...21 November 2011 Word Count 1,159 William Wordsworth William Wordsworth was born April 7, 1770 in Cockermouth, Cumberland to John and Anne Wordsworth. He was the second of five children; his sister was the poet Dorothy Wordsworth. After his mother’s death in 1778, he was sent to Hawkshead Grammar School, where he showed a great interest in poetry. In 1783 his father, who was a lawyer died. After the death of their parents, the Wordsworth children were left under the guardianship of their uncles. It took William many years to recover from the death of his parents and the separation from his siblings. From 1787 to 1790 Wordsworth attended St. John’s College at Cambridge. William Wordsworth was an early leader of romanticism in English poetry and ranks as one of the greatest lyric poets in the history of English literature. William Wordsworth’s enthusiasm for the French Revolution led him to France in 1791. While he was in France, he fell in love with a French woman Annette Vallon, who gave birth to their daughter in 1792. Due to lack of money, Wordsworth returned to England the following year. The circumstances of his return and behavior raised doubts about his wish to marry Annette. The Reign of Terror and the war between France and Britain prevented him from seeing Annette and his daughter, Caroline for several years. The separation left him with a sense of guilt that deepened his poetic inspiration and resulted in an important theme in his work of abandoned women. ...
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...William Wordsworth and George Gordon Byron, toward nature. In1921, David Nichol Smith commented on William Wordsworth as ‘our greatest nature poet’ and it is an opinion many would still believe in. As a poet of Nature, Wordsworth is at the highest ranking. He is a worshipper of Nature, Nature’s enthusiast or high-priest. The poem ‘I wandered lonely as a cloud’ or commonly known as ‘Daffodils’ is one of the last remaining truly well-liked poems. From it, one obtains an image of Wordsworth as someone comforted and enlivened by the flowers he finds while walking among the dales and hills. His worship of Nature was likely more genuine, and more sympathetic, than that of any other English poet. Nature comes to take up a different or independent position in his poem and is not treated in an indifferent or hasty manner as by poets before him. Wordsworth had a mature philosophy, a new and innovative perspective of Nature. Three points in his doctrine of Nature may be indicated: I. Wordsworth understood Nature as a living character. He believed that there is a holy spirit permeating all the articles of Nature. This belief in a pervasive holy spirit may be named as spiritual Pantheism and is completely indicated in Tintern Abbey and in some passages in Book II of The Prelude. II. Wordsworth believed that the system of Nature gives pleasure to the human heart and he regarded Nature as practicing a healing effect on grief-stricken hearts. III. Most importantly, Wordsworth stressed...
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...In the poem called “Report To Wordsworth” written by Boy Kim Cheng. The poem depicts a very negative image, which is that destruction of nature is imminent if mankind continues to colonialize and urbanize. In order to convey this image of the current natural world, the author uses language devices such as figurative language (personification, similes and metaphors), visual imagery, alliteration, contradiction and tone. Throughout the poem, the writer uses visual imagery in order to create this pessimistic feeling of today’s current natural. And that mankind is losing its special connection with nature, as we are busy with “getting and spending”. The author shows the importance of natures as he uses a capital letter when writing Nature. This consequently makes the word “nature” be considered as a great value. The author then uses phrases such as the phrase “Smothered by the smog,” (line 2) (which contains alliteration), exemplifies the idea that humans or anything associated with human activities are destroying nature. Such as in this case the pollution, that comes out of vehicles. In addition just like in William Wordsworth sonnet called “ The World Is Too Much With Us”, Cheng illustrates an image that if humans continue to colonies and urbanize, then the birds ; which symbolizes life and different species would become extinct, and consequently the planet would lack any life and harmony. In Addition, tone, symbols and repetition are of great importance in the poem...
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...James Smith Prof. K. Allens ENL 102- 63 10 October 2013 “I wondered Lonely as A Cloud” By William Wordsworth (1770-1850) The second of five children born to John Wordsworth and Ann Cookson, William Wordsworth was born on 7 April 1770 in Cocker mouth, Cumberland (Heritage). Wordsworth's father, even though rarely present, taught him poetry, comprising of Milton, Shakespeare and Spenser. Though Hawkshead School was Wordsworth's first involvement with education, he was taught to read by his mother, while attending a tiny school of poor standard in Cockermouth (Everett). "I wandered lonely as a cloud" proceeds in the Lake District of Northern England. This area is famous for its hundreds of lakes, stunning breadths of season daffodils In Wordsworth's poem of topic, he begins in the first stanza the memory of a time when he meandered over the valleys and hills, "lonely as a cloud." Finally, he came across a crowd of daffodils stretching out over almost everything he could see, "fluttering and dancing in the breeze” (Cambridge). In the second stanza, the author delves into more elements about the daffodils. They reminded him of the Milky Way, maybe because there were so many flowers swarming together that they seemed to be never-ending. The author speculates that there were ten thousand daffodils, which were "Tossing their heads in sprightly dance" (Gill). The third stanza, the speaker compares the surfs of the large lake to the waves of daffodils swaying in the wind. While...
