Who were the Romantics?

The Romantics were a group of poets that were a part of the Romantic movement that marked a profound shift in sensibilities from the age of reason approach of Classicism. Looseness of form, nature, mortality and introspection are themes that heavily characterise the Romantics' poetry. 

Writing at a time of rapid technological advancements, the movement aimed to warn of the dangers of industrialisation and any attempts to transgress the laws of nature. The Romantics came in two generations, the first featuring the likes of Coleridge and Wordsworth, and later Byron, Shelley and Keats. A Romantic is generally characterised by poets that sought an intense relationship with nature and believed that it held healing powers that could bring peace and tranquility to individuals in an age of rapid technological change.