<p>Kimmie, 2200 touched on that in that quoted text back in fogcity’s post #9. If you can replace the verb with some form of the verb *to be<a href=“is,%20are,%20was,%20were,%20etc.”>/I</a>, and the sentence still makes sense and means about the same thing as it meant before, then the verb is a linking verb.</p>
<p>Consider your original sentence. Does “Poets during the Romantic Period felt more free…” mean about the same thing as “Poets during the Romantic Period were more free…”? It does. So in that sentence, felt is a linking verb.</p>
<p>Now consider the sentence, “The doctor felt my abdomen to determine whether my spleen was enlarged.” Would it mean the same thing if I said, “The doctor was my abdomen…”? Hardly. In my sentence, felt is an action verb and not a linking verb.</p>
<p>(x-post with 2200 above)</p>
<p>@2200–it’s a lesson I myself learned the hard way during a lot of years of trying to explain grammar to teenagers and tweens.</p>
;P)</p>