What Types Of Landscapes Travel Writers Considered Romantic?

By Author: Christ Paul
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The picturesque was characterized by variety, viewers had greater freedom in applying the term to different types of landscapes; however, they were nonetheless quick to determine which landscapes were not picturesque. An important characteristic of the use of the picturesque was the techniques of viewing landscapes as a picture. A picturesque scene, therefore, might have included a number of different features, such as in Figure 3. In this illustration from Froude's narrative, the scene has been framed from an appropriate prospect that looks down over the landscape and contrasts the orderly garden with the forest, and these forms of nature with the culture of the harbor below. As the picturesque provided less strict directions for emotional response than the sublime, the general sensibility was an aesthetically pleasing landscape. These scenes often possessed some novel or exotic features or combination of features that were, perhaps, unfamiliar. Such descriptions were often accompanied by Five Fingers KSO terms such as beautiful, as well as lovely, ...
... gorgeous, excellent, and glorious. John Chester Greville determined that "Altogether Dominica presents a rare combination of picturesque beauty. Lofty mountains, green forests, dashing streams, a blue sea, overhanging rocks, blazing flowers, coral-strewn strands, all seem to do their utmost to charm the senses."

Finally, the romantic had never been defined as rigidly as the other terms; therefore, travel writers were able to form their own opinions about what types of landscapes they considered romantic. Yet the emphasis was placed on natural landscapes. Travel writers found the landscapes in the British West Indies that best matched their idea of romantic landscapes were Vibram 5 fingers wild or rude. For Alexander, Tobago was "one wild and romantic scene of mountain and wood, with numerous cascades in dark glens." In regard to Barbados's Scottish Highlands, Rolph enjoyed "the prospect of a rude, romantic chain of mountains, wild and intimidating, of the most fantastic shapes and forms, and linked in stern confederacy, exhibiting a noble elevation." Romanticism emphasized direct experiences and immersion in nature to refresh the mind, body, and soul. Although few of the writers actually put this into practice, the romantic was the concept most likely to be applied when the landscape was viewed from within.

Along with this closer connection to the landscape, the Romantic Movement allowed greater freedom of personal, emotional response to the landscape. As a result, these romantic landscapes were places that seemed to exert some sort of visual and sensual influence over the travel writers. In Trinidad, Lady Annie Allnutt Brassey noted, "We would have willingly lingered to enjoy the attractions of this delightfully romantic scene: but daylight now began to fade, and we were warned that it would be prudent to retrace our steps before it became absolutely dark". Likewise, in Dominica Margaret Newton found "a spot to dream in. A scene so romantic and so exquisite, which replete with the charm of serenity and balmy influences that one, returns there again and again at the sunset hour." Rolph's experiences in the Scottish Highlands led him to write "It is in the recesses of this woodland solitude in which the witching charms of this romantic region operate most forcibly on the mind." Figure 4, an illustration from Charles Kingsley's At Last: A Christmas in the West Indies, provides an example of a romantic scene in which the trees that frame the setting give the appearance of being immersed in the landscape, while the palms and the moonlight create a sense of the magic or charm that plays on the imagination of the viewer.