"The Romantic theory assumes that literature is mainly or even purely an emotional experience, that man is naturally good, that man’s impulses are trustworthy, that the rational faculty is unreliable to the point of being dangerous or possibly evil. The Romantic theory of human nature teaches that if man will rely upon his impulses, he will achieve the good life."
I'm not sure this is so. The Romantic movement wad a reaction to the over-rationalization if the Augustan period. Rationalism is unreasonable. Man is, in fact, naturally good. But he is fallen. Our impulses can be as reliable as our reasons. As for poetry, I would not be without "Lines Written Above Tintern Abbey." I am unaware of any poem by Yvor Winters that I could not live without.
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