Criticism Third year

Difference Between Neoclassicism and Romanticism:

Main Difference

The main difference between neoclassicism and romanticism is that neoclassicism focuses on objectivity, order, and restraint whereas romanticism focuses on imagination and emotion.

Neoclassicism vs. Romanticism

Neoclassicism was the predominant movement in European art and architecture during the “Age of Enlightenment.”

Romanticism is a term that describes changes within the art from about ۱۷٦۰ – ۱۸۷۰. These changes can be seen as a direct reaction against the values of Neoclassicism.

The visual arts of neoclassicism were serious, unemotional and heroic. There is a use of somber colors to convey a moral narrative defined by self-sacrifice and self-denial.

In the visual arts of Romanticism, nature was a dominant theme.

Neoclassicism, often referred to as Augustan age, resulted from a self-conscious imitation of the Augustan writers. The main contributors to this movement are Alexander Pope, Jonathan Swift, and Daniel Defoe. The view of these writers and poets on Nature was a revival of classical theory. They regard nature as “a rational and comprehensible moral order in the universe, demonstrating God’s providential design.

Romanticism has a wild and spiritual view on nature.

Romanticism in the literature concerns the individual and the individual’s imagination rather than society as a whole.

The art of neoclassicism pays homage to classical Greece and Roman art.

The art of Romanticism emphasized encapsulating emotions like fear and horror in visual form.

What is Neoclassicism?

Neoclassicism is a movement in literature that has its inspiration from the classical age. The prefix “Neo” in this term means new. The writers of this age were enthusiastic about bringing something new, acquiring or carrying forward some of the classical traits at the same time. Also, neoclassical writers were inspired by the writers of the classic age, the Latin and French writers. They also tried to imitate the style these writers along with Greeks and Romans. This movement was a reaction against the renaissance and lasted from about ۱٦٦۰ and ۱۷۹۸. The well known neo-classical writers are John Milton, Alexander Pope, Voltaire, John Dryden, Jonathan Swift, and Daniel Defoe. The popular genres of this movement are; essays, parody, satire, novels, and poetry. The basis of neoclassicism was on classical forms and themes. The ideologies of neoclassicism extended into painting, sculpture, and literature as well. Neoclassical arts are defined by clear, intentional lines, proportional harmony, and a sense of rational logic. It was a rejection of previous arts but introduced a major philosophical movement, the Enlightenment. Enlightenment thinkers challenged the traditions of European society, claiming that only that which could be empirically and rationally proven could be trusted. They based this idea mainly on Greek philosophy, which held that individual rationale was the only pathway to the absolute truth. This movement is typically divided into three periods; The Restoration Age (۱٦٦۰ to ۱۷۰۰), The Augustan Age (۱۷۰۰ to ۱۷٥۰), The Age of Johnson (۱۷٥۰ to ۱۷۹۸). The main features of neoclassical literature are:

• Structure • Restraint • Simplicity • Decorum • Order • Logic

• Objectivity

What is Romanticism?

Romanticism is a movement in English literature that lasted from about ۱۷۸۹ to ۱۸۳۲. The romantic movement is known as a reaction against the industrial revolution and neo-classicism. Romanticism emphasized the personal, subjective, irrational, imaginative, spontaneous, emotional, visionary and transcendental works of art. The writers and poets were the first who gave the initial expression to Romantic ideas. While the painters garnered inspiration from the poets and writers latter. All these art forms agreed that the experience of profound inner emotion serves as an inspiration to artistic endeavor. It rejected neoclassicism by creating an artwork that was very emotional and dramatic. Romanticism regarded emotions higher than thought and reason. Romanticism was the reaction against the industrial revolution by an escape from modern realities of population growth, urban sprawl, and industrialism. Most of the works of this period gave much importance to the language of the common person. Although, the writers of the Romantic period did not give much importance to diction. Romantic poetry reflects the personal feelings of the poet. William Wordsworth is one of the famous writers of this age including all these features in his poetry. Other well-known writers of this age include William Blake, S.T. Coleridge, Byron, Shelley, and Keats. The main features of this movement are:

• Imagination • Subjectivity • emotions

Key Differences

۱. Neoclassicism emphasized on structure, restraint, and objectivity whereas romanticism emphasized on imagination, emotion, and subjectivity.

۲. Neoclassicism gave importance to logic and reason conversely romanticism gave importance to emotions and self-experience.

