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Who were the major poets of the first phase of English Romanticism?
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Romantic literature
English Romantic poet and artist William Blake wrote and illustrated “The Tyger” and other poems in his book Songs of Innocence and of Experience (1794).
The first phase of English Romanticism, spanning from the 1790s to approximately 1805, was defined by several key poets who established the movement's foundational principles, such as the emphasis on individual feeling, imagination, and the use of common language.12
The three principal poets of this early phase were:
- William Wordsworth: Known for his revolutionary approach to poetry, he co-authored the landmark collection Lyrical Ballads (1798) and articulated the movement's manifesto in his preface to the collection's second edition.134
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge: A central figure who collaborated with Wordsworth on Lyrical Ballads, contributing works such as "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" and emphasizing the imagination as a supreme poetic force.132
- William Blake: A visionary poet whose significant works, including Songs of Innocence and The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, attacked the dominance of analytic reason and championed the power of the imagination.12
Other notable poets associated with this early period include Charlotte Smith, William Lisle Bowles, Helen Maria Williams, Ann Batten Cristall, Robert Southey, George Crabbe, and the Scottish poet Robert Burns.1