"Tintern Abbey" (1798)

William Wordsworth's "Lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey" (1798) is one of the major early texts of the Romantic movement.

It is a textbook example of Wordsworth's definition of poetry as "the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings from emotions recollected in tranquility."

This poem is almost guaranteed to appear on the GRE Literature exam. You should read the full text (Wikisource) of the poem at least twice before the exam.

The Lucy poems (1789-1801)

William Wordsworth's Lucy poems (1789-1801) are five short lyrics originally published in the second edition of the Lyrical Ballads alongside the work of Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

The Lucy poems were central in establishing the early popularity of Romantic poetry, and one or more is almost guaranteed to appear on the GRE Literature exam. It's almost worth memorizing them. (Luckily, each mentions Lucy at or near the end.)

1. "Strange fits of passion I have known"
2. "She dwelt among the untrodden ways"
3. "I travelled among unknown men"
4. "Three years she grew in sun and shower"
5. "A slumber did my spirit seal"

The Prelude (1805, 1850)

William Wordsworth's The Prelude, aka the "Poem to Coleridge," is one of the major works of English Romanticism.

It exists in three versions, of which the unpolished, radical 1805 version and the posthumous 1850 version are the most commonly used for modern publications. (The 1799 version is much shorter.)

The poem, written entirely in blank verse, is a kind of "spiritual autobiography" (Wikipedia).

Famous passages include:

1. Opening journey to the Vale of Grasmere
2. Crossing of the Alps near Mont Blanc in Book VI
3. Climactic ascent of Snowdon in Wales

The poem is important in that it considers man's own mind, as opposed to history or the will of (the) god(s), a worthy subject of an epic.

The Prelude may be worth adding to your GRE reading list, but not as a high priority. I recommend William Wordsworth - The Major Works (Oxford World's Classics).

William Wordsworth (1770-1850)

William Wordsworth (1770-1850) was a major English Romantic poet. His Lyrical Ballads, published with Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1798, is widely credited with launching the Romantic movement in England.

He famously sought to write poetry in "the real language of men," and defined poetry as "the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings from emotions recollected in tranquility."

Wordsworth is a major figure on the GRE Literature exam.

1. "It is a Beauteous Evening (Calm and Free)"

2. "My heart leaps up (when I behold)"

3. "The world is too much with us"
-loosely follows the form of an Italian sonnet

4. "Lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey"
-Part of the Lyrical Ballads
(link goes to separate entry)

5. The "Lucy" poems
-Part of the Lyrical Ballads
(link goes to separate entry)

6. The Prelude
(link goes to separate entry)

The Prelude may be worth adding to your GRE reading list, but not as a high priority. I recommend William Wordsworth - The Major Works (Oxford World's Classics).

Lord Byron (1788-1824)

George Gordon Byron (1788-1824) was an English Romantic poet. Despite his literary celebrity, Byron is not a major figure on the GRE. He's as famous for his tumultuous lifestyle--and for his namesake brooding "Byronic hero"--as he is for his poetry. He died of a fever while fighting for (oddly enough) Greek independence from the Ottomans.

For the GRE Literature exam, associate the following with Byron.

1. "She Walks in Beauty"

2. Manfred (dramatic poem)
-Part of a ghost story craze; based on the Faust legend

3. Childe Harold's Pilgrimages (narrative poem)
-about masculinity; protagonist is typical Byronic hero
-four of the cantos are written in Spenserian stanzas

4. Don Juan (narrative poem)
-identifiable by its distinctive rhyme scheme: ab ab ab cc (link)

Byron is not worth adding to your GRE Literature reading list.

Robert Burns (1759-1796)

Robert Burns (1759-1796) was a Scottish poet influential in the beginnings of the Romantic movement. He wrote poems in English, Scots, and Scottish dialect. Outside of Scottish and literary circles, he is best known as the author of "Auld Lang Syne."

Don't spend too much time on Burns--if you see Scottish-looking spellings, and Burns is a choice, pick him. However, it is worth at least skimming the following poems before the GRE Literature exam, and some of them are quite fun to read.

1. "A Red, Red Rose"
2. "Tam O'Shanter: A Tale"
-long; written in Scots; link goes to summary
3. "Ae Fond Kiss"
-Written in Scottish dialect
4. "Scots Wha Hae"
-Written in Scots; was an unofficial national anthem of Scotland

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1722-1834)

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1722-1834) was a major British Romantic poet and a close friend of William Wordsworth. He and Wordsworth are both considered "Lake Poets."

For the GRE Literature exam, associate the following works with Coleridge. Works in bold should be read twice. For the "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" and the Biographia Literaria, a summary will suffice.

1. "Frost at Midnight"
2. "On Donne's Poetry"
3. "Kubla Khan"
4. "Rime of the Ancient Mariner"
-In ballad stanzas.
5. Biographia Literaria

Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822)

Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) was an English Romantic poet. His wife was Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein.

Associate the following works with Shelley. Short poems should be read at least once before the exam. Poems in bold should be read multiple times.

1. "Adonais: Elegy on the Death of John Keats"
-long; Spenserian stanzas; link goes to Wikipedia entry
2. "Ode to the West Wind"
-terza rima/sonnet hybrid
3. "Ozymandias"
-sonnet
4. "To a Skylark"
5. "To Wordsworth"
6. "Mont Blanc: Lines Written in the Vale of Chamouni"
-long ode; link goes to Wikipedia entry

John Keats (1795-1821)

John Keats (1795-1821) was one of the primary poets of the English Romantic period.

Associate the following works with John Keats. Short poems should be read at least once before the exam. Poems in bold should be read multiple times.

1. Endymion
-long; link goes to Wikipedia
2. "The Eve of St. Agnes"
-long; Spenserian stanzas; includes "La belle dame sans merci;" Madeline & Porphyro; link goes to Wikipedia
3. "Isabella: or, the Pot of Basil"
4. "Ode on a Grecian Urn"
5. "Ode on Melancholy"
6. "Ode to a Nightingale"
7. "Ode to Autumn"
8. "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer"
-Italian sonnet

Know that Keats wrote many odes.