Romantic

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I was thinking about Romanticism last night. Not romantic love, but the idea that nature and aesthetics and feeling can be romantic. The Romantic writers, artists and musicians (among them were Keats, Edgar Allen Poe, Shelley, Beethoven, and Chopin) believed in the seperation of science from nature, awed in the untamed personality of nature, embraced the idea that emotion could overtake and be strong and all-encompasing (which was in direct opposition to the Victorian viewpoint of control), and that these ideas could be interpreted into music, art, and literature.

I am a Romantic. No doubt about it. Though I am a biologist and physician, I believe that there are some things that science can't explain that that emotion is a driving power. I have loved Chopin since I was a child and thrill over Puccini's operas. My favorite painting is "The Lady of Shalott by John William Waterhouse. One of my favorite books, that brings me to tears every time, is "Frankenstein," a classic of the Romantic period

"Who is this? And what is here?"
And in the lighted palace near
Died the sound of royal cheer;
And they crossed themselves for fear,
All the Knights at Camelot;
But Lancelot mused a little space
He said, "She has a lovely face;
God in his mercy lend her grace,
The Lady of Shalott."

Lord Alfred Tenneyson

As you can see, Romanticism is alive and well.