Romantic traces in the ecclesiastical sonnets of William Wordsworth

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Authors Granger, Byrd H.

Publisher The University of Arizona.

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Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/319067 ROMANTIC TRACES IN THE ECCLESIASTICAL SONNETS OF WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

by Byrd Howell Granger

A Thesis

submitted to the faculty of the

Department of English

in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree

MASTER OF ARTS

in the Graduate College, University of Arizona

1952

Approved: Director of Thesis

A TABLE OF 'CONTENTS

Chapter '■ ' “. ■ . ; ;; Page

/ iNTRODnq#om: , - ; ; 1

lo. : THE' SONNET AS A ROMANTIC "ELEMENT AND. ITS : • USE IN THE ECCLESIASTICAL SONNETS > » „ 0 20 H e VORDSWORTH’S VOCABULARY AND THE ECGLESI- . ASTICAL : SONNETS „ 0 , »; c 0 0 ; a 0 28 III 0 THE ECCLESIASTICAL SONNETSTHEIR HISTORY ' - and m ~ m m s i r w identic" elemts in PART :,

IV. AN ANALYSIS OF ROMANTIC El M b NTS^IN PART - -S ' . . .: II OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL SONNETS, » . . - .: 70

V T AN. ANALYSIS OF rIjMAUTIC "ELEMENTS ilN PART TT ; III OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL SONNETS 0 - ... 1 ^ 9 .

, VI o- SUMMARY e a „ III: ' 0.: a;’ .o;...T:« . . I:;.:.• ='.: o,;. .1 1 0

• _ , . APPENDH a ■ t> a o. o a o a o o. o a q a;' ® a 121 - TABLE Ir FREQUENCY OF WORDSWORTH?S FAVORITE WORDS-IN THE ECCLESIASTIC CAL SONNETS a . ... «. a e « . > 0 » » 121 TABLE II: FREQUENCY OF WORDSWORTH^S FAVORITE WORDS AND THEIR CL ASS IFI CAP­ TION AS ROMANTIC OR NON-ROMANTIC IN ;■ THE ECCLESIASTICAL SONNETS (PART I) 123 : - ; TABLE III: -' THE. SAME9 PART II ..... a 124 TABLE IV: THE SAME, PART I1I» * . 125 BIBLIOGRAPHY A i , 0. ■. -. I ;o; a. 0 » » . . » . 0126: Stop, Christ i.ah passer-by I Stop, child of God 9 And- read with gentle breasto Beneath this sod. A poet lies, or that which once seemed hee ; . ; - , ;" Samuel Taylor. Coleridge, "Epitaph" INTRODUCTION

The .major problem which faces any student of Wordsworth

■ is the complexity of the nian0 It is one which has attracted .. the attention of scholars whog after turning out tomes

: ■ , concerning specific.phases of ¥ordsworth 3 admit, candidly

that the problem iss in the final word 5 incapable of solution*• The difficulty may lie in the fact that Wordsworth lived long enough to experience changes which his short-lived contempo­ raries - Shelley,'Byronj Keats - lacked time, perhaps^ to ; encompass ® Born ahead of and H y i n g long after them, a poet - for:.whom time' is "measured in decades rather than in. years, . William Wordsworth presents a Complicated picture« ; Part of that picture is shihingly beautiful in its ,

poetic expression® Parts;of it seem'dull and lifeless 0 Occasionally to the appraising.eye the hand of the artist ' seems to have left streaks of color which are the very life of the finer portions at the center of the canvas® The : Ecclesiastical Sonnets were added to the poet? S work when it , W.as. Seven-eighths completed» It Is the purpose of the writer to examine the Ecclesiastical Sonnets closely to ascertain ; ; . to what extent the characteristics which mark the Work of the poet in his most productive years are reflected in the late-born sonnet series ® w,- . : . . , i ' In order to understand what elements are reeognized not only as a part of those denoting.the'romantic era but also as reflecting Wordsworth in his prime, it has been necessary to examine the poet ? s work and the standard critical references in the.field. These are noted in the bibliographyo■It is not within the scope of this paper to present a biographical

resume er an abstract of critical opinions 0 The approach is neither biographical nor philosophical^ but criticale The first step to be taken is to.establish what elements .are those which place Wordsworth In his unique position in , the era of romantic poetry# Even a cursory study of his work reveals that as a poet he moved through various .stages, each dependent upon.that preceding, yet each brilliantly characteristic as a separate phaSe» As A. L= Strout makes clear, there is not simply one Wordsworth;. the poet displays three distinct styles 0 -According to Strout $ they are „ o 0the early Popeian "Evening Walk" and . : ' ^Descriptive Sketches^" one; the Lyrical

Ballads , two; the Poems ‘.of ISO?, three <, >:o-0 : they . prove Wordsworth to have been a great experi­

menter in verse 6 The language of "Yew TreesjM ■ : for example, is as unlike as possible the • ■ language of the simple ballads: the Syntax, word order,-vocabulary are MiltoniCo The style of 1 0 0 7 has become literary, yet purged of artici-

ciality. 1 ■ . : 1 . It-.• Only " the s epond, and third stages -are included in that ' period in'which Wordsworth produced his finest work in its

le d Ao L 0 Strout, "Wordsworth$s Dessication," Modern language Review, 7JDLY (1940), 170o / " : 3o major proportions for both the ^Evening Walk” and the ^Descriptive Sketches” belong to the early years before the

poet had found his poetic voice 0 It was 5 however$ a develop­ ing voicej for the young poet was already speaking in some­ what deeper tones than those who had preceded him*- Is

George McLean Harper says of the ^Descriptive Sketches 3 ” ”He describes the life of poor and humble people without a trace of condescension* This attitude was as yet so rare

in English authors as to be almost novel 0 He paints with that kind of sympathy which, really shares the feelings Of

. • 2 - - - its objectso” The progress of the poet8s genius 3 howevers is not the concern of this paper except as it makes clear those elements which may be said to characterize Wordsworth8s romanticism* Thus it may hot be amiss to point out that" i Go W= Meyer believes that Wordsworth8s early delineation of "fellow beings in distress were conceived in the.older style, as mute and static parts or adjuncts of the scenery

■ - 3 ;■ . he was describing3 " but that the poet18added point and effectiveness to his social criticism by creating real and recognizable victims of society to tell us of their misery

in words ostensibly of their own choosing88 in 88Guilt and

Sorrow * 88 With this view Harper is" in accord® . Wordsworth 8 s

2® George McLean Harperp William Wordsworth, His Life,

Works and Influence, p 0 60® 3o George Wilbur Meyer; Wordsworth8s Formative Years, p*-. 151-15.2, - . — ” interest; in the individual f ound. its apogee in the Lyrical - : Balladso How much concern for individuals^ particularly those of the lower classes and in distress? remains.in- the Iccleslastlcal Sonnets is a point which will be assayed in ' ■ .this study® - , y: :

Wordsworth 1 s :interest in individuals was closely allied to: his interest' in nature , Which., however, - was not the mere viewing of nature with the. old, accustomed esthetic eyeQ Wordsworth added something to the traditional view of nature® He -was not only an observer, but a true partaker of nature, into which he entered in a communion of spirit® H, Wo :Garrod says that “Wordsworth had these experiences at first mostly in.connexion with the appearances of what we call vNature?, and they came to him, not by mental abstrac­ tion, but through the senses® ®®® they were apprehended by that part of the faculties which may be called ’Nature* as '

^ V X.:':, ■ : 4 '■ \ v :.. ; distinguished from Reason o’1. • Garrod adds that the poet found such experiences With nature the source of good® ; Herbert Read indicates that the poet’s attitude toward nature extends beyond this concept by distinguishing between the life of nature and the life of man, and that t h i s - : '' IX- X ■;' • :X: ■: . is perhaps the most important point to remember X X in considering Wdrdsworth’s poetry® X.® it is. -:; to this carefully kept distinction that we ©We -

4e Ho- Wo Garrod-, Wordsworth: Lectures and Essays, p® 9&® ; the absence of sentimentality in his attitude" taward Nature*, The/ romantic poet projects into ' Nature his - own f eelings and sentiments * . „ » * For • ;

ilordsworth 3 however Nature had her own life r which was ihdepehdent of ours/, though a part of the same (ladhead«^/^ and Nature, Mind and the external world? are/geared together and in unison / . complete the motive principle, of the universe-® 5. : . The foregoing applies particularly to ideas present in

that poetry which followed/on the heels of the poet 8 s early" : work with/ its neo-= el as sic shadings o, But Wordsworth was not .

content to accept single ideas 5 and in his early concept of ::nature he failed to find an answer to the problem of the Origin of man’s mindo He believed that nature instructed men for moral good, but the problem of the mind, according to Tif® Beach, ’’was too difficult of solution by/reference merely to nature i ,.a growing dualism shows itself in Words'* worth’s emphasis on/imagination as /a/spiritudl-facuity necessary to the reading of nature , and he. ehded by virtually ’ giving up nature and deriving man’s spirit directly ’from God, " " /;: / ■ _ 6 " ■ /" ' : -■■■ ■ ■'./" / ,:/ ■" / ' ^ "... who is our homes’,f ; Beach comments further that the poet was seeking for a moral philosophy which would/guide men to ’’just and reasonable practices in social life, and so ftq] . / ■ . ■'//' ' " / " . - ''/' ■ - // ; . ; . / / -: ‘ / / 7 - - '' . /-/'". ; / • the rapid amelioration- of human conditions o" " For a time during his third period Wordsworth seemed tO have found the >

5o Herbert Read, Wordsworth^ pp 0 iBf-lBfa _-

' /. 6c, " Jo W® Beach, ’ The Cbncept of Nature in Nineteenth- Century English Poetry. p» 13® / " "/ ' // ; answer,' but it ti and his power of imagination -"faded away®.;: By the time Wordsworth wrote his Ecclesiastical Sonnets, his ideas on nature had undergone radical change ® The traces o f ■ nature in the sonnet series will be noted in due course® •: The importance of the French Revolution to the poet requires brief mention, for its influence resulted ultimately not only in the production of the Eoclesiastical Sonnets - as a whole (because of the poetss reactionary response to the revolution’s results), but also in direct: expression within the sonnet lines of ideas that developed from the "• poet5s revolutionary contacts® The effect of the revolution

on ■ the poet is well . known 0 Raleigh puts the ease well when :': he states that the revolution turned Wordsworth$s mind from : man as .not being "the ideal of the Revolution, the simple, gpod men, clear in mind and strong in act," to a determine- at ion to "reduce human life to its. lowest terms, to; see whether it is in itself a thing of worth®" . From this developed that poetryof the common man which is so distinctly Wordsworth? s owne - Wordsworth$ s employment of . simple language requires no comment, but will be hoted as it is reflected in the Ecclesiastical Sonnets® That which, has been presented in these pages may be v said to apply:to the poet as he was and as he wrote in the ■ ; -

