American Romanticism In Tide Rises, Tide Falls, And Cross Of Snow
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American Romanticism American Romanticism is often associated with a journey one must take to find independence, moral clarity, healthy living and a voyage of imagination. Authors of poems and short stories from this time period try to meet different characteristics of American romanticism, examples of their literature include, “Rip Van Winkle” by Washington Irving, “Old Ironsides” and “chambered Nautilus” by Oliver Wendell Holmes, “Tide Rises, Tide Falls” and “Cross of Snow” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and lastly, “Thanatopsis” by William Cullen Bryant. These individual texts of American Romantic authors work in way to come up with a singular definition of American Romanticism. The poem “Tide Rises, Tide Falls” and “Cross of Snow” by Henry…show more content… Washington Irving’s short story “Rip Van Winkle” has plenty of these essential tactics. Rip Van Winkle met a mysterious man in the Catskill Mountains, he began to drink a special liquor or liquid “in large glasses” with his companion until “he was drunk and fell asleep” Rip did not awaken for twenty years. The liquid that Rips companion gives him is in fact, a sleep inducing potion, which is only found in legends. An additional legend in “Rip Van Winkle” is the magical forest where he wanders off to and takes his twenty year nap. The Catskill Mountains is a famous location for mythical stories, as it’s also used in “The Legends of Sleepy Hollow”. What makes this forest so mythical and magical is that it was able to shield Rip from all the change that was happening while he was asleep, such as the civil war going on at that time. The poem “Thanatopsis” by William Cullen Bryant makes folk culture references. In line 36, Bryant writes, “hoary seers of ages past”, hoary seers are old or ancient people that can predicate the future. Bryant uses historical allusions as well, in line 46 he states “the infinite host of heaven” this could be referring to the Bible (Luke 2:13) and a “heavenly host” is a army of…show more content… In the short story “Rip Van Winkle” by Washington Irving, Rip does not shun artificiality of civilization or seek unspoiled nature, upon hearing the about the death of his wife by his daughter, “oh see too had died” he is actually relieved and overjoyed to be free from his menacing wife. Rip Van Winkle also seems to not care about the changes that went on while he was asleep. He makes no comment about the civil war of its effects on the new world. He only truly cares that his wife is gone and he is free. The poem “Old Ironsides” by Oliver Wendell Holmes does not mention nature. The USS Constitution is a man-made creation, the opposite of unspoiled nature. Being a man-made battle ship, it does not shun artificiality of