Second-generation British Romanticism left a high body count, with many Young Romantics dying young or dramatically. Their early deaths shape our view of them; Keats would be different had he lived longer. This catacomb of 'interrupted bodies' portrays a literary movement that never reaches its 'organic' end. The Young Romantics language of beautiful sublimity is ever at war with its devastated bodies, creating an aesthetic of death, decay, and deformation. In dying young, they seem to fail their own literary project. We’ll explore their works alongside biographical materials—letters, journals, anecdotes, and more—while navigating the ideological complexities surrounding these poets. Credit hours: 4.
- Teacher: Katy Oliver