NEOCLASSICISM is also known as the age of reason since everything had to be explained by means of reason. Neoclassical artists held ideas such as the child was born savage and had to be educated. For them, order and harmony were essential since they worked for social order. A good example of this movement in literature is “Essay on Man” by Alexander Pope. This literary work can be considered a philosophical poem since it transmits messages such as “do not concentrate on God, concentrate on you”, “the answers are inside of you”, “successful man is in the middle, avoid extremes”, etc.
ROMANTICISM emerged as a reaction against Neoclassicism. Romantic artists held the idea that the child was born innocent and wise. They went for imagination and emotions, as well as for the freedom of speech. One of the main exponents of Romanticism was William Wordsworth whose work “Preface” to the Lyrical Ballads is considered “a romantic manifesto” since in it he defined the poetry and the poet.
As regards poetry, he said that it should try common day life and should use everyday language. He wanted to do away with poetic language such as personification, metaphors, metonymy, etc. He defined poetry as the “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings”.
As regards the poet, Wordsworth claimed that the poet was “a man talking to himself” and “a translator of emotions”, since he had to be able to put emotions into words”.