۳. Neoclassicism examined society. On the other hand, romanticism examined nature.

٤. Neoclassicism draws its inspiration from the culture of ancient Greece and Rome and classical art while romanticism drew its inspiration from the Industrial Revolution and the Enlightenment.

٥. Neoclassical writers used a calm, rational tone on the flip side. Romantic writers used a spontaneous and moody tone.

Characteristics of Romanticism

RomanticCharacteristic

Description of Characteristic

Interest in thecommon man andchildhood

Romantics believed in the natural goodness ofhumans which is hindered by the urban life ofcivilization. They believed that the savage is noble,childhood is good and the emotions inspired byboth beliefs causes the heart to soar.

Strong senses,emotions, andfeelings

Romantics believed that knowledge is gainedthrough intuition rather than deduction. This isbest summed up by Wordsworth who stated that“all good poetry is the spontaneous overflow ofpowerful feelings.”

Awe of nature Romantics stressed the awe of nature in art andlanguage and the experience of sublimity througha connection with nature. Romantics rejected therationalization of nature by the previous thinkersof the Enlightenment period.

Celebration of theindividual

Romantics often elevated the achievements of themisunderstood, heroic individual outcast.

Importance ofimagination

Romantics legitimized the individual imagination asa critical authority.

Characteristics of Romantic Literature Romanticism saw a shift from faith in reason to faith in the senses, feelings, and imagination; a shift from interest in urban society to an interest in the rural and natural; a shift from public, impersonal poetry to subjective poetry; and from concern with the scientific and mundane to interest in the mysterious and infinite. Mainly they cared about the individual, intuition, and imagination.

1. Imagination and emotion are more important than reason and formal rules;

imagination is a gateway to transcendent experience and truth. 2. Along the same lines, intuition and a reliance on “natural” feelings as a guide to

conduct are valued over controlled, rationality. 3. Romantic literature tends to emphasize a love of nature, a respect for

primitivism, and a valuing of the common, "natural" man; Romantics idealize country life and believe that many of the ills of society are a result of urbanization.

a. Nature for the Romantics becomes a means for divine revelation (Wordsworth)

b. It is also a metaphor for the creative process—(the river in “Kubla Khan).

NEOCLASSICAL VIEW OF NATURE: Ordered and controlled Claude Lorraine, Landscape

ROMANTIC VIEW OF NATURE: Thomas Cole, A Wild Scene

4. Romantics were interested in the Medieval past, the supernatural, the mystical, the “gothic,” and the exotic;

5. Romantics were attracted to rebellion and revolution, especially concerned with human rights, individualism, freedom from oppression;

6. There was emphasis on introspection, psychology, melancholy, and sadness. The art often dealt with death, transience and mankind’s feelings about these things. The artist was an extremely individualistic creator whose creative spirit was more important than strict adherence to formal rules and traditional procedures.

a. The Byronic hero b. Emphasis on the individual and subjectivity.

Characteristics of Romanticism

RomanticCharacteristic

Description of Characteristic

Interest in thecommon man andchildhood

Romantics believed in the natural goodness ofhumans which is hindered by the urban life ofcivilization. They believed that the savage is noble,childhood is good and the emotions inspired byboth beliefs causes the heart to soar.

Strong senses,emotions, andfeelings

Romantics believed that knowledge is gainedthrough intuition rather than deduction. This isbest summed up by Wordsworth who stated that“all good poetry is the spontaneous overflow ofpowerful feelings.”

Awe of nature Romantics stressed the awe of nature in art andlanguage and the experience of sublimity througha connection with nature. Romantics rejected therationalization of nature by the previous thinkersof the Enlightenment period.

Celebration of theindividual

Romantics often elevated the achievements of themisunderstood, heroic individual outcast.

Importance ofimagination

Romantics legitimized the individual imagination asa critical authority.

Characteristics of Romantic Literature Romanticism saw a shift from faith in reason to faith in the senses, feelings, and imagination; a shift from interest in urban society to an interest in the rural and natural; a shift from public, impersonal poetry to subjective poetry; and from concern with the scientific and mundane to interest in the mysterious and infinite. Mainly they cared about the individual, intuition, and imagination.

