William Wordsworth described the sublime in this quotation from "Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey, on Revisiting the Banks of the Wye during a Tour, July 13, 1798."
Of aspect more sublime; that blessed mood,
In which the burden of the mystery
In which the heavy and weary weight
Of all this unintelligible world,
Of aspect more sublime; that blessed mood,
In which the burden of the mystery
In which the heavy and weary weight
Of all this unintelligible world,
Is lightened (37-41)
"Sublime" is one slippery term.
According to the Romantics, we experience the sublime when we're out in nature. But not just any nature—we have to be facing nature at its grandest, it's most awe-inspiring. Think big mountains, crazy deep valleys, a huge thunderstorm with lightning striking everywhere.
What happens when we are confronted with nature at it's grandest is that we are both terrified and uplifted all at once. It's a hard feeling to describe, but we're guessing you've felt it.
The sublime was so important to the Romantics because (1) they loved nature and anything having to do with nature, and (2) they believed that the sublime transcended the rational. That is, the feelings of awe and terror evoked by the sublime are beyond words and the emotions that the sublime creates overwhelm rational thought. When that big thunderstorm hits, we are terrified and excited, we're laughing and we're crying. We're basically a whole mess of very powerful emotions. Think of it this way:
Nature + powerful emotion = the Sublime.
And who said poets weren't good at math?
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