Entry 21: Darkness

Some of the writers of the Romantic period were considered "anti-transcendentalists" or "Dark Romantics". Read the section of your text on pp. 172-173 about the Dark Romantics, and then compare and contrast them to the other, transcendentalist writers of the period. Which of the two types of writers do you think you would most like to read? Why?

• The Dark Romantics and the transcendentalists, though they seem very different, actually have a lot in common. Both of these point of views believe in God, and also the point of view that feelings, emotions, and intuitions are more valuable than logic and reason. Also, both of these point of views believe in signs and events as things that will lead them to and connect them to the spiritual world. The main difference between them is how they view God's signs and events. Are the signs and events leading to something good, or are the signs and events leading to something bad? The transcendentalists have a very optimistic view about these signs and events connecting to the spiritual world. They basically believe that all human beings are good in nature. The Dark Romantics, however, believed that not all of the signs and events lead to good things and good truths - some may be good while others may be bad. The Dark Romantics have a more pessimistic view of the world. So basically, these two point of views are like opposing groups in a large, general group with the same ideas. I would not want to read any of the two types, since I am more of a rationalist, but if I have to choose one, then I would choose to read works by transcendentalists, mainly because the world is sad enough as it is, and I would rather read something more happy.