So Walter Raleigh, Wordsworth 0 n® 176® ; -

- • 9® Loco cite p W. ;;.-,/;. ■ u":. ^. pu ;;. ':"'p Ipv- ' :. p ;;tl the productive years of the hyrical Ballads, "Michael," and in what Harper has called his "period of childhood" when the flood of memory ran through his poetry in a clearf swift stream® But the poet$ s viewpoint continued to change^ with events accelerating the shift© By 1802 he had begun to step away from intimacy with nature and man, and to gather more unto himself$ so that the poetry of that year and after reflects the attitude of one who is approaching a time when . it is more comfortable to sit on the sidelines and observe than to join in strenuous activity© "The Leech Gatherer"

and I’The Solitary Reaper" belong in this category 0 The later "Ode to Duty" and "Elegaic Stanzas*" as Harper notes* "mark the turning point in his life* the beginning of a complete reversal of his. speculative views * and a significant

' ' : ' 1 0 alteration of his poetic style and methods®" So Ginger- ich* in commenting on the poet"s.changing outlook* remarks

that it is a shift in religious viewpoint 5 stating that up to 1802 or thereabouts the drift of Words- worth11 s. mind was toward a deeper and deeper inwardness - from naturalism to immanence* from the mystic in Nature to the mystic in man* At first he placed emphasis on Deity in Nature, but gradually he came to place greater emphasis on Deity in Man© H . ■ ■ The transition had to occur before the poet could produce the Ecclesiastical Sonnets®

10o Harper* op, cit,, p® 453®. 11o Solomon Francis Gingerich, "Wordsworth; in the Romantic Poets, pp, 137^138® • _ While it was stated earlieh; in these pages, that no 0 . ' attempt would be made to deal with the philosophical • Wohdsworthj,- no analysis of the Ecclesiastical Sonnets > can, in the writer5s opinion, claim that it approaches completeness unless it takes into consideration:at least : the high-lights of,Wordsworth1s philosophical background and something of what has been termed his mysticism^ • As for the first aspect,, scholars of unquestionable authority admit that it is impossible to assert positively what'are the immediate sources of Wordsworth!s philosophy or howmuch he may have comprehended of then«current philosophical workso Nevertheless, in arriving at any \ .

conclusions regarding the -Ecclesias 1 1 cal Sonnets „ one " first accepts the belief that the philosophical-rpots ‘ . of the Series reach deep into the undercurrent discussed i:.' ■ :.v; : v" . , by Margaret Sherwood » It is doubtful if the sonnet series with its sense of.historical unity and its expressed belief in the progress of man through religion could have been written before Herder expressed his ideas? Miss Sherwood: says:that Herder presented an ^interpretation . of life from its first dawn as progress from lower to -■ higher j, an endless development in which the later stages . > depended on the lower J’ Further, Soleridge and Wordsworth

1 2 Margaret Sherwood ^ Undercurrents of influence in :;

English Romanti c Poetry 0 -' • :

' , 1 3 V M d 0, Pq is.:- ; ■ ■ ' • v * - -'' % / . 'v ; ■ \ V v:; '9° discussed philosophy ah length, a n d .it is possibly from this that Wordsworth derived the. Plotinian belief nthat there is

: ■v'.r'r 'f '-'V . ''I'r f 1 A-' a seed of the incorruptible divine in every .creatureen- In addition, Miss Sherwood notes that the age of the romantic poets was marked by a new concept, the responsibility of . • individual man toward his.fellow creaturese . The bearing : of Kant’s ideas on the sonnet series will be discussed in the ■ summary*. The point being made here Is merely that the poet

was inevitably the product of his times; the sonnet series had to await the synthesis of ideas within Wordsworth’s . mind'before the Ecclesiastical Sonnets could be written«. As for Wordsworth’s mysticism, that which made possible his close oommunidn wi th nature,- ,#dith C, Batho comments . :'- • that Vfrom 179$ onwards for several years, a longer period than seems to be usual, the mystical experience was fre-

' ' ° ' ■ /' \ : . . ' 1 6 " ... quently;.repeated, with deepening significance*’’ The loss of the power, moreover, was accompanied by the loss of poe tic power as . noted above * : ; ' ■ As early as about lS02, considerably earlier than b .. ' his critics would put any decay in his poetic powers, Wordsworth recognized in.himself the lessening frequency of the visitations, the . b gradual dulling of the ” celestial light«” He

14» Ibid,, p. 16* " %

15^: rbldl^^^ ■ - t : vyV .

16® Edith C . Batho, The Later . Wordsworth, . p » 308* - ■ V' . 1 0 .• ascribedr:lt td : advancing age, and character- . ' r /-;-

■ 0 -VW-. istically refused to be entirely discouraged; ;; but - if we are to reason, as we legitimately may, from the experience of others, he had passed beyond the stage of intuitions« Before / . the fading of the t$celestial light" andV;cbn-;; x tinning to "the end, came" that self-discipline, that necessary element of ascetism, which appears in all mystics, who take -their experience serious- ^ ' y ' ly® o- o o The greatest poetical- triumphs of \ •.. Wordsworth* s self “discipline Reflect} " co. that ■ : : ; Duty which is not the mere demand for the; . • • tithing of mint ajid anise and cummin, but the t ^ requirement to keep the weightier matters of . • : ’ the law, proceeding fronr the Eternal Justice. . . -'-/ ' ■ The influence•of Wordsworthrs mysticism on his poetry can scarcely be overestimated. Helen B&rbishire says^that it-lies at "the core of his knowledge of man and Nature, ■ and g ave ano th er'dimens ion to his poetry: he was at times intensely aware of a presence interfused in the universe, with which his mind was ' in touch, withotit' the.vmediation of y. /.-. - ,y'w; is : . thdught or image . ’I N , /-P. Stallknecht believes that in common ;wi^h^;most^'-i^S'ticiams-,' Wordsworth? s entailed an ’ awareness of the dependence of every single - thing in the ■ world upon all others.* His comment sheds some light on " . 1

. what has been termed the. poet 8 s pantheism: . the mystical principle of monism which ; ‘ " : j " so often leads to pantheism"in religion: the finite objects of our everyday life are not : .

17. Ibid., pp., 308-310.

' v - 18 o Helen Darbishire , "William' Wordsworth , ^ The -Spent at Pry. No» 6356 (April 21, 1950)," 52?. •;; / . ' '' . illtisions j but tfeir mutual, independence - . iso So highly integrated: is this world of : v ; things^ that it may be best described as -> : ;.:v:>// ' i :

i resembling a minds, 1 ° - -u ■ f /.vt: . And, to carry the background to-its conclusion, which bears/ upon'the. poetry;of- the later Wordsworthj the poet * s moral , ' concepts arose from ?lawareness of the world, and of the ; . living forces which constitute the world, and- /carries with it .supreme- moral imperatives which spring front a ; 'primal sympathy,'"io which'all human beings would respond if only ; . they could pause iong enough in the practical routine o f .

^ ■ ; . - ■ ■ 2 0 ■ ■ ■■ ; - ": ■ their lives to feel it vividly0n It was a concept which reached deep, and reached oiit tp; touchlothersAwith its" ' up

- vitality, put; something happened to it 0 Wordsworth lost the

.faith, which.: 3tallknecht says he had in 1 8 0 0 „ that "the . ; ; : . Imaginative man lif e« the-: romantic poetj is the proper teacher of; hh p :human raceyV destined to lead "the unenlightened o»o slowly to the position of the elected* : ' The "Ode to Duty" clearly reflects-the change within the poet, the loss off the mystical approach,, the coming of the f v self “-discipline which Miss Darblshire notes® Stallknecht, fr of course, claims the change may be ascribed to Wordsworth* s

19® Newton Pc Stallknecht» Strange Seas of Thoughts " ^ ^ v .' ;;f ; 20® Ibid®, n® 21* n ■ UvV. ;;-f f g. ff: a : .yf-- ; 21® ■ Ibid of Po 229 o :.:f-h f> /,fpf ^ " f f ; f' ff:;' : falling prey to the 78democratic ■ fallacy, with its pernicious : : / f :-iV ^ 22 ' leveling of great minds and small *n ;/ However, it is diffi- :

. cultrto reconcile this "point • of view with phe poet 8 s own ■ observation that he was losing the t? vision any gleam*?! ::’lb;'" '-vy ■seeme that?.a; loss.;of?myspiOism, rather than a misinterpreta- ^ tion of democratic principles, is involved^ More to the point is: Stallknecht$s remarking the presence of Stoicism in .the; "Ode to Duty,ri whi ch, he say a, " emphasi ses the moral - - dependence of the individual upon an eternal law of duty - - 23

something akin to Kant 1 s categorical imperative:®" . Raleigh - may be closer .to: thd unsolvable "truth of the matter when he

claims that Words%0 rth "lost sympathy "in his later life .with

his earlier mystical, intuitions®, 1 He desired.: in his decline,

to give the age the moral lessons it asked ® 1 1 The question remains whether the age asked for- the moral instruction or -. whether- WordsWorth 'gave, it. hecanse:,-he;:.chose?to do so® i . t: ■ Inasmuch as mysticism, was a vital part of Wordsworth? s second and third periods, one may reasonably inquire whether „ any trace of it remains in the Ecclesiastical Sonnetsi . , Howeyer, before undertaking the business of placing" each .gl sonnet in • the series under the denuding eye .of criticism, ' there'appears a need for discussion of the circumstances ;?. . 13 = which led to the possibility of their composition, for in outline and content they may, perhaps, seem thoroughly out

of key with the harmony of Wordsworth’s greatest period 0 An integral part of those circumstances was the poet’s changing political and religious outlooke It is not necessary to attack the problem of Wordsworth’ changing political views in any great detail, or to approach them at a date earlier than that which saw the beginning of his patriotic sonnets, for his attachment to the French Revolution is clear, and his despair upon England’s declaring

war oh France is attested to in his poetry 0 But the results of revolution, which led to tyranny of the Napoleonic order, was another question^ He Bo Fairchild gives what seems an accurate estimate of Wordsworth’s outlook on post-war England; Fairchild says that . he feared the English reform movement, which - ' was greatly stimulated by post-war conditions,

even more than he had feared Napoleon 0 The secular, utilitarian, materialistic temper of the reformers descended from an eighteenth- century tradition hostile to that which had' fostered his own thought® From 1S15 onward, Wordsworth’s Toryism became even more rigid than the work of the preceding period would have led

us to expect 0 He still desired freedom and happi­ ness for all men® He was by no means satisfied with the social callousness of the Toriesc It - fell far.below his Burkian ideal of non-competi­ tive feudal society in which aristocratic privi­ leges entailed paternal obligations toward the poor and lowly® But whenever the possibility of doing something arose, his dread of revolution­ ary change threw him into the Tory camp®^5'

