The Romantics may not have started the idea of using Italy as a place where foreigners come for self-discovery and self-pleasure (more about the pursuits of the soul or the corporeal pleasure of bliss as compared to carnal pleasure or some form of hedonism, which is president in other texts about Italy), but the Romantics may have introduced this idea to British and, therefore, American authors and audiences.
Browning and Shelly both celebrate the pursuits of the body here. Browning brings forth the concept of the landscape being tied in with the conceptual feelings that the Romantics became so entranced with. In "Companea", Browning talks about this one moment of bliss that he had while observing the surrounding landscape and how this moment cannot be recreated, even though he is doing so through recollection. The poem speaks on how this recollection tarnishes the memory itself and how this is the paradox.
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