Pp#267;#268;#269;#272;#273
The$second$wave$of$Romantic$poets$,$Byron,$Keats$and$Shelly,$were$all$quite$
different$from$one$another both$in$their$aesthetics,$style$and$in$their$
preoccupations.
If$we$read$their$work,$we'll$realise$that$their$poetic$consciousness$is$more$
complex$than$that$of$their$predecessors.$
This$has$an$historical$explenation:$$the$frist$generation$was$full$of$hope,$because$
of$the$events$of$the$French$Revolution,$while$after$Napoleon,$and$his$thirst$of$
power,$the$second$generation$was$characterised$by$a$sense$of$disillusion,$$
melancholy,$and$sensucht.
However,$they$all$shared$the$idea$that$art$was$unable$to$capture$the$idea$it$tries$
to$express,$so,$if$for$writers$like$Wordsworth$the$poem$produced$by$the$
"recollection$of$tranquillity"$was$more$important$than$the$experience$itself,$for$
the$poets$of$the$second$generation$there$was$an$important$distance$that$
separated$art$and$life.$They$stand$aside$of$society,$they$find$difficult$to$express$
through$poetry,$the$world$around$themselves.$There$is$a$sense$of$sorrow,$of$
melancholy$and$their$poems$often$reflect$on$the$poetic$process$and$the$limits$of$
language.$Their$poetry$is$called$Metapoetry.$The$poetry$that$reflects$on$itself.
Differences between the first and the second generation:
More$complex$poetical$outputs
Desire$to$separate$themselves$form$society,$he$has$no$desire$to$
The Second Generation