25o . Hoxie Neale Fairchild, Religious Trends in English Poetry, III, 221-222; To thlg Tear, of rovolntionary action, 0»Je Campbell would add . an interesting, explanation for the change in the poet, whose . "early poe try : established man? s oneness Wi th Nature , "and the . 26 ; i dent if i cation of his spirit with that of his fellow men/1' ^ : ' ■while his later work, on the other hand/ "revealed man8s per^ :v sonality as possessed of aspirations and powers which emanci­ pated him from the wori d of eye and ear/, and also from his ties with his fellow men. Wordsworthfs political and social conservatism was thus a natural result of his deeply f elt inde- ■"h:"’ '- ::m :V - ^ 1 a- : ' / n h - '1; - : . - 27 . - - pendence of all the manifestations of mutability^" The state#-' - ment fails to explain the poet’s active opposition to mutability ih public affairs.;Willard Lo Sperry takes a median position : ' Waich, shows much common sense*. He recognizes, as does Fair- / child, that the poet remained constant to his political

. V • t T f : ' f- . h u h ■: 2d ■ ■ ; ideals, which^ however, were not- "political programs.1’ And, Sperry thinks the poet’s conservatism may have been due to - V ■ the f act that . Wor dswor th was "from first to last - a stubborn north-country Englishman, anxious above all else, in politi cal matters, to perpetuate the society in which he had grown up ' h ,■; -- 'u''■ 29 ' h" : , fh. ' as a boy and youth.’’ ■ Wordsworth’s increasingly manifest conservatism was, as

would be expected, refle cfed in his -poetry. F 0 E 0 Leavis says

. 26. Oscar James Campbell, ’’Wordsworth’s Conception of : the Esthetic Expe rience, ” Wordsworth and Coleridge: Studies -... in Honor of Ceorge McLean Harper, pP 45« - ■ 27. Loch cit. _ h - t h-': -f/' :.h:. '-;■■■ : :; :u;;v'h h::;

2 d. : Willard Sperry. Wordsworth’ s' Anti-Climax, p. 75* 15o.

tHat when Wordsworth began writing patriotic sonnets 8 climbed onto the public platform* The r esurt was a lessening of his poetic powers$ because the; public voice is a substitute for the inner voice? and engenders an insensitiveness to this V : to its remembered (or$ at least? to its recorded)

burden and tone 0 For the sentiments and attitudes of the patriotic and Anglican Wordsworth o ® are external, general and conventional The "poet: remained on the public platform,- so to speak, with­ drawing further and further into a nationalism which disliked any influence threatening to disturb the peace of England t

What the effect of this can be is well stated by Harper 0 ■V;,''v-Fo"f; him-the:::early: nineteenth'century,; with its " V reaction, its panics,;;-itstdistrust f n ratipnaliSmy ■ its backwardrlooking to: the"®iddie : Agesy its- " : .checking of the high-hearted Renaissance, began :.■ v during the Ominous paUse that fallowed the treaty: of Amiens ® ■ <, .«» High conservatism, With ■ its historic background^ and bold radicalism, with its appeal to :: -the future, are both of. them fit air for poets to. breathe, but the thick and low-creeping atmosphere of a policy wtase only object is to increase the wealth of a nation can only asphyxiate art of " every: kind»3° .. . . ^ . c Closely -alliedwith Wordsworth$s political thought, particularly in the period immediately preceding the pro­ duction of the Ecclesiastleal Sonnets® was Wprdsworthis .Anglicanism© Miss Batho warns readers to remember that the poet * s childhood background was thoroughly Anglican, and

v ' F, Ho Leavis„ "Revaluations, 71® Wordsworth," Scrutiny, 111 (1934), 256© • :; ; - V 30o Harper, op® c i t p® 355® that he:early learned "that a sacrament has two parts, a n ,. outward' visible sign and an inward spiritual grade »1f She :

does not see that Wordsworth ever deserted Anglicanism*: On 1 the /other hand, RalDv Havens- insists that "any study of Words- . worth^ s- religion must inevitably come to the conclusion that no formulation of. his beliefs is possible,lending authority :to the statement by indicating Wordsworth^ s shift from an early orthodox Anglican position to that of pantheism8. Miss Bathe makes a pertinent observation that theologians such as lean Inge;and'Dr» Elias Monk are not disturbed by the appli­ cation of the term tpahtheist" to Wordsworth* She. claims v the poet was a;.]?panbheiettf only- by a loose application of the term" and that-'"there is. not hing mutually co nt radictory be tween pantheism and Christian Orthodoxyf they are, in face in com- , -.' ; ' 23 •- ■ y ; . . - ' . - ' ' -piete agrOementPerhaps Cihgeiiol states the case more . succinctly by saying that Wordsworth "is the most modern of moderns in his constant insistence on the principle of• immanencet God is not ah.absentee Being in relation to His v ■ Universe .- Be is i n :Nature and in Man.t. . Melvin Mo .Rader agrees in substance with this viewpoint, for he seeks to

.31» Bat ho, op*"- city, p a 242®. ■ :> ; 32® Raymond b„ Havens,The Mind of a Poet® A Study of ? Wordsworth*s Thought With Particular Reference to The .Prelude, p„ 197* ■ eliminate misconceptions which may exist in connection with Wordsworth * s use of the term nlove?n saying that he considers ihe use; of the term- transcendentale nThe safest interpretation^ Eaderv whites j- "is that he , was speaking literally, that he genuinely conceived of the profoundest love as welling up ;

' from the underpresence of God. from the 1 soul divine which ' v 3 5 : ■ v-v : v - we partieipatelr,r - v . Cert ainly no one would argue that Wordsworth is - religious-:

outlook did not undergo change 0 It was a different thing in the days, when the sound of humanity came to him with. - the "raucous ring of Godwinism" from what it was when he penned the Immortality Ode, in which Gingerich says one can

diseerh the poet 8 s- -drift toward orthodox Anglicanism; * ; The.faith of Christianity asserts as two cardinal: : principles that : a^;inanis. Sotilcis worth more than the whole world because it is immortal, and that the visible worlds were framed by a Spiritual power, "so thatas St» Paul says, "the things ' ' which are seen are not made by the things that do ..appear" The main lines in Wordsworth's thinking were slowly converging toward these central truths .• of Christianity| it is easy to make the identity» - In short,; the : poem; is an exposition of the faith . of liberal /Christianity »37 ■ ‘ . ■ Harper may be numbered among those who seeano real change in WordsworthTs inner religion, but only in the. way in which it

35o .Rader, opo ;bit« ^ p* 155o

. .3 6 o,-l Garrod, opo cit 0, p 0 CQ0 ■ '•■■■ '• / ‘ l 8 o

manifested itself outwardly® 1 8 1 cannot believe," he says^ that the foundations of Wordsworth8,s religion were really

■ • - . 3 8 - shaken either in middle life or in old age 0 88 Then he continues with this observation;

Nature and experience were still 3 I thinks the sources of his faith, reason its guide, and the whole round of life its proper sphere» But = = e he began to respect and appreciate? and later he learned to love, the speeific means by which Christendom had attained and embodied religious

conceptions® e<>o He did not 88go over88 to popular Christianityo He learned to include it in the great circle of his sympathies e.39 To this Harper adds an extremely significant statement; In a very considerable degree his acceptance of the terms and methods through which religion takes on a specifically, Christian character was caused by political considerations® He had in view the general welfare of his country as well

as his own personal needs ® ^ 0 It is doubtful whether Wordsworth, would have written the Ecclesiastical Sonnets at all if it had not been for such

Apolitical considerations.*,f • Wordsworth, it will be recalled, feared the violence of revolution, yet the England of 1 8 1 9 was the scene of the infamous St® Peter8s Fields massacre, and her homes and halls were filled with the raised voices of debate on the question of Parliamentary Reform and its inherent promise of permitting Catholics to sit in Parliament

38® H arper, op® cit*, p ® 444»

3 9 o Loc® cit®

4 S o Ihrdo, p o 4 4 5 ® It was the latter which" disturbed the poet deeplyHe knew ' : the history, of hiscountry, and he knew of the violent h -: disorders caused b y ; Catholic upheavals during the years :both prior tb ahd following the Reforniatioiia : His'fears for his country„ his belief in the evils of .- -Catholicism which cohid gnaw at the roots of all he lo.vedg • .and his reverence for the Church of England as a unifying force both in th e ' life of the nation and the life of the Individual, sowed the seeds for the Ecclesias tic al Sonnets a ' It is hot surprising that Wordsworth composed them„ He was the only poet of his time who was.equipped and ready t o ‘do so ;V':: : \ Y CffAFTER I - V. r : : ' THESG E M T ' AS. A mMMTIC■ ELEMEHT ' ^ r : / v>: M E ITS; USE IN THE ECCLESIjlSTICH. SONNETS'T ■v : .< .

One oC the characteristics of the romantic period is the

revival of older poetic -forms 5 and in this William Wordsworth : may he termed a leadero His use of blank verse, the reflec­ tion of balladry in his poems, the adaptations which he . made of - the ode form all attest to this' fact, and in the :r employment of the sonnet as well he was far from laggardo : There- are those oritics, who- leave; one with the impression : that Wordsworth happened upon the sonnet form almost ■ . J

accidentally 0 This was not the ease ? for as Harper . : indicates, one of his earliest poems took the form of a •; . ■; ;; : i l l " : . - ■ sonnets The young poet, Ipng,before he .became an,expert in his- craft, was experiemehting; with forms, the sonnet among them* However, he neglected the sonnet for several • years# not employing the form again until, one. notable day

in 1 8 0 2 when "he took fire on hearing his sister read the .■sonnets’■■■ ofImltbn.^-.and produced three of his own on the- same afternoon*" . . ' . . • ; ' V- - .

41 o Laurie Magnus, A Fflmer of Wordsworth, p 0 136s Oliver Elton, WbrdsworthV p» 58» : t' ' - , • ■ \ ■42»; Harper, opt clt> p* 438® l ' .1-" .

43» Elton, opo clto , p 0 5 8 =, . ■ :v: . ' ' That Wordsworth should ^haTe been ihterested in experi- mentlug with the; sonnet and in studying its use by older masters Is in line with what he had expressed in his iSOO "Preface^ to the Lyrical Ballads, in which he elaimed that ■ an accurate taste in poetry o.o = is an acquired talent, ' which can only he produced by.thought and a long.continued Intercourse with,.the best models of composition0$$ Harper draws? attention to the iact that • Wordsworth studied .Italian and translated Michelangelo’s sonnetss:and that he revered v-v.;:? ^ 5 ■■ - n ; ■' ■■ ■- : ; ■ Milton a, Wo rdsWorth became a master of the sonnet form® In'accbmplishing/thiSg he again proved his originality, for he did not hesitate,to. adapt the: sonhet form to his own needs'o .Whereas one critic takes a severe view of the poet’s :: ': straying from the fold in his employment of the form? claiming. that. the poet’ s ’’Irregularities are so numerous and .some of them so gross that we can’t doubt that Wordsworth deviated ' . - ■ h'vwhhV , 46 from his model because he was unable to? keep to its” \ others take the More charitable view that Wordsworth knew . . iWhat he/rWas? doing s and that' his / deviations, led the way for? the use of the sonnet by. later poets such as Keats® It is ?

