Fireside poets and Rationalism and Puritanism

The Fireside poets had all had the same overall writing style. They all had romanticism writing. Romanticism writing was writing that involved love religion, patriotism, family, and usually had much to do with nature (fireside 211). Rationalism writing was very Deistic, and used much logic and reasoning, unlike the romanticism writing, which is very flowery writing and about emotion, not logic (Romantic v. rat.). The majority of Puritan writing was based around God and the Bible. The views supported in Puritan writing were solely Christian views, or Christian-Catholic views. The Puritan writing style showed much reliance on the providence of God (PAL). Unlike the Puritan era of writing, Romanticism writing did not solely rely on God. Although there was religion incorporated in Romanticism writing, it was not the main component of the writing (Fireside 211). The style of Romanticism writing is often very poetic and figurative. Often times, works of the Romanticism era were poetry, but not always. To most of the writings of the Romanticism era, there were literal meanings to the work, and always had a figurative meaning as well (Fireside 211). Figurative and flowery language is usually a sure indicator that writing is Romantic. Rationalism writing style is always very logical and literal. There is not figurative language used in Rationalism writing, like there is in Romantic writing (Romantic v. Rat.). Writers during the Romanticism writing era used common sense as the source of their writings, rather than emotions. Unlike both of the other two writing periods, Puritan writing was often very formal (PAL). The authors usually wrote about things that were very near and dear to their hearts. Puritan writing also used some emotion as the source of their writings. However, it was not the raw emotions that were used in Romanticism writing. The emotions used in Puritan writings were usually honest emotions but were well thought out, and put in relation to God, rather than just spewing out of the author like in Romanticism writing.


The poem "Flower-de-Luce" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is a very good example of Romanticism writing. Romanticism is defined at "a literary, artistic, and philosophical movement in the 1700s emphasizing the imagination and the emotions, advocating feeling over reason, inner spirituality over external rules, the individual above society, and nature over environments created by humans" (Appleby). The poem "Flower-de-Luce" has much to do with nature. The author uses nature to help describe his emotions, which is a trait that many Romanticism writers use. "A Legacy" by John Greenleaf Whittier is another poem that helps show what Romanticism writing is. The entire poem is about what life will be like after the author of the poem dies. Death is something that is extremely natural, and is often a topic of Romanticism writings, or at least usually involved in them. "A Legacy" is a very emotional poem. The author uses much emotion and flowery writing to convey his thoughts. The Romanticism era of writing was very important in history and especially in the founding of our country.







"The Fireside Poets." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 210-211. Print.

"Romantic Vs. Rationalist." :: Free Essays :: Paper Writing :: Book Reports ::. Web. 13 Dec. 2011. .

"PAL: American Puritanism: A Brief Introduction." California State University Stanislaus | Home. Web. 13 Dec. 2011. .

Longfellow, Henry W. "Hawthorne. Flower-de-Luce. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 1893. Complete Poetical Works." Bartleby.com: Great Books Online -- Quotes, Poems, Novels, Classics and Hundreds More.

Whittier, John G. "A Legacy by John Greenleaf Whittier." PoemHunter.Com - Thousands of Poems and Poets.. Poetry Search Engine. Web. 09 Dec. 2011.