American influences on the lives and works of the romantic poets

Although the Romantic Movement has been subjected apparently to every possible investigation, the present study is believed to be the first attempt to correlate the impulses of that movement with the developing ideals and other imaginative stimuli of the New World, The theme seems to have considerable significance, inasmuch as it was the growing spirit in the Romantic Movement that made the American Revolution possible, while the Revolution in turn became one of the central stimuli of the Romantic Movement. America was particularly influential in the growth and dissemination of the democratic idea. The United States of America were founded upon truths that were "self-evident" to all the romantic poets-such truths as "that all men are created equal," and "that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness," The reactions of the individual English poets to events in America may be regarded as indicative of the degree of their political romanticism. The literature covering the lives and works of the romantic poets is too vast to permit of exhaustive treatment within a necessarily limited study. This thesis is therefore suggestive rather than exhaustive, but it is hoped that it may constitute the basis for a more comprehensive analysis.