• :. ■ 44® William Wordsworth, .’’Preface to the Second Edition;?: ? Of Several of the Foregoing Poems s Published, :With an • ? '? Mdiitional /Volume, Under the Title of ’’lyrical Ballads,” : / in English Poetry and Prose;of the Romantic Movement„ o®353®

yh?;."::; ' 4 5 VV Harpery opv citt, Po ,43.So - : ;t?.. ;/ : ';?. 46® -Hi Simons. '.’’The'Etiology?of the Wordsworth Case,” Symposium, IV (19331, 356® ;?y ? ? v . y : r 23. romantic elements are discovered, they occur in the octaves, not in the sestets - a statement which was found to be true in approximately sixty-five per cent of the romantic traces found in the Ecclesiastical Sonnets in the course of this study. There are many opinions concerning the motives behind Wordsworth*s turning to the use of the sonnet in his poetry• Not the least interesting is that advanced by James Russell Lowell, who indicates that Wordsworth was unable to control proportion in his work, so that his poetry often wallows in wordiness; There is no limit to his - let us call it facundity [jsicTJ. He was dimly conscious of this, and turned by a kind of instinct, I sus­ pect, to the sonnet, because its form forced boundaries upon him, and put him under bonds to hold his peace at the end of the fourteenth line. Yet even here nature would out, and the oft-recurring same subject continued lures the nun from her cell to tne convent parlour, and tempts the student to make a pulpit his pensive citadel. The hourglass is there, to be sure, with its lapsing admonition, but it reminds the preacher only that it can be turned.4# Wordsworth turns the hourglass frequently in his Ecclesi­ astical Sonnets» using the sonnet form like a stanza. His failure to emply the sonnet form most effectively may be considered an indication of decay in his poetic powers. In tracing the growth and gradual decay of Wordsworth1s ability to employ the sonnet, Elton states that the first and finest group was that of 1502 in which, it is to be noted,

45. James Russell Lowell, "President*s Address, 1554," Wordsworthiana: A Sele ction from Papers Read to the Wordsworth Society, pp. 175-176. to be noted t hat the ' latter ’view is romantic in -outlook -in - ; that; it ;accepts innovation, whereas the ' former ^maihtains the. -

nclassicist1 sn insistence oh adherence t o :estahlished formc Oliver Elton, in his discussion of Wordsworthfs use of the sonnet fo rm, states that the, poet followed. Milton! s example in varying the position of the volta, the break in ' grammar: and thought; which forms the pivot of the poem, ' : : t

while metrical analysis.;reveals that his use of f 6 m s for-;/w both the octave and the sestet are 15the .permitted onesy ' ; abba abba and abab..- abati, though in the later series the ...irregular form abba acca,_ and its variants, become; "very. : abundantf ' : ;. . ; h\-_. - - . : >. \ ;.h- ' Certainly the statement applies to the Ecelesiastieal' Sonnets, ,a late-born series in which. the sonnet octaves . . . .possess many.irregularitiese " The frequency of irregularities in the sestets exceeds their occurrence: in the octaves. The result is that the;sestets are often rough and inharmonious* In the octaveshvthe lines are somewhat .smoother andmore ' melodious * This may be due to the fact that the octaves ; , geherally set the stage, whereas the sestets tend’to be - • ' didactic« , Perhaps ’ Wordsworthis poetic voice rasped under . ;f didactic fightening much-as the tightening: throat muscles of an evangelist tend to harsh sounds«- Generally speaking, where -

17* El tori,: op. cit., p. 6 3 * the subject matter is largely on public affairsc Of those Wordsworth wrote in 1803„ ;Elton says that,, with the exception of ”To the Men . of'.Kent, •” they "fall into the more even:. . regular speciesj which we already.- divine fhat; Wordswroth will use as M s habitual medium for his reflections or ■vfeffusions<. Harper comments that from this period : onward Wordsworth apparently found in the sonnet "the favourite vehicle of his opinions, as distinguished oh.the 1. one hand from the records of his direct observation of , nature, and on the other from the.larger outlines of his philosophy0n - He adds a sentence'which goes straight to the heart of the matter when it comes to analyzing the : ■ lack-of ; zest and life in the Ecclesiastical Sonnets: • ^Being opinion, they are often passionately dogmati Co" . in ' sdnnets which Wordsworth prddiiced in 18land l; :--v ■ : thereafter, Elton perceives that the poet is "skill and

t ; :■ It ; 5 2 : V. - t i t- • i inspiration.are fadingo", What followed were the three sonnet series, including the Biver Huddon sonnets, the Eoclesiastlcal Sonnets, and the later Sonnets Upon the Punishment of Death,, ; . The question now arises as to how far the Ecclesiastical Sonnets reflect the Wordsworth of the early years, the poet

49, Elton, op,, cito, p» 59» 50» Harper, op. cit0.y Po 439V ^ 51c Loco cito ‘ ; - 3 V ■ 52® Eltdn, pp» cito, pe 60<, : . ■ " ' :; . - ^ - ^ : 25*, ;: ■■ who found freer expressioh in his.;: choice of poetic foism than had poets"in the, preceding generation, As a young man he had contributed toward expanding the subj ect m t t e r of poetry® The older Wordsworth may be considered as, continuing the early worK}.’ for G e Sanderlin says, tfThe use of the sonnet for

religious poetry had increased somewhat after ld!2 , but hardly enou#i to deprive Wordsworth of the title of pioneer / 53 : in the fie Id with , his Ecclesiasti cal Sketches ®** Thus it " would appear that Wordsworth emerges again in the .vanguard® • Sanderlin gives Wordsworth credit for ^inspiring a revival of - the sonnet, 'sequehce Or at least loose sonnet group; for there were few ghOups before lo28,. while nearly all the groups, from

1 8 2 8 -■ I 8 5 O are either descriptive or religiouson :. " midht^ be- expectedpof a poet who was, never slow to discuss his own work, Wordsworth'had something to. say about -

his reasont'.for employing the • sonnet form in- the Sketches:® 8 . . For ,the convenience of passing from one point of • the subject to ariother, without shocks of abruptness, thisfwork has taken the ; shape of a series of Sonnets: . . - but: the Reader, it is to be hoped, will find that the, pictures are often so closely connected as to have t , ' jointly the effect of passages of a poem in the form

f 8 f, of 8 :stanzas; to 8 whiCh. the rev is no . ob je cti on but one

8 8 that bears upon the Poet only - its difficulty« 55

53® G e" Sanderlin, "The Influence oiPSilten ,and Words*- worth on the Early Victorian Sonnet,” ELH, V (1938), 229® 54® Ibid®, Note 53, P® 242* ' 55® : William Wordsworth, Notes of 182? (as given in the text of l:850i) to .the Ecclesiasti cal Sonnets, .quoted in The Griti cal Opinions of William Words wo r th jo® 423® ; The Reader will observe that:the Poet is attempting to • silence;;the critieism. agaiiist prolixity which- has been " - remarked in the-quotatibn from-Lowell’s address to the Wordsworth Society® On the other hand, so eminent-a -: v " scholar as Harper believes that Wordsworth gaihed something. by employing the sonnet form in. his Ecclesiastical Sonnets Q _ . • By using the sonnet form/ the poet was able to - rise to o»<> high levels when the subject warmed; : .him& He escaped the danger of seeming to attempt p ■ ■, - any thing like a. syst emat ic di s c our s e ?' andvcould . ■ select without huch restraint some of the really inspiring moments and figures of Church history«, .ft ; - When he was caught by the lure Of system, he failed, as in the sonnets on MBaptism,” ^Sponsors," .

and ’’The Commination Service 0 nP5o : v .'.. ;■ Possibly' Harper ’ s praise runs.too high® In the first place it may have been Wordsworth’s plan to present Church ; historys but his. selectibn of figures was governed in partV it may be concluded, by personal prejudice rather than an integrity which' demanded that notable figures <= even those pf Whom the poet disapproved - should be included because - of theiriunquesfloned 'dpntributldns to the progress;of the Church in Englando To be specific," one finds If difficult to forgive Wordsworth® s omission of thpse Norman. bishops: ' ; whose work occupies a large chapter in Church history® : In the writer’s ppinion, such omission can be ascribed only.: to Wordsworth’s anti-French bias© ; ;: p Secondly,- one fails to see the; justification for the us© of the sonnet form on the basis that i t enabled the poet to rise•to nhigh levels when the subject warmed himo” Aside from the fact that in the winter of his poetic powers Wordsworth did not warm up very often, one recalls that in his most productive years when the poetic voice was strong within him, he had not felt impelled to employ the ; sonnet formo This is not intended to deny that certain : ' sonnets in the Ecclesiastical. Sonnets fail to equal in power and expression those earlier poems such as.the Prelude which have established beyond question Wordsworth's place in the. first rank of English poetsI On the basis of the foregoing discussion of the sonnet form and its use by Wordsworth in the Ecclesiastical Sonnets the writer concludes that they reflect romanticism in that the conception of the sonnet series as-such, and the series as a group of religious poems , is a part of the Wordsworth - who experimented with poetic form and ideas <= It is a question ^whether the sonnets- themselves mirror romanticism in their manifest irregularities or whether they merely illuminate the poet’s fading powers«, On the basis of the analysis of individual sonnets for their romantic elements, which - as will be seen - reveals few to exist, one is inclined to lean toward; the view, that the irregu­ larities may be assigned to the latter cause® ; ; ‘ CHAPTER II : ■

, WORBSWORTH *S VOCABULARY AEB THE ECCLESIASTICAL SONMETS

It is perhaps unnecessary to indicate that any study of words used by William Wordsworth can do no more- than serve, as incomplete reflections of the poet8s romanticism and its remnants in later work such as the Ecclesiastical

Sonnets* The brief analysis which follows reveals, however 3 some not inconsiderable facts concerning the poet ?s favorite words and their survival in the sonnet series * Franklin.Bliss Snyder, who has investigated Wordsworth?s faVprite, words, has published the following list: Love, heart, man, mind, eye, nature, power,•light, earthj heaven, hope, pleasure, soul, spirit, truth,- : joy, sun, shadow, death, mountain, time, hand, fearj night, happy, friend, flower, deep, child, rock, rest, vale, place, silent, sight, sound, fair, free, human, peace, wood., word, wind, cloud,

field, bliss, beauty 0 5° : ' The list reads like the essence of Wordsworth* s poetry*

That it is in fact just that is indicated by M r 0 Snyder? s investigation of concordances of Spenser, Shakespeare, Gray, Cowper, 'Shelley, -Keats, and Tennyson, which reveal

57o The list is arranged in approximately the border of relative frequency of use*” ■ : 50* :Franklin Bliss Snyder, “Wordsworth? s Favorite Words, Journal of English and Germanic Philology, XXII (1923), 2.54® : / >: . v : : .:29. that: as favorite words mime are ■ peculiarly. Wordsworth* ss an additidmal dozen are shared by him and one other poet,

v - : ■ ' ' ■ ■■■■■''•■ ' ' . - 5 9 ■' . ' v' ' ' v ' , eleven by Wordsworth and: two other poets 0 : / : M r «, Snyder • .

summarizes his investigation by saying5 ,fa»« mathemati cally,

. " • " : . ' -a - . ' 6 0 : ■ : : of, the total of f orty™six words in; the Wordsworth list, twenty percent are distinctly Wordsworthian, and an additional fifty percent are Shared by Wordsworth and not ; more than:two of the poets examinedon^ Having accepted the fact that seventy per cent of the words may, then, be ' termed "Wordsworthianj?t.one can legitimately question the manner in which the poet used the words and. whether they frequency ;of their use in the Ecclesiastical Sonnets ; indicates, anything concerning the survival of Wordsworth1s . romanticism in the sonnet series® . : . .

