| Basic Concepts: The Flowering of Romanticism:
Sentimentality and the "Ubi Sunt" Theme
An early clue to growing disaffection in a culture is the popularization of sentimentality, an emotion that, in the early 19th century, was exhibited in the arts. The focus of that sentimentality is an idealized image of the past which conveniently overlooks or simply dismisses its darker or seamier elements. "Ubi sunt" is Latin that means, literally, "Where are they?" Idiomatically, however, it is more loosely interpreted to mean, "Where are they--the great ones of the past?" In an American rendition, it seems to suggest, "Where have the 'good old days' gone?" As a lament for the past, then, the theme evokes pity and sentimentality for the sense of something irretrievably lost. . Both sentimentality and the "ubi sunt" theme might be classified more precisely as pre-Romantic phenomena. They anticipate the Romantic revolution that will reject and overthrow the past in deference to new possibilities. . Online Connections For a brief history of the concept, see the xrefer page, "Ubi Sunt." For an overview of the American Romantic Movement, its principle writers, and the dominant themes, see the United States Information Service page on "The Romantic Period: 1820-1860: Essayists and Poets." . Our Course Connections Writers whose works exhibit the idealization of the past and the lament for its passing include Philip Freneau, William Cullen Bryant, James Fenimore Cooper, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. .  |