1. Imagination and emotion are more important than reason and formal rules;

imagination is a gateway to transcendent experience and truth. 2. Along the same lines, intuition and a reliance on “natural” feelings as a guide to

conduct are valued over controlled, rationality. 3. Romantic literature tends to emphasize a love of nature, a respect for

primitivism, and a valuing of the common, "natural" man; Romantics idealize country life and believe that many of the ills of society are a result of urbanization.

a. Nature for the Romantics becomes a means for divine revelation (Wordsworth)

b. It is also a metaphor for the creative process—(the river in “Kubla Khan).

NEOCLASSICAL VIEW OF NATURE: Ordered and controlled Claude Lorraine, Landscape

ROMANTIC VIEW OF NATURE: Thomas Cole, A Wild Scene

4. Romantics were interested in the Medieval past, the supernatural, the mystical, the “gothic,” and the exotic;

5. Romantics were attracted to rebellion and revolution, especially concerned with human rights, individualism, freedom from oppression;

6. There was emphasis on introspection, psychology, melancholy, and sadness. The art often dealt with death, transience and mankind’s feelings about these things. The artist was an extremely individualistic creator whose creative spirit was more important than strict adherence to formal rules and traditional procedures.

a. The Byronic hero b. Emphasis on the individual and subjectivity.

PREFACE TO LYRICAL

BALLADS

-WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

P. M. CHAVAN

OUTLINE

Wordsworth: Life and Works

Purpose of Lyrical Ballads

What is poetry?

What is a Poet?

Subject of poetry

Language of poetry

Critique of contemporary poets

WORDSWORTH: LIFE

BORN

April 7, 1770 Cockermouth, England

DIED

April 23, 1850 (aged 80) Westmorland, England

Poet Laureate (1843-1850)

LIFE

His father was a lawyer. Both Wordsworth's parents died before he was 15, and he and his four siblings were left in the care of different relatives.

As a young man, Wordsworth developed a love of nature, a theme reflected in many of his poems.

While studying at Cambridge University, Wordsworth spent a summer holiday on a walking tour in Switzerland and France.

He became an enthusiast for the ideals of the French Revolution. He began to write poetry while he was at school, but none was published until 1793.

LIFE

In 1795, Wordsworth received a legacy from a close relative and he and his sister Dorothy went to live in Dorset. Two years later they moved again, this time to Somerset, to live near the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who was an admirer of Wordsworth's work. They collaborated on 'Lyrical Ballads', published in 1798. This collection of poems, mostly by Wordsworth but with Coleridge contributing 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner', is generally taken to mark the beginning of the Romantic movement in English poetry. The poems were greeted with hostility by most critics.

LIFE

In 1799, after a visit to Germany with Coleridge, Wordsworth and Dorothy settled at Dove Cottage in Grasmere in the Lake District. Coleridge lived nearby with his family. Wordsworth's most famous poem, 'I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud' was written at Dove Cottage in 1804.

In 1802, Wordsworth married a childhood friend, Mary Hutchinson. The next few years were personally difficult for Wordsworth. Two of his children died, his brother was drowned at sea and Dorothy suffered a mental breakdown. His political views underwent a transformation around the turn of the century, and he became increasingly conservative, disillusioned by events in France culminating in Napoleon Bonaparte taking power.

LIFE

In 1813, Wordsworth moved from Grasmere to nearby Ambelside. He continued to write poetry, but it was never as great as his early works. After 1835, he wrote little more. In 1842, he was given a government pension and the following year became poet laureate. Wordsworth died on 23 April 1850 and was buried in Grasmere churchyard. His great autobiographical poem, 'The Prelude', which he had worked on since 1798, was published after his death.

NOTABLE WORKS

“The World Is Too Much with Us”

“The Prelude”

“The Solitary Reaper”

“Lyrical Ballads”

“Ode: Intimations of Immortality”

“The Excursion”

“Lines Composed a Few Miles Above TinternAbbey”

“Michael”

“Peter Bell”

“The Recluse”

Lyrical Ballads (1798) with Coleridge

THE PURPOSE

The principal object, then, which I proposed to myself in these Poems was

to choose incidents and situations from common life, and

to relate or describe them, throughout, as far as was

possible, in a selection of language really

used by men;

Preface to

Lyrical Ballads

(1800)

THE PURPOSE

and, at the same time, to throw over them a certain colouring of imagination, whereby ordinary things should be presented to the mind in an unusual way;

and, further, and above all, to make these incidents and situations interesting by tracing in them, truly though not ostentatiously, the primary laws of our nature: chiefly, as far as regards the manner in which we associate ideas in a state of excitement.

