And Rationalism Romanticism began in the mid-18th century and reached its height in the 19th century. The Romantic literature of the nineteenth century holds in its topics the ideals of the time period, concentrating on emotion, nature, and the expression of "nothing." The Romantic era was one that focused on the commonality of humankind and, while using emotion and nature; the poets and their works shed light on people"s universal natures. Romanticism as a movement declined in the late 19th century and early 20th century with the growing dominance of Realism in the literature and the rapid advancement of science...
The rationalist attitude is characterized by the importance it attaches to argument and experience. But neither logical argument nor experience can establish the rationalist attitude; for only those who are ready to consider argument and experience, and who have therefore adopted this stance already are likely to be impressed by them.

In other words, a rationalist stance must first be adopted if any argument or experience is to be effective, and it cannot therefore be based upon argument or experience. No rational argument will have a rational effect on somebody who does not want to adopt a rational attitude.