Is Coleridges poem “Love” the best example of the Romantic Movement of that time?
akannan Teacher Middle School eNotes Editor I certainly think that Coleridge’s poem has many thematic elements associated with the Romantic Period. The stress on emotions over reason, and the lauding of personal feelings is a critical component in this poem. The lengths to which the speaker goes to woo the heart of his beloved is the driving force behind the poem. This is evident from the opening lines and is its concluding note, as the speaker sings of his love and the feelings associated with her. Another theme of Romanticism in the poem is the nostalgic view of past traditions such as Medieval times, as signified in the poem with the discussion of the knight, fighting for chivalry, honor, and “for ten years he wooed the lady of the land” (8th stanza). Throughout out the poem, there are references and allusions to the power of the natural world, another theme of the Romantic period of thought. While it is a fair representation of the time period, I think there are other poems that ca