Josephine Miles -8 study has been an invaluable aid; in the attempt to arrive at some conclusions concerning Wordsworth's vocabulary and his use of words in the Ecclesi­ astical Sonnets® Miss. Miles lists thirty-one words which Wordsworth employed a total of f ive hundred, or more times. Ten of the words are not on the Snyder listing® This indicates a

. 5 9 » Ibid®y p®: W 5 a .'v: ;;; f 60o It is assumed that this is a typographical error? ■ as there, are*forty-seven words listed® " , ; :v ; : v ■ ; '61® Snyder? op, cit®, p& 255* 62, 'Josephine Miles, Wordsworth and the Vocabulary of Emotion® ' \ - - : ; f ; y ' ■ disparity of thirty-six words between' the. two lists 0 As Miss Miles? study itemizes the words by numerical" occurrence, and Mr e Snyder;? s does. not, it has seemed better to. employ the former? s listihg in analyzing the sonnets„ Table I in the : ■ Appendix indicates the htMerical frequency with which the favorite words are found in each of the three parts of the Ecclesiastical Sonnets0 Tables IX, III and IV list the re­ sults of the present: investigation into the use of. favorite wordsAin each sonnet, such words being designated as "roman- .tic" or "non-romantico" Total numerical results are as follows

■■■WDRB '. f : DESIGmTION: ■ PART .1 PART II PART XIX TOTAX "

:ROMAhTXG.: i .1 7 ,:; r55.:"W'

v NON-ROMANTIC : 74' -' : 107 :;-v>32- ;/

t ■ ' ■■ 70 TOTAL':-- ■ 91 307 ; 1 ' " : -' ‘: 1b _ _ _ J As might be expected, the/analysis revealed a. change in connotation, and use in words one would ordinarily associates with an increasing/Ahglicanism6 Such words as soul,, spirit, :truth^; and heaven occur" more frequently in proportion- within• the sonnet series than they do in Wordsworth1s earlier work® Soul is found eighteen times in the Ecclesiastical Sonnets, which is relatively more frequently than,its appeayance sixty-five times in the Prelude g Joy offers a contrast; it was used eleven times ; in !®The Idiot Boy,tf hut • only five times in the sonnet serieseStriking is the Use of nature ninety^ four times in the Prelude as compared with five in the Eccle­ siastical Sonnets 0 It would appear that as nature lost its mystical meaning for Wordsworth? he tended to refer to it less The designation of words within the sonnets as romantic •or non-romantic is admittedly arbitrarys but the writer has■ ' endeavored to Interpret the words both in their immediate : connection with surrounding words and with the sonnets as units within which the words occur0 In order to clarify the discussion which ensuesj it has been felt best to include ' the following tabulation at this point rather than, in the :

\ FAVORITE WORDS ,IS:. SONNETS WITH: RpMANTlC' TRACES P ,; TOTAL WORDS: 0-2 3 4: • 6 : OTHER TOTAL

PART I : '' Ai6':''':-;'-a j v :A rA^:^' Apt/'Ci;':;:'t:OA VA A ;vA;-0a ;:: / , : 2l : • A .2 ■ PART If A/VS AA- 3 A"-'QAA :A.;o.;.::,; A 1 A A 1 4 . (10 words) A : PARTlil ^ : 7 A\:. 5 : ■:' -ft':fA" 4 A ; 0 A . a'Iaa-'A-' 21 (S words) A V ■TOTAL - : ' SONNETS ■ ;,3i 11 0 2 56 f A ; A. . . EidrORITE: WORDS' I SONNETS . TOTAL. WORDS r 0-2 / 3 / A: f:-A' 6 OTHER TOTAL ■Mi- - • 0 % .PART: I:: ■ 10 ;:TA A > : !•: V y -19

6 3 ® Attention is directed''to the fact that not all words in sonnets showing romantic traces, are fermed nromanticn or ifnon™rdmantiC e ,r v V- , . : -. - 3:2*

FAVORITE WORDS IN NOM-RQMAMTIC SONNETS (CONTINUED)

TOTALi WORDS:;, yi°"2 - 4 i 5 6 ■ OTHER TOTAL

: PART II .... 1 6 5 i t"5'. . 0 32 i. t / . PART III 9 ;:i 3 4 3 ( 7 words) ',.26' 1 I'vi.' ( 1 0 words)

: TOTAL; .: • SONNETS :: 1 1 2 ■; lo w & 6 ' '76.

On the ; basis of. thi s' tabulation^ it .-wouid. seem that : Wordsworth could be counted oti to average one or two favorite Words': per sonnet regardless of ■ the; character of the - sonnet as a whole o In those having three favorite words s‘ the non- romantic classification.(by reference to Tables II, III and IV) shows thirty-five non-romantic.uses and one romantic; on the other hand, in the sonnets classified as containing romantic traces, the favorite words exist a total of thirty“four times, of which a surprising thirty-tWptix} are non-romantic as opppsed to two romantic.applications„ ■This shows a slight predominance of favorite words, used non-romantic ally, but it

is so ; slight as to be almost negligible 6 . However , it is \ . ■apparent that the more favorite words Wordsworth employed in the Bceleslastical Sonnets y the less his rpmanticism: sur­ vived* as a comparispn -df sonnets empleying fpur:words or

imore revealse . - V. 1 ~ ■■ - One sonnet in the rbmantic classification has a total of ten favorite words o' They are, however, used in a manner so suitable to the subject matter that one f ails to see how ilors- worth could.have used others without reverting to the poetic diction' he :abhorred!'; • 1 v ' t ■ Deplorable his lot who tills the ground, v ; .. His whole life long tills it«- with heartless toil . Of viliain^servicej passing with,the soil/ V To each new Mastery like-; a steer, or ;hound, t; Or like a rooted treey or stone earth-bound| ■ . But mark, how gladly, through their „ own domains , - .: •_ The Monks relax or break these iron, chains; . . / : . h ' Hhile-'KEercy ,: uttering, through.'their voice,, a sound „ " Echoed in Heaven, cries out,, sTe Chiefs, abate ' / / These, legalized., oppressions I - Man - whose hame , •; a -■ - And' nature God .disdained not: Man- — whose soul t ...... Christ died for a cannot forfeit his high claim To live and move exempt from all contrpul - : . ' Which fellow-feeling doth not mitigate^

v-:.;/.brijy 4 ;. " : Miss Miles demonstrates th at Wordsworths s .poetry reveals , ■ unity in the way in which he named emotions, doing so once in

: t f 5 , 6 , or 7 ^1 1 nes @»e [providing the solid substance of ythe

poetry » s ; 0 n : . In attempting to analyze whether the Ecclesi- .

' as'cical Sonnets measure up to the quality of Wordsworth 1 s i best work, one is impelled to check into her statementg for if the unity in naming emotion is so constant, then the manner in which it is named Is thrown into question® It is not necessary to reoroduce here the mathematical ■ t w , y ,y65» . : y : : - - ; y-y./ 'results of her study« However, it is worth noting that .

y 640 . Miles, op, cito., ;pp0, 22-231

.6 5 ® Cf« Miles, opl cits, pi l69o personification in the Lyrical.Bailads and the Prelude is

Z 'fo and 0 > : :respectively of the total naming^ of emotion in those poemh swhereas in the Ecclesiastical Sonnets the " percentage is much higher, 16^,: to he exacts. This is much / closer to the 11% in the poet8s early work® Obviously (and one does not need Miss Miles1 study to know this]s the Use of personification in the poet?s second period was at a minimum® insofar . as personification can5; then$ be considered

a non-romantic element in Wordsworth 3 its presence in the Ecclesiastical Sonnets in the naming of emotions removes, them further from the possibility of containing a multitude of romantic glimmerings o t ' - . Miss Miles has not neglected to state that the later Wordsworth, though using the' s ame ydcabulary of emotions had lost the feeling that gave the words life®: As she

expresses it 3 ?.e o o-while Wordsworth Is characteristic feeling had the motion of breath, the feeling of this - later work had the motionlessness of one too much concerned

with literature and life to be conscious of breathing ® 18 She adds that the poet8s later work lacked vitality becaUse his Use of conventional expressions of feeling ndid not - i - , : 6 7 , ; ' reach to the roots of the meanings®88 The writer feels that it .is- precisely this touching of the roots which makes

: 66® Miles , pp. c.it0, p@ 1$0@ ; ■ 11 ' ' ;:.l. _ ;1-;; the sonnet quoted above'acceptable despite.its employment of ten% favorite wordse On the whole, however, the more ; Wordsworth employed his favdrite words, the more he personi­ fied emotion, the higher he clambered from the roots of.his most vital poetic expression into the wintry branches of his‘

later poetry e jit 1 it ' : ' 'j.: j-/ ' ; f If the means of naming emotion changes, but the fre­ quency does not,, in the work of. a poet? s lifetime, something might be gained by a study of the changing connotations Of words used by the poet> To date, apparently little has been done to establish variant, meanings, of words as used by : Wordsworth, although Elisabeth Green has demonstrated in- ; her work that such an undertaking can be valuable @ Fortun nately for the. purposes of this paper, Miss Green undertook

■ ■' . 6 8 to analyze fthe use- of the word .grace by WordsworthShe concludes that the older Wordsworth was more like the man of 17$0; than the pantheistic poet Of 179^-1802=. This shows a curious agreement with the pdet ®.s employment of personi­ fication* ’ , ' ' ' The changing way in. which Wordsworth used grace agrees with what has been stated concerning the growth and decay of his poetic powerso Miss Green, demonstrates that the poet used the word with full knowledge of its theological import,

accepting and using it in the period from 1 8 0 0 to 1 8 0 7 with

6 S * Elizabeth Green, "The Concept of Grace in Words-' worth ' s Poetry *" PMLA, LYIII (September , 1943)$ 689-715® the ease of a long famillard.tyb The word reflects the poet?s apparent feelings concerning nature as an Instructor of men and the. inner strength of men themselves: '