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...philosophical movement that redefined the fundamental ways in which people in Western cultures thought about themselves and about their world.(Brooklyn College) The early Romantic period begins with the first edition of Lyrical Ballads by William Wordsworth - co-written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. I'm going to specifically refer to three poetic works by Wordsworth when referring to the imagination, nature, and emotion used as components of Romantic Literature: "The Tables Turned", "My Heart Leaps Up", and "I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud." Imagination was considered to be one of the highest faculties of the mind during the Romantic era. The Romantics used their imaginations as the ultimate shaping tool for their literature. It was their creative power in that it was dynamic, active, and provided many functions for creating all art. Wordsworth suggested that it is also the faculty that helps humans to constitute reality for we not only perceive the world around us, but also in part create it. The Romantics are also extremely concerned with the healing nature of the imagination in that it can reconcile differences and opposites in the world of appearance. It inextricably enables us to "read" nature as a system of symbols. (Brooklyn College) Wordsworth uses all aspects of the Romantic view of imagination in "The Tables Turned." I am specifically drawn to the healing aspect of the imagination that he is trying to push on the person whom this poem is written for in the first two stanzas...
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...most famous poets in literary history is that of William Wordsworth. He lived between the years of 1770-1850. He was a very strong poet and many of his works have some degree of a pessimistic view to them. They could be understood after the hard life he led. He saw the French Revolution at its height and wrote several poems about it. He had an illegitimate daughter with a woman in France. When he returned back to England he married Mary Hutchinson, who gave him two sons and another daughter. Till this day we can read the famous poems and ballads of Wordsworth. One poem that caught my attention was that of Scorn not the sonnet. The poem is rather interesting and brings up other poets before his time. It also talks about the form and the meaning of a sonnet. He talks of the sonnet as a delicate work of art. Wordsworth describes each part of the sonnet by talking of another poet. He describes how one of the other poets helped shape the form of sonnet writing. In the first two lines of the poem he is writing of a critic. Wordsworth writes “Scorn not the sonnet; Critic, you have frowned, mindless of its just honors;” These two lines state the critic or the audience is not able to understand what is being written in the sonnet. Wordsworth from the beginning says that the sonnets hold honor in...
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...van Poecke 24-09-13 William Wordsworth: Taal als voertuig van intense ervaringen Voor mij ligt een boek, het ruikt nostalgisch muf als ik er doorheen blader. Zwarte letters dansen op beige papier. Uit de bladspiegel kan ik opmaken dat het om een gedichtenbundel gaat. De gedichten hebben geen strofen en het boek leest als één lange, aaneengesloten toespraak. De schrijver laat zijn regels niet per se rijmen, vaak maakt hij gebruik van een voortstuwend ritme met vijf jamben per regel. Deze vorm van enjambement is ook terug te zien bij een andere epische dichter, genaamd John Milton. De totale prelude van William Wordsworth bestaat uit maar liefst 13 boeken, hierin wordt het ontstaat van een dichter beschreven. The Prelude begint in Wordsworth’s jeugd en eindigt in 1798 wanneer hij vindt dat de vormende jaren zijn verstreken. De boeken zijn postuum, in 1805 uitgegeven. Het werk is autobiografisch. De centrale held in het verhaal is Wordsworth zelf. Dit centrale figuur zorgt voor eenheid binnen de dertien boeken. Ook de thema’s, het taalgebruik en de beeldspraak blijven opvallend constant door de boeken heen. The prelude behoort tot de romantiek omdat Wordsworth in de gedichten nadruk legt op gevoel, instinct en genot in plaats van formaliteit en het ratio. Hiermee gaat hij recht tegen het verlichtingsdenken in volgens het lesboek Arts and Cultures. Ondanks het feit dat hij dus een vooruitstrevende en vernieuwende dichter is, is Wordsworth in veel van zijn werken bezig met...
