I Hear American Singing 'And Wild Nights'

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In the age of 1800s, America was experiencing a tremendous transformation. The industrial revolution, the Civil War, the Enlightenment, etc. To make things worse, Robber Barons emerged. Those industrial magnates made workers live in a poor and horrible condition. Workers were tortured by the factories, and squeezed by the society. To express the feeling from deep heart, romanticism appeared. This writing style is a lot different from most traditional styles, with fixed format, limited content. It developed imagination into maximum. Writers can freely dream about what is impossible in real life, say whatever they want to say. Romanticism was appeared in the 19th century and it emphasized imagination, intuition, and individualism. For example, the two famous poems” I hear American singing” and “Wild Nights” were both composed under the effect of Romanticism but they are not exactly the same. Because “I hear America singing” focused on Individualism while “Wild Nights” focused on imagination. The background of Romanticism was complicated. Appeared in a transforming era, caused by revolutions, movements, and wars, Romanticism focused on imagination, individualism, unlimited human potential, and the beauty of nature. In the 18th century, the Industry Revolution drastically changed not just America, but the whole world. People’s living style, working conditions was changed. Years ago, everyone lived in the peaceful rural area and cultivated. But during that period, immigrants swarmed into…show more content…
Both of them are Romanticism. But they represent two different aspects of Romantic value. In “I hear America singing”, the author believes that America is composed of working individuals. The whole poem is a picture of America. It depicts people happily working in their fields, people from different professions focused on individualism. “Wild Nights” is a picture of love. It depicts two lovers passion, anxious desire with

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