Augustan & Romantic Poetry: Ultimate UGC NET Guide
Master the transition from neoclassical to romantic poetry for your UGC NET English Literature preparation
Introduction to Augustan & Romantic Poetry
The Augustan (1700-1750) and Romantic (1785-1830) periods represent two contrasting yet foundational movements in English poetry. This guide covers all essential poets, works, and literary concepts for UGC NET aspirants.
Why This Unit Matters for UGC NET
Augustan & Romantic Poetry typically carries 6-9 questions in UGC NET English. Key areas include:
- Alexander Pope and Augustan satire
- Pre-Romantic poets (Gray, Burns, Blake)
- First Generation Romantics (Wordsworth & Coleridge)
- Second Generation Romantics (Keats, Shelley, Byron)
- Lyrical Ballads and the Romantic Manifesto
- Transition from neoclassical to romantic sensibility
Major Poets and Their Works
The Augustan and Romantic periods produced some of English literature's most celebrated poets:
The supreme master of the heroic couplet and Augustan satire.
- The Rape of the Lock (1712) - Mock-epic satirizing high society
- An Essay on Criticism (1711) - Poetic treatise on literary criticism
- The Dunciad (1728) - Satirical attack on dull writers
- An Essay on Man (1733-34) - Philosophical poem in heroic couplets
Poet Laureate and pioneer of English Romanticism.
- Lyrical Ballads (1798) - With Coleridge, launched Romantic movement
- Tintern Abbey (1798) - Blank verse meditation on nature
- The Prelude (1850) - Autobiographical epic poem
- Ode: Intimations of Immortality (1807) - Philosophical ode
Master of sensuous imagery and the ode form.
- Ode to a Nightingale (1819) - Meditation on mortality
- Ode on a Grecian Urn (1819) - "Beauty is truth, truth beauty"
- La Belle Dame sans Merci (1819) - Medieval ballad revival
- Endymion (1818) - "A thing of beauty is a joy forever"
Visionary poet and artist who bridged Augustan and Romantic eras.
- Songs of Innocence and Experience (1789-94) - Contrasting states of human soul
- The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1790) - Revolutionary prose-poem
- Jerusalem (1804-20) - Prophetic epic poem
- The Tyger (1794) - Famous poem from Songs of Experience
Key Characteristics of the Periods
Augustan Poetry
Reason, order, satire, heroic couplet, urban themes, classical models
Romantic Poetry
Emotion, imagination, nature, individualism, supernatural, lyrical forms
Transitional Poets
Gray, Burns, Blake - elements of both neoclassical and romantic
Major Themes
Nature, imagination, childhood, revolution, the sublime, the self
Literary Movements and Schools
Key poetic movements and their distinguishing features:
Augustan Age
Pope, Swift, Johnson - neoclassical ideals, satire, didacticism
Graveyard School
Gray, Young - melancholy, mortality, night thoughts
Lake Poets
Wordsworth, Coleridge, Southey - nature-focused Romanticism
Cockney School
Keats, Hunt, Hazlitt - urban Romanticism
Satanic School
Byron, Shelley - rebellious, revolutionary themes
Pre-Romanticism
Blake, Burns - transitional figures with Romantic tendencies
Comparative Analysis
- Augustan vs. Romantic: Contrast reason vs. emotion, urban vs. rural, convention vs. individualism
- Wordsworth vs. Coleridge: Compare their contributions to Lyrical Ballads
- Keats vs. Shelley: Different approaches to Romantic idealism
- Pope vs. Dryden: Compare their satirical techniques
Important Poetic Forms and Devices
Technical aspects frequently tested in UGC NET:
Poetic Forms
- Heroic Couplet: Rhymed iambic pentameter (Pope's signature form)
- Ode: Formal lyric poem (Keats' great odes)
- Blank Verse: Unrhymed iambic pentameter (Wordsworth's Prelude)
- Ballad: Narrative folk form (Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner)
- Sonnet: Revived by Romantics (Wordsworth, Keats)
- Mock-Epic: Satirical use of epic conventions (Rape of the Lock)
Literary Devices
- Negative Capability: Keats' concept of embracing uncertainty
- Spontaneous Overflow: Wordsworth's theory of poetic creation
- Poetic Diction: Debate between neoclassical and romantic
- The Sublime: Burkean concept important to Romantics
- Satire: Augustan weapon (Pope's mock-epic technique)
- Personification: Both periods but different uses
Historical Timeline of English Poetry
Augustan Age: Pope, Swift, Johnson dominate
Graveyard School emerges with Gray's Elegy
Blake publishes Songs of Innocence
Lyrical Ballads published (Romanticism begins)
Byron's Childe Harold makes him famous
Keats' "Great Odes" and Shelley's Ode to the West Wind
Wordsworth's Prelude published posthumously
UGC NET Preparation Tips
Important Questions to Focus On
- Analyze Wordsworth's theory of poetry in Preface to Lyrical Ballads
- Compare Pope's and Dryden's satirical techniques
- Discuss Keats' concept of Negative Capability
- Examine Blake's symbolic system in Songs of Innocence and Experience
- Trace the development of nature poetry from Augustan to Romantic
- Analyze Coleridge's distinction between fancy and imagination
- Discuss the French Revolution's impact on Romantic poetry
- Compare the treatment of childhood in Wordsworth and Blake
Recommended Study Approach
- Read selections from all major poets (Pope, Wordsworth, Keats, etc.)
- Memorize key poems (Ode to Nightingale, Tintern Abbey, The Tyger)
- Study the Preface to Lyrical Ballads thoroughly
- Practice comparing Augustan and Romantic approaches to similar themes
- Solve previous years' UGC NET questions on this unit
Memory Aid: Augustan & Romantic Poetry at a Glance
Augustan: Pope (satire), heroic couplet, reason, urban
Pre-Romantic: Blake (symbolism), Burns (folk tradition)
First Gen Romantic: Wordsworth (nature), Coleridge (imagination)
Second Gen Romantic: Keats (beauty), Shelley (idealism), Byron (rebellion)
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