Book contents
- Romanticism: 100 Poems
- Romanticism: 100 Poems
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Introduction
- Part
- Part
- Part
- Part
- Part
- Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff (1788–1857; German)
- George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788–1824; English/Scottish)
- Susan Evance (1788?–? English)
- Alphonse de Lamartine (1790–1869; French)
- Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822; English)
- Part
- Part
- Part
- Part
- Part
Alphonse de Lamartine (1790–1869; French)
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 February 2021
- Romanticism: 100 Poems
- Romanticism: 100 Poems
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Introduction
- Part
- Part
- Part
- Part
- Part
- Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff (1788–1857; German)
- George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788–1824; English/Scottish)
- Susan Evance (1788?–? English)
- Alphonse de Lamartine (1790–1869; French)
- Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822; English)
- Part
- Part
- Part
- Part
- Part
Summary
Lamartine is said to have brought Romanticism into French poetry with his Méditations poétiques (1820). Though in their phrasing and structure they are often traditional, these poems touched a generation of readers with their elegiac evocations of lost love, deep religious feeling, and affirmation of the high calling of poetry. Much of this “poetry of the heart” arose from his love affair with Julie Charles, who died about a year after they met. In “The Lake,” Lamartine draws from the ancient mode of pastoral elegy, which posits a sentient nature that mourns with the speaker over a lost beloved, but with none of the assurance of the classical elegists.
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- Chapter
- Information
- Romanticism: 100 Poems , pp. 82 - 84Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021