In Italy in the 18th and 19th centuries, a popular performer of poetry called the improvvisatore and improvvisatrice could, as prompted, deliver extempore breath-taking sustained ottava rima poems on topics ranging from the glories of Italy to the tragic death of Hector. Byron...

Byline: James Brown, SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES Colette Inez's Spinoza Doesn't Come Here Anymore (Melville House, $12.95, 83 pages) is a new book of poems by a longtime friend. Ms. Inez's work has always fascinated me, especially because of the manner...

Romantic poetry in England was nature and an appreciation for natural beauty.

The values of the Enlightenment were based upon scientific rationality, but eventually this movement culminated in the bloodthirsty French Revolution, which, in turn, spawned violent upheaval throughout Europe. Many of the Romantic poets were greatly disenchanted by the barbarity displayed by their fellow man, and as a result, began to reject the logic-based, `enlightened' mindset of the times, aspiring instead to emotional ideals. Two such Romantic poets who exemplified these ideals were John Keats and Pe

Describes such Romantic poets as William Blake, Samual Taylor Coleridge, William Wordsworth, and Bysshe Shelley. Discusses the similarities and differences of their poetry.