Buring this early period 5, the term faced, Janus- : : like, in two directions and involved the two- ; V . unreconciled (at least for eighteenth century ' v Anglican theology) concepts of a God transcendent and a God immanent in nature® ei® However, neither - - of'the .two ■ concepts pf, grace apparent in the poetry : written between 179$ and 1807 approaches the Christ- tian mystery' of grace since both fail,to include the all-important consciousness of evil® .f" Miss Green notes that the first "reference to grace directed toward man by- a transcendent God. Occurs in sResolution and: 70 Independence o” She adds that he was -forced to relinquish

hiS: 1 7 9 $^1 $ 0 2 beliefs concerning: the nature of grace and, . in view of the mutability which events forced him to acknowledgeto subtilize 0 =« grace as a gift and as a ' .y,'. v . - 71: f. ■ ' ; ■ w. ' 7 - leading from above® ” It seems best to adhere to Miss ^ Green's- phrasing forat follows: . 7' : - ■ ■: j f:-:; ' : : . Faith i n 'The Excursion was the joint product of diligence and of illuminating grace® o®o It is v ; : precisely here - in WordswortiVs insistence on. • .' the conjoint-working of God's grace and the "partis . :: cle divine" in man ~ that Wordsworth reaches.that 'via media ofAnglic an dogma as distinguished from '' ' Calvinistic dogma and its insistence on prevenient .grace® His solution of the antinomies of grace - ■; and f ree will: is that of the High Church tradition : that stretches.back to Laud, the seventeenth century Platonists and their meliorative and Arminian . interpretation of the Galvinistic articles of the Mglicaii' Ghureho. 7 2 /■ : .' ‘ ' -;.v \ Miss Green concludes that in the years between 1814 and 1822 s Wordsworth* s use of grace unders cores the poet * s belief in the wide gulf between the state of grace and "manis :

. * fearfully low* natureBy 1821 3 the change was complete: . I t the time Wordsworth wrote the Ecclesiastical Bonnets his concept of grace was fully defined as ’;oboth-a gift and the favour of God inclined toward sinful man; ifs bnly changes thereafter were those : occasioned by the heightening and deepening of .y;contrastSe74, y y.r'!y :--;:.y ; ■ , : Graoe appears in the Icciesiastical Sonnets a;total of ten times 9. ;in the complete poetioal works 1 7 o times® . A perus­ al of the lines in which the word is used in the sonnet series reveals that ' the poet had indeed reverted' toy.his early piety# / Whence grace, through which the heart can understand

x : ::: /y/::::: - h ^.yy ; Realms quake by turns: proud Arbitress of grace, / v The Church el e - h - i i ' y : ' ^ I. 36. 1-2, ■ Of offices dispensing heavenly grace! y

ty; .y;'y"y;:;;:::yfy:y> V Of worship, glory and grace jj which who shall blame iy-'y-^' ; y h ' ''::/^ :'vy':'-:: '; H . 9» 7, ■ Is he who can, by help of grace, enthrone .: ■ ■ : :■ / ' ? -y . ; % r ^ 3^- Fathers! Youh Virtues ^ such the . power of - igrace •-

; ; : : : : n i « 1 4 . .1 1 ^' . ■ ' v ‘s-o o ■ while parental hove - Looks on, and Grace descendeth from above

~ ^ . - Fountain of;Grace, whose Soh for sinners diede

h i 6 2 5 ® : Of simple truth with grace divine imbued|

■ . V. ^; ’ : ■. /;i ■ H i e 40s '.B4 : The single exception to the orthodox use displayed, in the foregoing lines is this: v :: ; , ; :

• . Of mountain-quiet and boon nature 6 s. graceg . . : - ’ I » 1 o 4 @

Out of;C0 ntekt the line appears synonymous with what the poet expressed in his second and early third periods e It is, of ’ course, a romantic note from the past, but Wordsworth does not mean he continues to believe in grace bestowed by nature c. For a fuller discussion, reference is made to the analysis of the sonnet on page fbrty-seven,r ■ As' for thelfheightening and deepening of contrasts" mentioned by Miss Green, her judgment finds corroboration in lines quoted above from the two sonnets added to the series in 102?® In them the poet has taken pains to capitalize Grace, which is not surprising, for the sonnets concern the sacraments« ' . : \ ■ - THE ECGEESIASTICAL SONMS; : t ' THEIR HISTORY A m ANALYSIS OF^MANTIC ELEMENTS: ' • IB PART I Historically, the Ecclesiastical Sonnets date from late ISZQ When Wordsworth 1fvisited Sir Geprge Beaumont, who' was then about to build a church on his estate, and, the converse- : tioh turning on^ church: matters,:’ the poet conceived the design of •recording the history of 7the Church of England both pre- t' vious and subsequent to the Reformation0 It may be, as the

quotation from WoH 0 i'Biite indicates, that the idea was born 'mt that; time, but it was without question rushed into the , actuality of the Sonnet series by the poet ?s deep concern y ■ byer the Catholic question, The poet took pains to direct attention to this fact in. the preface to the sonnet seriess; : V The Catholic Question, which was agitated in ' ■ Parliament about that time, kept my thoughts in , f ■ . the same course; and it struck me that certain y points in the Ecclesiastical History of our ■ 76 : • Country might advantageously' be presented in verse* Reference to his concern for his country has already been made in the introduction to this paper« _ y, }

" ■ 75o ¥ ?Ho White, An Examination of the Charge of Apostasy Against Wordsworth, p« 15 * y • . y 76» Ernest de Se line our t and Helen Bar bi.shire, edd0, ‘ Wordsworth1s Poetleal Works, III, 556-557« In all subsequent quotations from the. Ecclesiastical Sonnets or the ^Motes,; reference is made to this source, pp. 341-407.and pp„ 557-573« y Wordsworth expressed himself freely in a letter to \ James Losh$. written at Rydal Mount on December 4$ 18213 .• within days of the poet1s having comp1eted his Ecclesiastical Sketches, as they were termed in their first edition =, ': ' ; ‘ ■ „ Olo taking its character from what it actually : • teaches to the great massvvThe wrote} 'I believe 1 • t- the R Catholic religion to be unchanged in its ' . .

doctrines and; unsoffehed in its spirit 3 - how. can it be otherwise unless the doctrine of Inf allibility be given.upt ® c ® and deeming the v ■ Church Establishment not only a fundamental part i of our Constitution, but one of the greatest upholders and Propagators of civilization in our

own Country 3 and, lastly, the most effectualrand ,

main support of religious toleration, 1 cannot but look with jealousy upon Measures which must - reduce her relative I n f lu e n c e «, 77 . The Catholic ppestion, however, was only part of the storyo William Wordsworth was never slow,, even in his old age, to react to undercurrents which would later become : ^ waves of public opinion and. action® Concern with religious topics was in the air, nor was he the only one to begin giving them voice® Eaurie Magnus says that: it is !fa curious .cbincidence ,• just worthy of mention, that the scheme of the Ecclesiastical Sonnets trespassed upon Southey*s; projected prose history of the Church in EnglandeM In addition, the poet8s High Church associations in London and his Low Church surroundings in his home parish made ..

77® Ernest de Selincourty editor9 The Letters of William and Dorothy Wordsworth® The Later Years» 1 .517 . 7S« Magnus, ppo cit®, p® 140® - < : ^ ^ ’ him aware of the tieed for a liturgical revival within the . -Ghurch of ,England, This is not to say that he expressed the peed specificallyo'y However, It is reflected iti his emotional • yearnings as aroused by the 'Roman Catholic mass, and also in ■■ those sohnets which are concerned with the sacraments -ahd; liturgy of the Church, of England. = The fact stands that, as in so many instances, William Wordsworth stood at the head of his timeo He would have followers and imitators through whom, while he was turning out his Ecclesiastical Sketches . at the rate of two a week, similar ideas were passing; like vague mists., - : . ; • - .Hear the mid-point Of the. sonnets? composition,, the ' poet fs sister wrote to BirSo Clarkson, and mentioned the Sonnets in her letter:' ; . - y'f ■ ' - - ' .'i v • : i ^ :William is at present composing a series of ' . Sonnets on a subject which i am’ sure you it ; -- v: . would never divine, - the Church of England, - ■ , but you will- perceive that in the hands , of a " • poet. it is one that will furnish ample store y'l'y.. ' ;df, poetic mat e rial s. @ in some of the sohnets ■ he has, I think, been most sue cessfuls'^ : {March 2?, lS21~) Maturally the poet -did not question the suitability of church history as subject matter fGr/his sonnets, for he ' • had held for over two decades to the belief that whatever interested the human mind was fit to be expressed in poetry« Whether.the manner of restricting his subject . (as he indicated

79= Be Selineourt, letters, p 0 2C<, it to Isabella: Fenwick in 1^43) was the happiest one* ; ; ' =•;- is an open question. White condemns the series on the grounds that , thdre. are. • cl early sub je ct s whi ch are; ■ ihcapabl©:' of . being presented,\successfully in poetry, and that statement applies to most of the subjects - either in moments•of church history or in Wordsworth’s poetic interpretation, of the liturgy -? which form the basib for the Ecclesiastical Bonnets* ; r In any eyent, the first edition of the Eocleslastical ;

Sketches was published, by Ldngtiians' in 1S22 0 • The edition ;

contained 1 0 2 sonnets, to which, at various times, thirty more were added® ; ; - v .■ . - . Few scholars have deemed the Ecclesiastical Sonnets ; worthy -of more than cursory discussion* As Miss Bat ho ; says, the catholicity of Wordsworth?s thought offendad the evangelicals of his time and continues to confuse those who . are not Anglicansc She feels that this has tended to make readers avoid the series because they fear it must, perforce, present a conventional, harrow and bigot@d viewpoint® On : the contrary, she adds, the sonnets will be found to have ^an historical grasp and a statesmanlike vision « »c marked

~ SO* "My purpose in writing this Series was, as much as possible, to confine my view to the introduction, - progress, and operation, of the Church in England, both previous and subsequent to the .ReformationoS! - William. Wordsworthc Isa­ bella Fenwick Notes of 164-3, quoted in Wordsworth? s Poetical Works, po 557® ■ - i \\ , -.-'t. 81® White, op® citV, pp. 51?52* .; - v