WHAT IS POETRY?

For all good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings:

Poetry is the image of man and nature.

Poetry is the breath and finer spirit of all knowledge; it is the impassioned expression which is in the countenance of all Science.

Poetry is the first and last of all knowledge--it is as immortal as the heart of man.

POETRY & PROCESS OF CREATION

Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings:

it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity:

the emotion is contemplated till by a species of reaction the tranquillity gradually disappears,

and an emotion, kindred to that which was before the subject of contemplation, is gradually produced, and does itself actually exist in the mind.

PROCESS OF CREATION

In this mood successful composition generally begins, and in a mood similar to this it is carried on;

but the emotion, of whatever kind and in whatever degree, from various causes is qualified by various pleasures, so that in describing any passions whatsoever, which are voluntarily described, the mind will upon the whole be in a state of enjoyment.

WHAT IS A POET? TO WHOM DOES HE ADDRESS

HIMSELF? AND WHAT LANGUAGE IS TO BE

EXPECTED FROM HIM?

He is a man speaking to men:

a man, it is true, endued with more lively sensibility,

more enthusiasm and tenderness,

who has a greater knowledge of human nature,

and a more comprehensive soul, than are supposed to be common among mankind;

WHAT IS A POET?

a man pleased with his own passions and volitions (will/decision making),

and who rejoices more than other men in the spirit of life that is in him;

delighting to contemplate similar volitions and passions as manifested in the goings-on of the Universe,

and habitually impelled to create them where he does not find them.

WHAT IS A POET?

To these qualities he has added a disposition to be affected more than other men by absent things as if they were present;

an ability of conjuring up in himself passions, which are indeed far from being the same as those produced by real events, yet (especially in those parts of the general sympathy which are pleasing and delightful) do more nearly resemble the passions produced by real events, than any thing which, from the motions of their own minds merely, other men are accustomed to feel in themselves;

WHAT IS A POET?

whence, and from practice, he has acquired a greater readiness and power in expressingwhat he thinks and feels, and especially those thoughts and feelings which, by his own choice, or from the structure of his own mind, arise in him without immediate external excitement.

POET, BIOGRAPHER AND HISTORIAN

The Poet writes under one restriction only, namely, that of the necessity of giving immediate pleasure to a human Being possessed of that information which may be expected from him,

not as a lawyer, a physician, a mariner, an astronomer or a natural philosopher, but as a Man.

Except this one restriction, there is no object standing between the Poet and the image of things;

between this, and the Biographer and Historian there are a thousand.

WHAT IS A POET?

He is the rock of defence of human nature; an upholder and preserver, carrying every where with him relationship and love.

In spite of difference of soil and climate, of language and manners, of laws and customs, in spite of things silently gone out of mind and things violently destroyed, the Poet binds together by passion and knowledge the vast empire of human society, as it is spread over the whole earth, and over all time.

WHAT THEN DOES THE POET?

He considers man and the objects that surround him as acting and re-acting upon each other, so as to produce an infinite complexity of pain and pleasure;

he considers man in his own nature and in his ordinary life as contemplating this with a certain quantity of immediate knowledge, with certain convictions, intuitions, and deductions which by habit become of the nature of intuitions;

WHAT THEN DOES THE POET?

he considers him as looking upon this complex scene of ideas and sensations, and finding every where objects that immediately excite in him sympathies which, from the necessities of his nature, are accompanied by an overbalance of enjoyment.

He considers man and nature as essentially adapted to each other, and the mind of man as naturally the mirror of the fairest and most interesting qualities of nature.

WHAT THEN DOES THE POET?

The Man of Science seeks truth as a remote and unknown benefactor; he cherishes and loves it in his solitude: the Poet, singing a song in which all human beings join with him, rejoices in the presence of truth as our visible friend and hourly companion.

SUBJECT OF POETRY

Low and rustic life was generally chosen, because

in that condition, the essential passions of the heart find a better soil in which they can attain their maturity, are less under restraint, and speak a plainer and more emphatic language;

because in that condition of life our elementary feelings co-exist in a state of greater simplicity,

SUBJECT OF POETRY

and, consequently, may be more accurately contemplated, and more forcibly communicated;

because the manners of rural life germinatefrom those elementary feelings;

and, from the necessary character of rural occupations, are more easily comprehended, and are more durable;

and lastly, because in that condition the passions of men are incorporated with the beautiful and permanent forms of nature.