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...Saloni Mishra Prof. K. Dang English, Research Paper 22nd October 2015 Wordsworth and European Society “Rapine, avarice, expense, this is idolatry: and these we adore: Plain living and high thinking are no more” – William Wordsworth. From his choice of words, Wordsworth expresses nothing but disgust and despair. The idea behind this quote effectively summarizes William Wordsworth’s opinions regarding European society during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and acts as a medium for Wordsworth to voice his beliefs pertaining to the world that surrounded him. Humans, on their journey towards evolution, have been distancing themselves from spiritual pursuits to be lured by the never-ending thirst for wealth. Wordsworth is a poet...
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... Abstract Wordsworth was of the view that ‘Poetry is spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings. When reading this statement, one might think that, for Wordsworth, poetic composition is solely based on the expression of emotions, excluding any reflection about them. But Wordsworth gave equal importance to the element of thought in poetry and says that poems to which any value is attached were never produced on any variety of subjects but by a man who being possessed of more than usual organic sensibility, has also thought long and deep. Wordsworth believes that artistic process is combination of thought and emotion. This research article will study Wordsworth’s concept of poetic creation Wordsworth believes that artistic process is combination of thought and emotion . During the poetic process, the poet is possessed by powerful passions but he undergoes a period of emotions reflected in tranquility. During this process the influxes of feelings are modified and directed by thoughts. The direction of thought adds a depth of meaning and truth to poetry. For Wordsworth poetry is a method of interpreting the reality or the meaning of life. Introduction Generally the critics criticize the Romantics for being too emotional. They quote Wordsworth’s famous statement, ‘Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings’ (Wordsworth,1989:57)1 as evidence but overlook Wordsworth’s entire concept of creative process of which emotions are a part. Wordsworth makes this statement ...
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...Preface to Lyrical Ballads: summary In the preface to Lyrical Ballads, William Wordsworth provides us a wide vision of his style of poetry. Wordsworth pursues to break out from the previous poetry and he consequently bases his poetry on simplicity. As such, his themes deal with humble and rustic life. He uses these themes since: feelings can be freely expressed, the manners of rural life are simple thus encouraging the understanding of human nature, and human passions are linked to nature being subsequently more durable. Moreover, regarding his language and characters, both are connected to rustic life: characters are close to nature and to a state of simplicity and therefore, they are able to have elementary feelings and passions. Furthermore, Wordsworth stated that there are no personifications of abstract ideas in his volumes and that he pretends to adopt the language of man. For that, he includes what is usually called poetic diction. By doing this, he is able to bring this language near to the language of man. His writing attracts the common man and can be understood by every man. In addition, in relation to the metre, Wordsworth defends its use and he supports the idea that it is a source of pleasure. On the other hand, Wordsworth provides us his conceptions of what a poet is and what is poetry. For him, a real poet is: “a man speaking to men: a man, it is true, endued with more lively sensibility, more enthusiasm and tenderness, who has a greater knowledge of human...
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...Wordsworth’s Poetry William Wordsworth ← Analysis → Wordsworth’s monumental poetic legacy rests on a large number of important poems, varying in length and weight from the short, simple lyrics of the 1790s to the vast expanses of The Prelude, thirteen books long in its 1808 edition. But the themes that run through Wordsworth’s poetry, and the language and imagery he uses to embody those themes, remain remarkably consistent throughout the Wordsworth canon, adhering largely to the tenets Wordsworth set out for himself in the 1802 preface to Lyrical Ballads. Here, Wordsworth argues that poetry should be written in the natural language of common speech, rather than in the lofty and elaborate dictions that were then considered “poetic.” He argues that poetry should offer access to the emotions contained in memory. And he argues that the first principle of poetry should be pleasure, that the chief duty of poetry is to provide pleasure through a rhythmic and beautiful expression of feeling—for all human sympathy, he claims, is based on a subtle pleasure principle that is “the naked and native dignity of man.” Recovering “the naked and native dignity of man” makes up a significant part of Wordsworth’s poetic project, and he follows his own advice from the 1802 preface. Wordsworth’s style remains plain-spoken and easy to understand even today, though the rhythms and idioms of common English have changed from those of the early nineteenth century. Many of Wordsworth’s poems (including...
