The essence of Romantic poetry is that in catching the fleeting moment of joy it opens the door to an eternal world. This is a classic, illuminating study of the major poets and followers of the Romantic movement: Blake, Coleridge, Wordsworth,Shelley, Keats, Byron, Poe, Christina and Dante Gabriel Rossetti,and Swinburne. Originally delivered as a series of lectures at a time when the Romantics were to some extent in critical disgrace,'The Romantic Imagination' sought to reassess the literary value of these poets and establish the enduring importance of their contribution to English literature.