LANGUAGE OF POETRY

The language, too, of these men is adopted (purified indeed from what appear to be its real defects, from all lasting and rational causes of dislike or disgust)

because such men hourly communicate with the best objects from which the best part of language is originally derived;

LANGUAGE OF POETRY

and because, from their rank in society and the sameness and narrow circle of their intercourse, being less under the influence of social vanitythey convey their feelings and notions in simple and unelaborated expressions.

Accordingly, such a language, arising out of repeated experience and regular feelings, is a more permanent, and a far more philosophical language,

LANGUAGE OF POETRY

The Poet thinks and feels in the spirit of the passions of men. How, then, can his language differ in any material degree from that of all other men who feel vividly and see clearly? It might be proved that it is impossible.

CRITICISM OF CONTEMPORARY POETS

than that which is frequently substituted for it by Poets, who think that they are conferring honour upon themselves and their art,

in proportion as they separate themselves from the sympathies of men, and indulge in arbitrary and capricious habits of expression,

in order to furnish food for fickle tastes, and fickle appetites, of their own creation.

(Fickle-insincere, unreliable)

CRITICISM OF CONTEMPORARY POETS

outcry against the triviality and meanness both of thought and language, which some of my contemporaries have occasionally introduced into their metrical compositions

HOW POEMS IN LB ARE DIFFERENT?

Poems in these volumes will be found distinguished at least by one mark of difference, that each of them has a worthy purpose.

READER

that the understanding of the being to whom we address ourselves, if he be in a healthful state of association, must necessarily be in some degree enlightened, and his affections ameliorated.

Lectures on translation for first year, second terms 2020

Dr. Mahmoud Mekky

Lecture 1

Translate the following passage into Arabic

Enter Ghost

HAMLET:

Angels and ministers of grace defend us!

Be thou a spirit of health or goblin damn'd,

Bring with thee airs from heaven or blasts from hell,

Be thy intents wicked or charitable,

Thou comest in such a questionable shape

That I will speak to thee: I'll call thee Hamlet,

King, father, royal Dane: O, answer me!

Let me not burst in ignorance; but tell

Why thy canonized bones, hearsed in death,

Have burst their cerements; why the sepulchre,

Wherein we saw thee quietly inurn'd,

Hath oped his ponderous and marble jaws,

To cast thee up again. What may this mean,

That thou, dead corse, again in complete steel

Revisit'st thus the glimpses of the moon,

Making night hideous; and we fools of nature

So horridly to shake our disposition

With thoughts beyond the reaches of our souls?

Say, why is this? wherefore? what should we do?

Ghost beckons HAMLET

Lecture 2

Translate the following passage into English

من قصة زعبلاوي لنجيب محفوظ

!اىزطبي عيي اىطيخ اىقذي صذيقل اث أب

:قبه مي الاو يفقذ ى لا مي لااىفزس فزس، سح ثظشر فشد

.طيجب سجلا مب يشح، الله

:قيذ اىجيء إىي سبقي اىزي الأى ثقح اىجقبء عيي فزطجعذ

مب إ أسيذ يبسيذي اي فضييزن، عذ قبثي صعجلاي يذعي طيت ىي ع حذثي مب

.اىحيبح قيذ عيي لايضاه

ص ثيجخ قبه عب، أثي رمشي أب طشدي ى لأدص أم ى. اىعيي في اىفزس اسزقش

.اىحذيث ابء عيي

:أسأى أب اىزبة اعزضاي اىي لأطئ فقذ.. اىي ارمش امبد ب الاه، اىضب في رىل مب

حقب؟ ىيب أمب

.عجضح شا مب

:طأيز لاصيذ أرحشك أب فسأىز

اىي؟ أجذ أ ين أي

ثحشمخ نزج عيي أساق عيي أمت.. ثبلأصش اىجشجبي ثشثع يقي مب أ عيي ذي

غبدسد شاد، اصعبج ع اعززسد ضنشا سأسي فحيذ أخشي شح فب يفزح ى ثأ قبطعخ

.سأسي في اىخجو ش صرب ىيذيب أسع لا أب نزج