wordsworth tutorial notes

8/11/2019 Wordsworth Tutorial Notes

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William Wordsworth (1770-1850)

Wordsworths Life

The 20th-century hilosoher !ertrand "ussellsummed u Wordsworths career as#

$%n his youth Wordsworth symathi&ed with the 'rench "eolution went to 'rancewrote *ood oetry and had a natural dau*hter+ ,t this eriod he was called a

.ad man+

Then he .ecame *ood a.andoned his dau*hter adoted correct rinciles and

wrote .ad oetry+/

- this is amusin* .ut unfair+

ain* *raduated from am.rid*e in 171 (with an undistin*uished de*ree)

Wordsworth returned to 'rance+1

There he fell in loe with ,nnette 3allon the dau*hter of a sur*eon+

They had a dau*hter aroline in 172

Wordsworth returned to 4n*land .ecause war with 'rance meant it was too

dan*erous for him there+

oweer he et u corresondence with ,nnette and eidently intended to marry

her+

%n 1802 6 a decade later 6 he decided to marry childhood friend ary utchinson+

oweer .efore doin* so he too adanta*e of a temorary ,n*lo-'rench eace to

*o to 'rance with orothy and s9uare thin*s with ,nnette+

4en after this he et in touch with ,nnette and aroline+

%n 1820 William too ary to 'rance to meet ,nne and aroline+

,nnette finally died in 18:1+

1he had .een on a walin* tour in 'rance in 170


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;ther 4ents

1770 .orn in the Lae istrict

177< educated in ocermouth school um.erland with 'letcher hristian2=

1778 mother dies+

178> father dies+1787 *oes to am.rid*e

17> walin* tour of southwest 4n*land and Wales+ 'irst isit to Wye alley+

177 colla.orates with olerid*e+ William and orothy moe to ?omerset to .e

near him+ ,lthou*h they were innocently writin* oetry the trio was iewed

with susicion .y the local rural oulation and were monitored .y

@oernment a*entsas ossi.le 'rench sies=

178 Lyrical Ballads

17 William and orothy isit @ermany and then settle in the Lae istrict

1800 olerid*e moes family to Lae istrict to .e near the Wordsworths+

1802 marries ary utchinson ( - 185) and they hae fie children .y 1810

180> il*rima*e to ,yrshire to isit !urnss *rae and sites associated with the?cottish oet+

1810 falls out with olerid*e+

1812 reconciled with olerid*e

181> Wordsworth aointed stam distri.utor (financial indeendence)

1817 Wordsworth meets Aeats>(que rima)

18:2 iil Lists (ension)

18:> aointed oet laureate+ 'rom then until his death he didnt write a sin*le

oem+

1850 dies+

Wordsworths .est wor was all written .efore 1810+%ronically as his literary a.ilities declined in the last :0 years of his life his

reutation soared+

'rom the 1820s onwards tourists thron*ed to isit the sa*e of "ydal at home+

?ometimes there were as many as >0 isitors er day who were usually char*ed for

tea+

orothywas more or less a e*eta.le for the last 20 years of her life (18>5-55) cared

for .y William and ary+

?he Bust sat .y the fire hain* lost almost all her memory (thou*h she could still

recite her .rothers oems)+

2yes the .loe who or*ani&ed the famous utiny on The Bounty3 the youn* oet tried to interene durin* one of Wordsworths erorationsC ary Wordsworth laid

a hand on his arm and whisered r Wordsworth is neer interruted+


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Wordsworths "eutation

Wordsworth is hated .y li.erals .ecause he *ae u his radicalism and .ecame art

of the Tory 4sta.lishment+

- !yron and ?helley were two early critics on these *rounds+

Aeats admired Wordsworth more than his two aristocratic contemoraries .ut een

so coined the term e*otistical su.lime to descri.e some of Wordsworths

writin*+

- Wordsworths poems are almost always about himself.