. 62 0 Dates of sonnets added after the first edition will be noted" in the analyses of the sonnets® . by a- lofty absence; o f ^ which is sufficient] indicated by the -^iie Crabb Robinson was touched by their fairness to Nonconformistss- Hale Whine ana others S3 have been equally struck by their Catholic .tone0!J , One may well ask if these are the attributes of glorious poetry or of cold debate* The same question appertains to Gingerich's somewhat lame defense, of the sonnet seri< fh »>'oin this series as a whole there is manifest such a purely objective mastery of technique, such an objective force of intellect equipped , with learning;, such a devoutness of spirit to#ard traditional learning, such tranquillity of soul, as extorts the reader?s intellectual respect for the work and its author® - Harper’s comment that ’’criticism is less concerned with his limitations as an historian than with the degree to which he ■■ ■ ' .■ . - ■■ . ■ ■ 85 ■ succeeded in turning history «,. = into poetry’? . is far more to the point® . •■] Ibrdsworth himself was not unaware of the difficulties entailed in condensing fifteen hundred years of history into the compressed pattern of one hundred and thirty-two sonnets® The Ecclesiastical, Sketches labour under one ; obvious disadvantage, that they can only present themselves aS a whole to the reader, who is pretty well acquainted with the history of this country:

' .and, as separate pieces 5 several of them suffer . as pbetry from the matter of fact, there being unavoidably in all history, except as it is a me suggestion, something which enslaves the Fancy®

S3 ® Batho, op® cito, pp® 292-293 o S4® Gingerich, pp® cit®, p® IBB®

85®■ Harper, pp® cit 0 , p® 574® -

8 6 ® Peacock, edo,pp® cit®, p® 423° : ■■ ; ' : ': .. ■ '• 44c Without- £n the least exaggerating the case, Wordsworth could have added that a specialized knowledge of the Church in. England and of England'would- he necessary to -a ready comp re- hension, of: the; Eccleslastical. Sonnets» A native of Westmor e-. laad expresses the difficulty well - and in language of which WordsWirth mighb have approved: , ■■I;. ; But ye’re weel' aware there.5s potry and potry« h : . - •'

■i : There5s potry wi 5 a 1 1 5le hit pleasant. in it,; .': . ' V and potry sic as a man • can v la ugh at or the - ehiMer understand, and some as takes a deal

f - of mastery to make out what 5 s said, and a deal : h ; • of Wudsworth5s was this sort, ye kna ® ; w Perhaps no better illustratioh to prov e that the Ecclesiasti cal Sonnets take a 55deal of mastery t o make ; ■ ’ out what5s said55 can he presented than certain, misconcep- tions uhder which some critics read the sonnet series*'. For instance, Fair child takes the position that Wordsworth errs in that he does not touch the nature of the murces of the Church of England8® authority, and that ^Deprived of: any such foundation:o the yea-and-nay treatment of medieval Chris-

tianity in Part ■ I is wholly inconclusive* 55 The direct ■ :. answer-vto . such : sh allow criticism lies in the-for mat of the sonnets, -which begins with the rill of the early church in England,, pos sibly founded by holy Paul, and traces the , ' Steady increase fh'the currents of Christianity in Britain* . As for the raised eyebrow concerning the origins of ' ■ "

87o Knight, ed0, Wordsworthiana,' p<> 10Bo - - .

Fairchild, 0 £ 0 cit* , p* 22Bo : the; Gtiarch • of England5 s authority, a si de from the fa.c t that Y • it was not his purpose to enter' into :discussion about dogma, Wordsworth doubtless believed that the majority of Englishmeh would be aware of the historical and ideological ' background of the Church of England* As for the doctrinal • approach, the poet expressly stated that was not for him* Poems on the; round of the Christian ’year-waited for'another5 s comingo Wordsworth was interested in demonstratihg that - •- the Church of England was the inevitable result of inevitable growth; he depicted the growth of the religious stream with the major. (and sometimes minor) eddies, and currents which. 'Y Y disturbed, but did Ynot stop, its forward progresss' The Y Y "yea-and-nay treatment5'5' , of ■ which Fairchild complains is, Y in fact^ a fair presentation of the shifting sands over which the river of faith wasYmdving at the time® r Y YIn the " analysis of the three part s #hi ch Ycompri. se the " -. Ecclesiastical Sonnets® an .attempt is made,to ascertain what, if any, of Wordsworth5s earlier vitality is reflected

in' the: sonnet; lines»' y The maj or -marks of hi s best work ' have Y been hoted,; In addition, wherever Wordsworth as he grew older seems to have absorbed other aspects of roman tieism (better exemplifi ed by his contemporaries^ the fact will be menti oned*" - Many of - the so nnets were written after 1822 „ " A - study will;be made to ■; determine whether- they show the same or dwindlingYtraces of romanticism in comparison with the 1^22 editfon^Y',-: ' ,'Y , , f Y Yv :.;p, Y . Y:..:. /' For the; sake of clarity in fblldwr&gvthei sohhet series’ plan, titles or first lines of all sonnets are included, regardless of whether the- individual sonnets display romantic ? element Sc In each case where, .in the opinion of the writer, there seem to be romantic glimmerings, they will be noted» > : The text .followed is .that of the final edition of .Id50.., : . as given in The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth, - = ;■ edited, by Ernest de Selincburt and Helen Barbishire«, Wherever it appears that Wordsworth edited earlier versions so as to , remove traces, of. romanticism, the versions will be compared*

m i l FROM' THE fEMTEODUGTIOET' OF ' OHRISTIAHITT INTO BRITHE" TO ■ v .:" .;. THE GONSUMATIOH OF THE PAPAL DOMINION . ; f'; :. ; 1*1* INTRODUCTION gi; ; f - g:;; 1 {' The first of the Eccieslastical .Sonnets is ohe of:the . few which employs the first person approach* Not too much' .should be made of this subjective element, however, for as Abbie Findlay Potts indicates, Virgil, Dante, and Spenser had used the same device* However, the subjectivity of the sonnet is its essence, and as such must;be classified as romantic* The sonnet is suffused^ with Wordsworth’s v recollection of what was, a natural"way to lead up to the

89* .Abbie Findlay Pottsv The Ecclesiastical Sonnets of William Wordsworth,. Note to 1*1, p * 205* ;' poet ^3 purpose in presentimg the sonnets in series; t , - :I? who accorapanied with' faithful pace . > Cerulean Duddon from its cloud-fed spring, ■ , And loved mth spirit ruled by his to sing .. /: •: Of mountain-quiet and boon nature? s grace»

The lines refle ct a younger Wordsworth when nature instructed one who attended herywith;:a. ^wise. passiveness Immediately on the heels of the reference to himself as a young man, Wordsworth makes a transition to the third period " of his poetry, in which he had produced the Poems Dedicated to National Independence and liberty: , „ ■ . : I, vwho' essayed the nobler Stream to trace ■ y ' Of Liberty, and smote the plausive string y Till the checked torrent, proudly triumphing, . .Won for herself a lasting resting places

,Hey:ioses■ no ;timeziuystatihg that a new task lies ahead of him: low seek upon the height s of Time the source ’ yy Of a HOLY EIVERo 'r-- f ■ ■y;Vy.;y^y■v.": h.--:d y,:.-X::yy. -\:y.hy y; :y f ' y "y 9-10, ■ . . Haying, stepped out in. f rent: of ythe: curtain and said his piece,.;; the director of the :pageant forthwith retires from the scenec ■ " A notable revision away from romanticism was made; by ' . yiordsworth .in the- f ir st sonnet.;in the s eries® As is clearly evident, it was an aging yWordswdr th who took the spring out Of ’ his step hy altering ythe It21 .,-yy. - : yy r/yd/.: 'y I, who descended with glad step to chase to the solemn stepping .of 1827s : -' I, who accompanied with.faithful pace, :v;v';7'v'V;:;7x;, p:

lo 2 0 CONJECTURES ;/ 7'/ ;7- ' \/7 77 ; / ; • This sonnetj which deals with possible origihs of Chris- tianity in Britain.- contains: no clearly romantic elementsa lo 3 o TREPIDATION OF THE DRUIDS 7 ; 7 ^ : ;:."-:7: ^: . ; ; Wordsworth? s interest in the Druids dates back many years 7 prior $o td® t ompositio the Eeclesi ast i cal Sonne tse Meyer Says that in f?An Evening Walk89 the poet ”contributes to the 7. current:stock of curious regional information with a brief comment upon some neighborhood stones which, he believes to

7 : 7-. /•'7:-:7./ /"7.^,9 0 ;^.^ 7 7 7 7^77 ;77"/7/'i77-77/ ^'7/ be of Druid origin. The lines are as follows: ■ Where oaks o ? erhang- the road the radiance shoOts - ■ On tawny earth5 wild. weeds 3 and twisted roots; 7 /7: TJhe Druid stones their lighted fane unfold 7 -: And all the babblihg brooks are, liquid gQid| V; ■ ; ' . ’vV ; ■ "An Evening Walk ' 7/

. . / / / ^ :://;-//■./■7 /'. i m e s 1 6 9 - 1 7 2 , 9i The picture presented in "Trepidation Of the Druids" is i - more vigorous than that in the earlier verses o It', is alive , p 7 ; with supernatural overtones which may be said to reflect 7

romanticism: . : ' 7. ;';-7' .p v - ■ ' 7'-'7 : 7 : ; ‘ 7 ; 7 / 7 Screams round the Arch-druidls brow the sea-mew - white p As Menai® s foam; and toward the mystic ring • : Where Augurs stands the "Future questioning $ 7 . P ' " - Slowly the cormorant aims her heavy flights Portending ruin to each baleful rite.

7 90» 7.Meyer, op7 cit0, Po 55» :'. ;7;P:p 7‘ 7" 7 ■ 777 ..

