Portrait of Lord Melvyn Bragg, host of In Our Time

Romantic poets

Romantic poetry is the poetry of the Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. It involved a reaction against prevailing Enlightenment ideas of the 18th century, and lasted approximately from 1800 to 1850.

6 episodes

Episodes in this category also belong to the following categories:

CultureScienceEnglish male poetsPhilosophy writersPhilosophers of literatureTheorists on Western civilizationWriters about activism and social changeSonneteersEnlightenment philosophersGerman male non-fiction writersPhilosophers of social science19th-century German male writers19th-century German philosophersPantheists19th-century English poetsGerman male essayistsGerman philosophers of historyGerman political philosophersHall of Fame for Great Americans inducteesNatural philosophersPhilosophers of sexualityAmerican male non-fiction writersEpic poetsGerman philosophers of artGerman philosophers of cultureLiteracy and society theorists19th-century German essayists19th-century pseudonymous writersAmerican people of English descentGerman ethicists, German philosophers of educationLiterary theoristsVictorian poets18th-century German male writers19th-century American poetsGerman philosophers of languageGerman philosophers of scienceLeipzig University alumniMembers of the Bavarian Academy of SciencesWriters of Gothic fiction18th-century German philosophers, 18th-century essayists19th-century American male writers19th-century German non-fiction writers19th-century deaths from tuberculosisAmerican male essayists, American male poetsFabulistsFreethought writersGerman untitled nobilityMembers of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities18th-century German educators, 18th-century historians, 19th-century German educators, 19th-century historians19th-century American essayists19th-century American novelists, Novelists from New York (state)19th-century German historians19th-century German novelists19th-century travel writersAlumni of King's College LondonCalvinist and Reformed poetsColor scientistsEpigrammatistsGerman FreemasonsGerman autobiographersGerman librariansGerman male dramatists and playwrights, German male poetsGerman travel writersJohann Wolfgang von Goethe, Sturm und DrangPhilosophers of linguisticsPoets from LondonSurrealist writersUniversity of Strasbourg alumni18th-century German civil servants, 18th-century German dramatists and playwrights, 18th-century German historians, 18th-century German novelists, 18th-century German poets, 18th-century travel writers, 19th-century German civil servants, 19th-century German diplomats, 19th-century German dramatists and playwrights, 19th-century German poets, German bibliophiles, German diplomats, German male novelists, People from Weimar, Scientists from Weimar, Writers from Frankfurt, Writers from Weimar19th-century American non-fiction writers19th-century American short story writers, Ghost story writers19th-century English male writersAmerican literary critics, American male dramatists and playwrightsAmerican male novelistsEnglish letter writersPeople from Northamptonshire (before 1974)People of the Scottish EnlightenmentPeople with mood disordersRecreational cryptographers, Writers from Boston, Writers from PhiladelphiaUnited States Military Academy alumniWriters from Baltimore
  1. Edgar Allan Poe

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the writer of The Raven and Gothic horror stories such as The Tell-Tale Heart and The Fall of the House of Usher.

    30 November 2023

    listen ↗

    Featuring: Bridget Bennett, Erin Forbes, Tom Wright

     
  2. Goethe

    Melvyn Bragg discusses the great German polymath Johann Wolfgang Goethe - novelist, dramatist, poet, humanist, scientist and philosopher.

