London, 1802

“On Seeing a Lock of Milton’s Hair” by John Keats (1818)

John Keats (1795-1821) belonged to the “second generation” of Romantics and, like Wordsworth before him, he too was enchanted by the towering figure of Milton. In this poem, “On Seeing a Lock of Milton’s Hair,” Keats chooses to focus on praising Milton’s poetic talents, hailing him as a genius and inspiration. The poem is a good example of Milton’s continuing influence on the English Romantic movement even as younger writers like Keats came to the fore.

“The Masque of Anarchy” by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1819)

Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) is one of the most famous members of the “second generation” of English Romantics who, alongside contemporaries such as John Keats and Lord Byron, followed in the footsteps of Wordsworth and Coleridge. Like many other Romantics, Shelley professed to have radical political beliefs, claiming to reject traditional social and political values and hierarchies. The Masque of Anarchy (sometimes written as The Mask of Anarchy) is one of his major works, which he wrote in response to the Peterloo Massacre. Like Wordsworth in “London, 1802,” Shelley deplores the current state of England, urging Englishmen to “Rise like Lions after slumber / In unvanquishable number—/ Shake your chains to earth like dew” (368-370).