PICMINE literally summarizes the characteristics of Romantic writings and Romantic writers in comparisson to other cultural periods. The acronym literally means as follows: P: past, I: Imagination, C: Common man, M: Mystery/supernatural, I: Individualism, N: Nature and E: Emotion.
Romanticism initiated as an era in Germany and then spread out to other parts of the European continent in the 18th century, but was at its peak between 1800 and 1850. This period of cultural thought and philosophical view of life affected all aspects of culture, including literature and it emerged in counterbalance to the Age of Enlightenment and its logical and scientific way of thinking and the Industrial Revolution. In counterpoint to other philosophical and cultural currents, Romanticism stressed the importance of the past, the individual, the idealization of nature vs civilization, the innate goodness of man vs education, the expression of strong emotions and feelings and most importantly, the vitality of imagination. Lord Byron, Wordsworth, Coleridge and Blake are some of the many writers, especially of British origin, who emerged during the era of Romanticism.