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Nature and the Imagination PART 2 Nature and the Imagination The Bard, c.1817. John Martin. Oil on canvas, 50 x 39.96 in. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection, New Haven, CT. “Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.” —William Wordsworth, preface to Lyrical Ballads 779 John Martin/Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection/Bridgeman Art Library 00779779 U4P2-845482.inddU4P2-845482.indd Sec2:779Sec2:779 11/29/07/29/07 12:48:2412:48:24 PMPM BEFORE YOU READ Wordsworth’s Poetry MEET WILLIAM WORDSWORTH illiam Wordsworth was a true literary his volumes of poetry An Evening Walk and pioneer. He defied the conventions of Descriptive Sketches. Lacking a purpose for his Whis time by insisting that poetry should future, he teetered on the brink of mental collapse. express deep feelings about everyday experiences. In the process, he influenced a generation of poets Literary Acclaim When Wordsworth was in his and helped revolutionize English poetry. mid-twenties, however, his fortunes changed. He inherited money from a friend, was given a cottage Passion for Nature Wordsworth was born in in the Lake District, and was reunited with his sis- England’s Lake District, a land of breathtaking ter, Dorothy, who was his dear friend and confi- scenery. Early in life, he suffered two tragedies: the dant. Soon afterward, he met Samuel Taylor sudden death of his mother when he was eight and Coleridge, and this meeting resulted in what is the death of his father about five years later. The probably the most significant friendship in all of orphaned Wordsworth children were separated. English literature. With the companionship and William and his brothers boarded with a couple support of his sister and his friend, Wordsworth near the school the boys attended, and their sister, began to devote himself to writing poetry. He soon Dorothy, lived with relatives. Though Wordsworth established his reputation as a leading young poet grieved over the loss of his parents, he came to with a slim volume of poems entitled Lyrical love school, the people of the Lake District, and Ballads, first published in 1798. That book, which the land. The passion he developed for poetry, for includes Wordsworth’s poem “Lines Composed a simple country living, and for the natural world Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey” and Coleridge’s was to influence him for the rest of his life. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, became the corner- “Come forth into the light of things, stone of English Romanticism. Let Nature be your Teacher.” Wordsworth contin- —William Wordsworth ued to write through- out his long life, which he spent in the Lake District Rebel in France Wordsworth furthered his with his sister and education at Cambridge University, graduating his wife, Mary. His at the age of twenty-one. While visiting France, he masterpiece, The became caught up in the spirit of the French Prelude, a long auto- Revolution, which he viewed as a struggle for social biographical poem, justice. He also fell in love with a French woman was published after named Annette Vallon. Though he wanted to stay his death. with her, lack of money forced him to return to England. The next few years were difficult ones for William Wordsworth was born in 1770 and died in 1850. Wordsworth. He felt guilty about leaving Vallon, disillusioned by the increasing violence in France, Author Search For more about and disappointed by the poor critical response to William Wordsworth, go to www.glencoe.com. 780 UNIT 4 THE TRIUMPH OF ROMANTICISM Benjamin Robert Haydon/National Portrait Gallery, London, UK, Giraudon/Bridgeman Art Library 7780-79480-794 U4P2U4P2 App-845482.inddApp-845482.indd 780780 66/22/06/22/06 10:42:2610:42:26 AMAM LITERATURE PREVIEW READING PREVIEW Connecting to the Poems Reading Strategy Identifying Genre: In the following poems, Wordsworth describes his Romantic Poetry experiences of nature and their effect on his life. In Wordsworth’s view, Romantic poetry differed from As you read, think about what you can derive from Neoclassical poetry in its emphasis on spontaneity, its appreciating nature. expression of powerful feelings, and its use of simple Building Background language. In 1800 Wordsworth added a preface to the second Reading Tip: Taking Notes Use a web diagram to edition of Lyrical Ballads to explain his new approach list examples of Romantic traits in Wordsworth’s poems. to poetry. Wordsworth’s innovative ideas clashed with those of his predecessors: Swift, Pope, and Johnson, the giants of Neoclassicism. They believed poetry Spontaneity should be an art that engages the mind more than the heart; it should be calculated rather than spontaneous, witty