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...soul. Standing at only ten lines, the poem details a journey through Wordsworth's philosophical beliefs. Although it appears simplistic, this poem details many complex ideas. Wordsworth's opening lines explain how: "My heart leaps up when I behold / A rainbow in the sky" (1-2). Wordsworth is overjoyed at nature, a common theme in all of his work, but what's more is that he states: "So was it when my life began; / So it is now I am a man; / So be it when I shall grow old, / Or let me die!" (3-6). As a child, ("when my life began") Wordsworth felt the same way about rainbows and nature as he does now, completely awestruck and in reverence. Moreover, Wordsworth hopes his adoration of nature will continue as he matures, even to his death bed. If not, Wordsworth would rather die prematurely. The last three lines contain one of Wordsworth's most famous phrases: "The Child is father of the Man; / And I could wish my days to be / Bound each to each by natural piety" (7-10). Wordsworth is happy enough to have kept his appreciation of nature and only wishes it will last him forever, in "natural piety." With the line: "The Child is father of the Man", Wordsworth evokes a number of ideas. To start, Wordsworth details how the child is father simply through greatness. The child falls in love with nature as soon as it is born. This admiration is both an inherent trait as well as something to be gained when the child first looks at the world in its majesty. Thus, in one sense, the child...
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...England 1798 with the works of William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who wrote a book of poems called “Lyrical Ballads.” The era reached its peak around 1800 to 1840. The Romanticism era focused on human emotions, nature, natural settings, and local environments. The Romanticism era also focused on matters of the heart opposed to matters of reason and rationalism. This was a time of expression that documented personal experiences and ones way of life. This was a time when artist were recognized for their exceptional talents and individualism, a time that bought about change and artistic freedom. The Romanticism era presented unique works of art like dances, paintings and poetry. The pieces of art work contained intellectual and literary skills that portrayed the rich artistic culture of the time. Since its beginning, artists have been able to produce artistic pieces that have stood the test of time. For example, “I wondered lonely as a cloud” is a poem by William Wordsworth. The poem exposes the ideals and values of the Romanticism era in a specific way. The era came as a rebellion to the social and political values of that time. Many romantics saw the dangers of technology, they feared that man would lose his ability to bound with nature due to the technological advances of the times. In Wordsworth poem there is no mention of technology only the importance of man’s ability to connect with nature. In this poem Wordsworth compares...
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...autobiographical poem written in a drawn out process of self- exploration. Wordsworth worked his way towards modern psychological understanding of his own nature and more broadly of human nature. Third, he places poetry at the center of human experience. This introspective account of his own development was completed in 1805 and, after substantial revision, published posthumously in 1850. Many critics rank it as Wordsworth’s greatest work. The Prelude begins with an account of the poet’s childhood in the English Lake Country. - See more at: http://www.bachelorandmaster.com/britishandamericanpoetry/the-prelude.html#sthash.XM5b3a41.The Prelude is in fact the first long autobiographical poem written in a drawn out process of self- exploration. Wordsworth worked his way towards modern psychological understanding of his own nature and more broadly of human nature. Third, he places poetry at the center of human experience. This introspective account of his own development was completed in 1805 and, after substantial revision, published posthumously in 1850. Many critics rank it as Wordsworth’s greatest work. The Prelude begins with an account of the poet’s childhood in the English Lake Country. - See more at: http://www.bachelorandmaster.com/britishandamericanpoetry/the-prelude.html#sthash.XM5b3a41.The Prelude is in fact the first long autobiographical poem written in a drawn out process of self- exploration. Wordsworth worked his way towards modern psychological understanding of his own...
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...Life and Death in Wordsworth’s “We Are Seven” As a romantic poet and a lover of nature and humanity, William Wordsworth wrote often about life and death. His lyrical ballad “We Are Seven” looks at these issues from the perspective of both an adult and a child, posing the question of whether death truly separates the living from the departed. Wordsworth had a strong family tie with his sister, Dorothy, and an affinity for the world of nature, in which he spent much of his childhood. The happy memories of playing in and exploring the natural world inspired him throughout his life, and he maintained a close relationship with Dorothy. This feeling of family closeness, combined with his vision of children as creatures attuned to nature and untouched by the cares of adult life, is evident in “We Are Seven.” The poet begins by juxtaposing the attributes and promise of a child’s life with the specter of death: A simple Child, That lightly draws its breath, And feels its life in every limb, What should it know of death? (Wordsworth 1-4) Wordsworth presents the image of an innocent child, an eight-year-old girl that he, as the poem’s narrator, encounters on a walk through the countryside. By describing her as possessing “a rustic, woodland air” (9), he evokes a feeling of the unadulterated innocence of the natural world, unspoiled by the interference of civilized society. The narrator, who is evidently a practical-minded gentleman, questions the little girl about the size of her...
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