What is interesting about Burger's poem is that it was not originally written in English, but in German. However, the English Romantics quickly adapted it to suit their own ideology, in a sense. The translation of the poem, released over two decades after its original conception, is introduced by an editorial note declaring that it, "possesses so much peculiar
and intrinsic merit," that it was worthy of such exposure. The poem itself reflects on the medieval history of England with the crusades and Richard I's third attempt to reclaim christendom. It is interesting that the Romantics embraced the Medieval Period the way the artists of the renaissance embraced antiquity; perhaps the divergence from reason resulting from the French revolution and the social and political tension in Europe forced artists to reflect on and nostalgically aim to recreate a simpler time of courtship and chivalry. More likely, their reception of the medieval period resulted from the reduction of religious devotion in England. In the poem, the mother says to Lenora, "The Lord is wise, the Lord is good;/
What hee hath done is right." (Burger, 39-40). Following the French Revolution, there was a loss of religious faith and a resurgence of enlightenment atheist tendencies. By embracing the Medieval Ages, the most period of European history most dominated by religion, Romantic writers aimed to potential revive the religious zeal in England. Additionally, the poem, by celebrating the earliest of Brits, the Angl0-Saxons, can revive and celebrate early English History. Additionally, by celebrating the past, the Romantics criticize the technology and innovation of the present, instead fantasizing about a simpler world without so much tyranny.
I enjoyed your comparison of the Romantic's interest in Medieval lore with the Renaissance's interest in antiquity. I agree this interest most likely stems from the renewed religious devotion following the fall out of the atheistic views promoted in the French Revolution, just like those in the Renaissance embraced science and politics after centuries of religious rule. Although the religious angle is important, I also believe the return to plot-driven narratives thrilled the Romantic writers--they wanted to enthrall their readers, often to the point of horror. Amid the political upheaval of the eighteenth century, I agree Romantic literature was both a means to criticize social institutions while also taking readers away from reality, inserting them instead into sojourns of chivalric heraldry and gore.
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