rather than emotional. Wordsworth, on the other hand, suggested that all good poetry springs from the Romantic Poetry “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” that the poet “recollect[s] in tranquility.” He felt that the lan- Powerful Simple guage of poetry should be simple and natural. Feelings Language Setting Purposes for Reading Big Idea Nature and the Imagination Vocabulary As you read, consider what these poems suggest about the relationship between humans and the natural world. sordid (sor did) adj. filthy; selfish; greedy; mean; p. 782 Putting himself before others, Literary Element Enjambment he used any means to achieve his sordid goals. Enjambment is the continuation of a sentence in piety (p¯ ə te¯) n. devoutness; reverence; p. 783 a poem from one line to the next. Wordsworth often With heartfelt piety, he bowed his head upon uses enjambment in his poetry, as in these lines from entering the cathedral. “It Is a Beauteous Evening, Calm and Free”: secluded (si kloo¯¯¯ did) adj. shut off from others; Listen! The mighty Being is awake, undisturbed; p. 786 By hiding in a secluded And doth with his eternal motion make thicket, the fox eluded the hunters. A sound like thunder—everlastingly. repose (ri poz¯ ) v. lie at rest; rest from work As you read, notice additional examples of this technique. or toil; p. 786 Worn out from work, the farmer reposed for a while under a shady tree. • See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R5. Vocabulary Tip: Word Origins and Antonyms Many dictionaries provide the etymology, or the history of a word, along with the word’s definition. Words that are opposite in meaning are antonyms. Interactive Literary Elements Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements, go to www.glencoe.com. OBJECTIVES In studying these selections, you will focus on the following: • understanding genre • analyzing literary periods • evaluating diction • analyzing enjambment • analyzing sensory details WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 781 7780-79480-794 U4P2U4P2 App-845482.inddApp-845482.indd 781781 11/9/07/9/07 12:21:5712:21:57 PMPM The Dissolute Household, 1668. Jan Steen. Oil on canvas. Victoria and Albert Museum, London. William Wordsworth The world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers; Little we see in Nature that is ours; We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!1 1. A boon is a gift. 5 This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon; The winds that will be howling at all hours, And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers; For this, for everything, we are out of tune; It moves us not.—Great God! I’d rather be 10 A Pagan2 suckled in a creed3 outworn; 2. Here, a Pagan is a believer in So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,4 the ancient Greek or Roman gods of mythology. Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn; 3. A creed is any statement of 5 Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea; faith or principles. 6 Or hear old Triton blow his wreathèd horn. 4. A lea (le¯) is a meadow. 5. In Greek mythology, Proteus (pro¯ te¯ əs), an old man and a prophet, would rise from the sea and assume many forms. Big Idea Nature and the Imagination Why is the inability 6. Triton (tr¯t ən) is the son of to be moved by nature tragic to the speaker? the sea god Neptune, who makes the sound of the ocean Vocabulary by blowing through his conch- sordid (sor did) adj. filthy; selfish; greedy; mean shell horn. 782 UNIT 4 THE TRIUMPH OF ROMANTICISM Victoria & Albert Museum, London/Art Resource, NY 782 U4P2 Sel-845482.indd 782 6/23/06 9:31:37 AM William Wordsworth It is a beauteous evening, calm and free, The holy time is quiet as a Nun Breathless with adoration; the broad sun Is sinking down in its tranquility; 5 The gentleness of heaven broods o’er the Sea: Listen! the mighty Being is awake, And doth with his eternal motion make A sound like thunder—everlastingly. Dear Child!1 dear Girl! that walkest with me here, 1. Dear Child refers to Caroline, 10 If thou appear untouched by solemn thought, Wordsworth’s daughter with Annette Vallon. Thy nature is not therefore less divine: 2. According to a Jewish tradition, souls on 2 Thou liest in Abraham’s bosom all the year, their way to heaven rest with Abraham, And worship’st at the Temple’s inner shrine, a father of the Hebrew people, enjoying God being with thee when we know it not. a state of bliss. William Wordsworth My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in the sky: So was it when my life began; So is it now I am a man; 5 So be it when I shall grow old, Or let me die! The Child is father of the Man; And I could wish my days to be Bound each to each by natural piety.
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