    6 April 2006

    listen ↗

    Featuring: Tim Blanning, Sarah Colvin, W. Daniel Wilson

     
    18th-century German male writersMembers of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences19th-century German non-fiction writersGerman philosophers of language19th-century travel writersMembers of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and HumanitiesPhilosophers of sexualityLiteracy and society theoristsGerman autobiographersGerman philosophers of historyGerman male non-fiction writersEpigrammatistsJohann Wolfgang von Goethe, Sturm und DrangEpic poetsPhilosophers of linguistics18th-century German civil servants, 18th-century German dramatists and playwrights, 18th-century German historians, 18th-century German novelists, 18th-century German poets, 18th-century travel writers, 19th-century German civil servants, 19th-century German diplomats, 19th-century German dramatists and playwrights, 19th-century German poets, German bibliophiles, German diplomats, German male novelists, People from Weimar, Scientists from Weimar, Writers from Frankfurt, Writers from WeimarGerman untitled nobilityNatural philosophersWriters about activism and social changeRomantic poetsGerman travel writersGerman librariansPhilosophy writersGerman political philosophersFabulists19th-century German novelistsGerman FreemasonsColor scientistsGerman philosophers of culture18th-century German philosophers, 18th-century essayistsFreethought writersGerman philosophers of science19th-century German philosophersGerman ethicists, German philosophers of educationTheorists on Western civilizationLiterary theoristsUniversity of Strasbourg alumniLeipzig University alumni19th-century German historiansGerman male dramatists and playwrights, German male poetsPhilosophers of social science19th-century German essayists19th-century German male writersGerman male essayistsEnlightenment philosophers18th-century German educators, 18th-century historians, 19th-century German educators, 19th-century historiansPantheistsPhilosophers of literatureGerman philosophers of art18th century19th centuryGermanyLanguage
  3. Goethe and the Science of the Enlightenment

    Melvyn Bragg assesses the scientific legacy of the 18th century German poet and thinker Goethe, who gave us the term morphology and is sometimes even credited with inventing biology itself.

    10 February 2000

    listen ↗

    Featuring: Nicholas Boyle, Simon Schaffer

     
    Science18th-century German male writersMembers of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences19th-century German non-fiction writersGerman philosophers of language19th-century travel writersMembers of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and HumanitiesPhilosophers of sexualityLiteracy and society theoristsGerman autobiographersGerman philosophers of historyGerman male non-fiction writersEpigrammatistsJohann Wolfgang von Goethe, Sturm und DrangEpic poetsPhilosophers of linguistics18th-century German civil servants, 18th-century German dramatists and playwrights, 18th-century German historians, 18th-century German novelists, 18th-century German poets, 18th-century travel writers, 19th-century German civil servants, 19th-century German diplomats, 19th-century German dramatists and playwrights, 19th-century German poets, German bibliophiles, German diplomats, German male novelists, People from Weimar, Scientists from Weimar, Writers from Frankfurt, Writers from WeimarGerman untitled nobilityNatural philosophersWriters about activism and social changeRomantic poetsGerman travel writersGerman librariansPhilosophy writersGerman political philosophersFabulists19th-century German novelistsGerman FreemasonsColor scientistsGerman philosophers of culture18th-century German philosophers, 18th-century essayistsFreethought writersGerman philosophers of science19th-century German philosophersGerman ethicists, German philosophers of educationTheorists on Western civilizationLiterary theoristsUniversity of Strasbourg alumniLeipzig University alumni19th-century German historiansGerman male dramatists and playwrights, German male poetsPhilosophers of social science19th-century German essayists19th-century German male writersGerman male essayistsEnlightenment philosophers18th-century German educators, 18th-century historians, 19th-century German educators, 19th-century historiansPantheistsPhilosophers of literatureGerman philosophers of art18th century19th centuryGermanyLanguage
  4. John Clare

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss John Clare, the 'Northamptonshire peasant poet', whose writing was as celebrated as his life was humble.

    9 February 2017

    listen ↗

    Featuring: Jonathan Bate, Mina Gorji, Simon Kövesi

     
  5. John Keats

    Misha Glenny and guests discuss the short, brilliant life of one of the most celebrated Romantic poets and the works of his most intensely creative year from autumn 1818.

    19 February 2026

    listen ↗

    Featuring: Fiona Stafford, Nicholas Roe, Meiko O’Halloran

     
  6. Robert Burns

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Ayrshire farmer whose 'Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect' (1786) set him on the way to a worldwide reputation as one of the great poets.

    24 October 2019

    listen ↗

    Featuring: Robert Crawford, Fiona Stafford, Murray Pittock