Although often considered to contribute to the development of Freudian psychoanalysis, psychological discourse, and more particularly that which deals with the unconscious (the part of the psyche whose subjects actively ignore), Romantic poetry can also be seen as possessing various methods of its own for examining the psyche. Romanticism is often seen as lacking the critical tool of psychoanalysis, rather than first putting into action the schema that Freud later codified. However, there is at work in the poetry of Charlotte Smith, William Wordsworth and John Keats an individual struggle to understand the machinations of the unconscious which represents an early alternative to classical psychoanalysis. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essayIn the Romantic canon, the psychoanalytic project takes various forms, most of which would be considered heretical by Freud-olatry. Charlotte Smith's texts use narrative commentary on the environment as an attempt at self-analysis (in which the poet or narrator becomes both analyst and analysand). She describes her version of the unconscious as “…a gloomy, sober night!” / When the faint moon, yet lingering in it and, / And veiled in the clouds, with pale and uncertain light…” (Smith 1-3). This act of sublimation results in trials with the seemingly impermeable nature of the unconscious. Here it is seen as external and unresponsive to conscious efforts at understanding. Nevertheless, "[the narrator's] weakened spirit / The will of cold and dull elements complains, / And to tell the buried sorrow, however vain it is..." (Smith 5-8). The mind is weakened for some unspeakable reason, however, it certainly seems possible, given that it cries out to its projected unconscious, that there is a repressed cause for its affliction. Apparently, the narrator believes that her discomfort will not respond to this proto-"talking cure", but she continues. This continuation of his self-analysis leads one to consider the possibility that, given the strange internal/external nature of this conception of the unconscious, success and failure could be synonymous. In the same spirit of mixing analyst and analysand, Wordsworth's texts use self-analysis. -reflection as a means of illuminating understanding of the present and, in doing so, uncovering repressed trauma. In “Nutting,” the narrator comes across a “…dear unvisited corner…[without any]…unsightly signs of devastation…” (Wordsworth 16-18). His memory begins innocently, but with a foreshadowing of violent reality. Its play within the unconscious is transformed by its otherness and its absence of social constraints. This motivation (which we would identify as almost exclusively identity-driven) turns into sadism and violence against objects used for sexual pleasure (Wordsworth 43-45). These actions have been repressed by the narrator and it is difficult to talk about them “…unless he now confuses his present feelings with the past…” (Wordsworth 48-49). Conversely, the narrator undergoes reaction formation after the act itself, as a mode of repression. He now considers this act/desire to be bad/wrong. In this way, Wordsworth's text alludes to a type of pre-Freudian analytical process. More interesting than simply falling into the Freudian paradigm, Wordsworth's "Nutting" creates a parallel form of analysis that eludes Freud's due to the absence of an external analyst. The narrator, through an internal discussion of the event, acknowledges what he remembers, acknowledges his feelings regarding his.