ABSTRACT
within the past two hundred years the literature of the Western World has undergone many changes of style and direction, but this time-span begins with one great revolution that dominates them all. I refer, of course, to the Romantic Movement, which was more than a change of style: it was a sudden expansion of consciousness—an expansion into realms of sensibility not previously accessible to the human imagination. I believe that we are still living within the mental reverberations of that great event; I believe that the way then opened still presents itself as a challenge to the human mind. Our duty at the moment, as creative writers and as critics, is to maintain the impetus of that revolution.
