained to the social norm. That, and I like stanzas (yes, I'm looking at you, Sensibility).

[Helena · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is actually a uni textbook but it's still good reading anyway. Pictures, biographies, notes, this book has it all! There are two major problems though: firstly, this book is MASSIVE and secondly, although you get pretty much every Romantic poet in existance, you don't get all their works nor full pieces of poetry.

[Carrie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't learn very much from this book at all. It was too big. It hit me like a punch, and left me reeling. A useful rescource, but over-stuffed. And the biographies only tell one what one could have found out for oneself. A student's book, basically. Useful, but uninspire-ing.

[Alexis]

Romanticism: An Anthology (Blackwell Anthologies) (2005)

[Susan Dickson]

Yes, an excellent anthology, but too huge for lazy sunday reading

[sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't read all of it-- I'm not sure I ever will at one time. But I liked most of what we read in/for class!

[Daisy Leather · Rating 5 out of 5]

obviously i only read a selection, not the entire thing, for university.
Coleridge, Barbauld, Wordsworth, Blake, Byron, Shelley, Smith, Keats, Austen and Clare.

[Kirsty Grant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loving Wordsworth but what a size of a book to carry back and forward to uni. It has everything you need for the course and some really really long poems.

[Charlotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

A necessity for my course. Not a casual read.

[Caitlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ugh. Textbook..

[ana · Rating 3 out of 5]

el peor curso de la erasmus con las peores lecturas pero bueno
*no entero

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

excellent anthology of the era's writing