The 3ictorians laced Wordsworth alon*side ?haeseare oliDre ilton and

@oethe+

Wordsworth oetry .ecame a ind of 3ictorian reli*ion#

$Wordsworth tau*ht eole how to feel and how to mana*e their feelin*s/+

Eartly .ecause of the 3ictorian hyer.ole Wordsworths reutation has fallen

almost continuously since the late 1thentury+

%n 182 Fames ?tehens famously descri.ed Wordsworth as

$, half-witted shee who .leated articulate monotony/+

is renunciation of democratic alues has come .ac to haunt him alon*side the

unfair criticisms we hae seen re*ardin* his first dau*hter+

Esychoanalytical critics hae accused him of half-reressed incestuous loetowards

his sister+

4&ra Eound commented $r Wordsworth neer ruined anyones morals unless

erhas he has drien some susceti.le ersons to crime in the ery fury of

.oredom+/


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Lyrical !allads

, critic in The Guardianonce comaredLyrical Balladsto un roc in terms of its

challen*e to conention+

There is not a sin*le character in Lyrical Balladswhom the ,u*ustans would haedeemed worthy of oetic effort+

Wordsworths Ereface toLyrical Balladswas the first serious attemt .y a oet to

eGlain and Bustify his methodC

in a sense the first real document of literary analysis+

The title Lyrical !allads is almost an oGymoron+

Lyric#

a oem a.out feelin*

eGressed .y the oet as ersonal and indiidual andaddressed to the reader in the manner of a riate and intimate conersation

!allad#

narratie oem

usually resented from an anonymous oint of iew

narratin* the fate of characters in relation to u.lic and historical eents such

as war+

%nterest in .allads had .een *rowin* since Thomas EercysReliques of Ancient

English Poetry(17


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Eower of natureto gi%e access to &oy and lo%e.

'uestions of %oice and perspecti%e challenge the reader.

,ccordin* to "o.ert ayo there is nothin* ery ori*inal in Lyrical Balladsand it is

mostly an imitation of oular erse written to mae money(as Wordsworthstates in letters)+

The ariety of su.Bects and styles

the themes of nature simlicity and humanitarianism

were commonlace in .oos of oular erse#

$+++ the more one reads the oular oetryof the last 9uarter of the 18 thentury the

more he is liely to feel that the really surrisin* feature of these oems in

the Lyrical !allads (as well as many others) 6 aart from sheer literary

eGcellence 6 is their intense fulfilment of an already stale conention+/

#oetry about rural life had certainly been common in the latter half of the 1 thentury

*oldsmiths The Deserted Village(1++,)rabbes The Village(1+3)

We can e%en loo$ bac$ to *raysElegy(1+1)

ature means se%eral things in Wordsworths poetry it can mean

1. hysical nature(a.$.a. the *reat /utdoors)02. the sense of unityor connection between e%erything (a.$.a. the orce in Star Wars)0

3. a diine resencein ature0 li$e Mother ature.


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Tintern Abbey

What would be the implication of a poem written about a ruined a..eyin the 1+,s45oes the abbey ha%e a sym.olic functionin this poem4

6intern 7bbey is about the ways that we chan*e oer time0 and the ways that we try tofigure out &ust when and how and why we%e changed.

8n short0 it9s about trying to s:uare the person you used to be with the person you%e

become.- When did 8 become the person 8 am now4

- Why dont my memories measure up with the facts4

8n 1+ William re%isited the Wye ;alley with 5orothy. 6his ga%e rise to Tintern Abbey.

6his is the first poem in which Wordsworth0 instead of focusing on the e


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6he code an


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Lines Written , 'ew iles a .oe Tintern , ..ey5

6intern 7bbey begins as aprospect poemD. However, after a brief descrition it beco!es

a !editation onepistemology how "nowledge of the world is ac#$ired, and

psychology how e%erience is stored in the for! of !e!ory and $tili&ed in the !ind.

i%e ye a rs ha%e p a ssed" fi%e summers0 with the length/f fi%e long wintersE+a nd ag a in 8 he a r anahora

6hese w aters0 rolling from their mountain-springs

With a sweet inland murmur. /nce ag a in ersonification(murmur)5o 8 behold these steep and lofty cliffs0

Which on a wild secluded scene impress

6houghts of more deep seclusion" a nd connect6he la ndscape with the :uiet of the s$y.

