ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -William Blake is considered a precursor of Romanticism is English Literature. Romantic era laid considerable stress on the elements of imagination, nature worship, humanitarianism, liberty, mysticism and symbolism.

Detailed explanation-2: -Other precursors of Romanticism are the poets James Thomson (1700–48) and James Macpherson (1736–96). The sentimental novel or “novel of sensibility” is a genre which developed during the second half of the 18th century. It celebrates the emotional and intellectual concepts of sentiment, sentimentalism and sensibility.

Detailed explanation-3: -Blake’s use of images, symbols, metaphors and revolutionary spirit combined with simple diction and spontaneous expression of thoughts and emotions make him a typically bridge poet who can be categoriesd as the last of the pre romantic poet and one of the first romantic poets in the history of English Literature.

Detailed explanation-4: -Robert Burns is considered the pioneer of the Romantic Movement. Although his death in 1796 precedes what many consider the start of Romanticism, his lyricism and sincerity mark him as an early Romantic writer. His most notable works are “Auld Lang Syne” (1788) and “Tam o’ Shanter” (1791).

Detailed explanation-5: -The group of the precursors of Romanticism includes James Thomson, Thomas Young, George Crabbe, Oliver Goldsmith, William Collins, Thomas Gray, William Cowper, Robert Burns, and William Blake anticipated Romanticism in English poetry.