6he d a y is come when 8 ag a in repose assonance

Cere0 under this d a r$ sycamore0 and %iew F1,G6hese plots of cottage-ground0 these orchard-tufts0 internal rhy!eWhich0 at this se ason0 with their unripe fruits0

7mong the woods and copses lose themsel%es0

or0 with their green and simple hue0 disturb6he wild green la ndscape. /nce ag a in 8 see

6hese hedge-rows0 h a rdly hedge-rows0 little lines alliteration

/f sporti%e wood run wild" these p a storal f a rms*reen to the %ery door" and wre a thes of smo$e8

Hent up0 in silence0 from among the trees0 assonance

With some uncertain notice0 a s might seem0 alliteration

/f % agrant dwellers in the houseless woods0 F2,G/r of some hermits c a %e0 where by his fire

6he hermit sits alone.

not actually true# he wrote the oem after he *ot home from the walin* holiday not in the Wye

3alleyD rosect oemA 1th-century genre in which a landscape is described and moral reflections are attached

to it+ notice how from the .e*innin* Wordsworth connects hainess and sadnessC summer and winter

are ineGtrica.ly lined the smoe that Wordsworth could see didnt come from a*rants or hermits fires .ut from

charcoal .urnin* for the inciient iron industry=


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Wordsworth's concern is not so !$ch with the scene itself b$t with the sensationsit has

generated.

6hough a bsent long0

6hese forms of beauty ha%e not been to me0

7s is a landscape to a blind mans eye=ut oft0 in lonely rooms0 and mid the din

/f towns and cities0 8 ha%e owed to them0

8n hours of weariness0 sensations sweet0elt in the blood0 and felt along the heart0

7nd passing e%en into my purer mind

With tran:uil restoration A feelings too F3,G

/f unremembered pleasure" such0 perhaps07s may ha%e had no tri%ial influence

/n that best portion of a good mans life"

Cis little0 nameless0 unremembered acts

/f $indness and of lo%e. or less0 8 trust06o them 8 may ha%e owed another gift0

/f a spect more sublime" that blessed mood08n which the burthen of the mystery0

8n which the he a%y a nd the we ary weight alliteration

/f all this unintelligible world F?,G8s lightend A that serene and blessed mood0

8n which the affections gently lead us on0

@ntil0 the breath of this corporeal frame0

7nd e%en the motion of our human blood7lmost suspended0 we are laid asleep

8n body0 and become a li%ing soul

While with an eye made :uiet by the power synecdoche10

/f harmony0 and the deep power of &oy0

We see into the life of things.11

8f this=e but a % a in belief0 yet0 ohE how oft0 F,G

8n d a r$ness0 a nd amid the many sh a pes alliteration

/f &oyless d a y-lights" when the fretful stir

@nprofitable0 a nd the fe%er of the world0Ca%e hung upon the be atings of my he a rt0

Cow oft0 in spirit0 h a %e 8 turned to thee

/ syl%an WyeE 6hou w a nderer through the wood alliteration0 aostroheCow often h a s my spirit turned to theeE

the ersion in the Horton has $These .eauteous forms I Throu*h a lon* a.sence hae not .een to

me/1,it is not really his mind which is made 9uiet .ut his mind and .ody11 f+ !laesAuguries of Innocence# $To see a world in a *rain of sand I ,nd a heaen in a wild

flower I old infinity in the alm of your hand I,nd eternity in an hour+/


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7nd now0 with gleams of half-e


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6herefore let the moon

Hhine on thee in thy solitary wal$" F13G

7nd let the misty mountain winds be free alliteration6o blow against thee and in after years0

When these wild ecstasies1:shall be matured

8nto a sober pleasure0 when thy mindHhall be a mansion for all lo%ely forms0 F1?,G

6hy memory be as a dwelling-place

or all sweet sounds and harmonies" /hE then08f solitude0 or fear0 or pain0 or grief0

Hhould be thy portion0 with what healing thoughts

/f tender &oy wilt thou remember me0 F1?G alliteration

7nd these my e


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% Wandered15Lonely ,s , loud1

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