91 e ' Ernest de Sellncourt, ed = $ Wordsworthvs Poetical m * 2 . > !. 20- : ' >■; . . vP. P .: ■ In analyzing the presence' of romantic traces in- the • . sonnet series, it is oi* value to note what deviations' "¥ordsworth has made from his younger viewpointc it least one. . • is displayed in this sonnetc Specifically, it reflects the " , - poetIs departure from sympathy with the suffering of indi­ viduals toward the view of humanity in the mass; coupled t with, this is the poet is conviction that ultimate salvation ' : 1 lies in the realm of Christianity: I-: ■ t:’v -■v: ■ /I ' 1 The tidings come of Jesus crucified; y y ' They come - they Spread -the weak, the suffering hear] . Receive the faith, and in the hope abide c

.I: V - : '-iy- I. 3= 12-14o - ■ I. DRaiDICAI EZGOmUNIGhTION : , ' : ^ ;V The sonnet contains no clearly discernible romantic

traceso In: it. Wordsworth condemns the barbarism and compli­ ments- the discernment of the Druids» The poet admires their ' : abilityto recognize the existence of one do do ^ ;

le 5o UHGERTAIHTY / . / -, // t Vvl"- ■' ' V it'VV. 1 Wordsworth$s lile-lbng search for unity finds' reflection in the- lines of this . sonneta, . He sees many men looking for certainty in religioni- h ;.h. ; : t - ■ ' . Darkness surrounds • us ; seeking, we are lost yKl V-' - . On Snowden! s', wilds, amid Brig anti an coves s • ' Or where the solitary shepherd roves . Along the plain of Sarum, by the ghost . - • / Of Time and Shadows of Tradition crost; . / And where the boatman ofthe Western Isles ' > .. ' Slackens his course - to mark those holy piles ; ; : W yet surviye . oh bleak lona^S. coast e *- ' ■ ■ ' ■ : : . y :': ' - ' I. 5. 1-8. > - ' : 50. One cannot forbear mentioning the somewhat dramatic economy of the sonnet form 'in gathering the tentative arms of the v ' r: early Church into fourteen terse lines, nor the poetic force which presents the various aspects through the eyes of humble

men ~ shepherds5 boatmen 0 Theodore of Tarsus was a major figure in the establishment of Christianity in Britain^ yet the whole of his influence is encircled by two lines-u - . ■Slackens his course - t o mark those holy piles. Which yet survive on bleak lonals coast. ^

: ' ; / ' ' ;■ ’le 5V 7 A . ■■■:■ /; :\ ; X. 6.o PERSECUTION : . ^ : It is of major concern to ascertain, if possible, what : changes in tbe poet? s:attitude toward nature, are found in■the

Ecclesiastical Sonnetsa The. closing lines of I. 6 , while more Augustan than rbmantic in toney show nature as setting a stage That Hill, viiose flowery platform seems to rise By Nature decked for holiest.sacrifice*

I, 7. RECOVERY ; ■ ' ; ■ Be Selincouri indicates that 'Wordsworth doubtless had : Milton1 s - Paradise Regained in mind when he wrote the opening;' r'l ■: V ."/ ■. ' -v" /:1' 1 i',, ■ "lines of this sonnet: ; : - z .. -. -1 :'

.'p-p As 8 when a storm hath, ceased, the birds regain • ' Their cheerfulness, and busily retrim " ,r v.-:; , . . j Their nests, rorichant; a gratulating hymn I To".the blue ether and bespangled plain* ’ 1 • .

; \ 92® Be Selincourt„ Works, 111, 559® : . ^ '1' .A: ': ". si* \ :There is? howeverp a distinctly Wordsworthian touch in the #anner of describing; the birds as busily retrimming storm™, damaged nestSe . ' . 1* ‘8* TEMPTATIONS FROM ROMAN REFINEMENTS ■ r ' : Jn certain essential respects} Wordsworth at fifty-one had not varied to any great extent from certain views which he had held two decades earliere It reveals itself in ^Temptations from Roman Refinements0 E» J. Eh Kirtlan i makes note of this: : . In the Ecclesiastical Sonnets ».», we discover the ;a same hatred of tyranny so that it is not an ; • ; " exaggeration to state that at' fifty-two. Wordsworth \ ; was still a revolutionist^ In these sonnets he e ®«' denounces luxury 0 o o ' applauds the <3rus aders ® o i ' V , i chastises-the clergy$ and especially the monks, for self indulgence and pride; he rejoices in the intelle ctual and spiritual emancipation . of the :■ Reformation; and It is quite evident that in 1821 he was $ as ever ? in revolt against tyranny and Q„ oppression> material and intellectual and spiritual The tone of the sonnet is too admonitory to be romantic0 On the other, handp one distinct romantic passage exists in the. sonnet? ' ' ' ; y t ';y-y ' Fair housess baths, and banquets delicate; - y .. .Ihd :temples flashing „ bright as polar ice j, :■ - ■ yv. - their radiance, through the woods,# ' : / v.,;\ V y ; ■ - V/ . :::: I©: 8.i :'3^5«y: ^ ■■ty-'-d'y, t ■ ■ ' ■ ■ ; : • : ■ ■ . . - -r. : 94 ; Is Miss Potts points outt this probably echoes;Coleridges but the direct character of the imagery is Wordsworth-®s own©

93® ; Eo 1 o Bo Kirtlanp ::$iiid'Wordsworth Recant?®:, Con­ temporary Review, CU V - (l91o ), 89 © 94® nI remember;to have compared Darwinrs work to the Russian palace of ice, glittering, cold, and transitory6f? - : quoted from Potts, op© citp® 216, from Blographia Literaria, edited by:Shawcross© I, 9s DISSENSIONS ^ : Again Wordsworth demdnstraties his ability. to compress •history| the subject matter covers the Roman evacuation and. ’ith^\;.coming'-of;:the\vFi;CtS4:w--liini;i-le. the imagery evidences the : old plaihness of language. , ■ - . o ©c natural as dreams to feverish sleep« ' '

the sonnet betrays more of the later Wordsworth’s manner^ with its .heaviness of personification as.in the case of ; Lol Discord at the altar dares to stand • , Uplifting toward high Heaven her fiery brand, : A cherished PrieStess of the new^baptiaedi

/ ' ^i,i ■ Vt ' lo 10o STRUGGLE QP THE BRITONS AGAINST THE BARBARIANS The flavor of the patriotic sonnets of Wordsworth1S third period ■ seems' to re appear in this- sonnet ® The style

of I8 2 2 3 however^ seems lifeless when set against the vigor ' of such lines as the following from "Anticipation, October?

: . Shoutj for a mighty Victory is won! - I ' ■ On British ground the Invaders are laid low; t ■ ' The breath of Heaven has. drifted them-like snow, ' i And left them lying in the silent sun, Q _ . : ■ Hever t o rise again & - the work is done ^ 2 The contrast between the two sonnets is marked; one moves s. the other creaks; . - ; / t- : ■ - v' ■ : ' 1;

95'»' .• Do/ Selineourt, Works; "Poems Dedicated to National Independence and Liberty s,f 111^ 122, 1=4® Rise I ~ they have risen: of brave Aneurin ask How they;tia^e scourged old foes, perfidious friends; The -Spirit of Oaractacus descends ; . Ippn the Patriots, animates their task; - Amazement runs before the towering casque Of Arthur, hearing through the stormy field The virgin sculptured on his Christian shield: - Stretched in the sunny light of victory bask The Host that followed Urien as he strode 0 ? er heaps of slain: - from Cambrian wood and moss Druids descend, auxiliars of the Cross; Bards, nursed on blue Plinlimmonts still abode, Rush on the fight, to harps preferring swords, And everlasting deeds to burning words! / > Artificiality lingers in the description of an army forgetting the urgent business of battle when Arthur strides onto the field with his unusual shield. The final three lines reflect romantic interest in bards® It is a curious fact that the mention of Plinlimmon is the only one ever made, by the poet* -I* 11, SMOM CQRQUEST Herbert Read says that he considers i$by far the most

important aspect of [Wordsworth*Q geniusTf was the fact that the poet was early '’purged- of the. rgatidiness and inane

: ' , '' t : . ■- - ; :■ \ . '• ' - , . ■; 9 6 phraseology1 of the prevailing tradition of poetic diction,tr : Jt; may, then, be considered a sigh of the lapse of his : powers that by 1822 the poet was depending frequently upon ■ the very:- phraseology he.. condemned* For instance, in this . sonnet there is a line which reads as follows: . Q wretched Landl whose tears have flowed, like fountains,

' 1 * 1 1 * 7* . ; : :

9 6 0 Herbert Read, ^Wordsworth’s ,Philosophical Faith,-. The Sewanee Review, IATIII (Autumn, ; 1959), 1A3* 54..- I „ 12. MONASTBRY OF OLD BAKTGOR ' ; : : : • ’ Mut ability f inds express ion in this sonnet s’ The sub j O ct is the destruction of a monastery library and the resulting change in the tide of battled t :■ ■ ■ . : ■ . : Mark 1 how all things, swerve : . From their known course ? or vanish'like a dream; . > ^ ; ; Another language spreads from coast to coast; . Only perchance some melancholy Stream ; And some indignant Hills old names preserve 3 : ■ • ' - ; Tflihen laws, and creeds, and people all are lost! :^ v ; 12* 9-iW;/ ; There is something reminiscent of the younger Wordsworth in' . his endowing streams and hills with feelings o 0n the whole y the language of this sonnet exhibits the simplicity which is characteristic of Wordsworth$s diction. In this ,connection

it may be rioted that the 1 0 2 2 "pass away like steam” gave way to the more conventional nvanish like a dream, ” a change *

which is far from regrettable« I ■ : 1 :

I* 1 3 . OASDAL IHCITBMBMT- . h d’hi:. ; : : , V The story ofthe boy slaves and Pope Gregory lends ; ' itself perfectly not only to the plan of.the Ecclesiastical Sonnets but to the simplicity of style which marks muCh of f : -Wordsworth !.s best poetry» The following lines seem pure ~ - romanticism:: : = . ' ' : d i . ’ A bflght-'haired company of youthful slaves^ : ■ Beautiful strangers, stand within the pale ; Of a sad market, ranged for public sale*-

\ d:'v :^v. I. Ilf The"sonhet has lines.With the old appeal to,eye and ear: ' 5.5v : • ; ANGLI "by name; and not an. ANGEL waves : - - r: ■ ' His •wing who could seem lovelier to man,? s eye ' . Than they appear to holy Gregory« •. • • ' ;. • ^5*r7v/'V :' A . V : ; i ■'V / ■■ The earnest Sire, r: His ^questions urgingz feels, in slender ties -• Of chiming sound, commanding sympathies; : SB-XB1ABS: he would save them from God? s THE; • ' Subjects of Saxon M LLA ~ they shall sing / Glad HAihE.lujahs to the eternal King I • ' ■v:-:,;.:"- :V; j:':: - - V ' g ' ^ : : SLAB. TIB UP S v / i V • Therei appear; to ’be no romantic traces in the sonnet ■ ... which is.' demoted to Aug us tints arrival in Britain. V :

i» i5» p a u l i n u s - : : j Two lines may be said to mirror Wordsworth’s own experience: '1 t - 'r - - ; -1 ; • -I : 1 l ”Be|5eatedly his ■ own deep-mind he 'soimds ' ' ' g ■ :: With caheful. hesitation^ ; V : ■. , V : ' 1 '. i > ; -^1^ 15« .ll-12^;t. . . vi:< .I6ii PlBSUAsiOH .. ; t ■ .. ; ■ - ;t • •:■ : . . ' The creative touch which artists impart in their ' / . handlihg - of s our c e mat er ia Is is one of the keys to ‘ under- ; standing the extent of their genius*. For instance, Sellar’s translation-of Bede’s account reads, as follows s.- • : . : like to the swift f light of a sparrow through . the house , oo The sparrow-, flying in at one dpor : ■ : and immediately out at another, whilst he is ; • ; ! within, is safe from the wintry tempest; but after : • a short -space of fair weather, he immediately van«: - • - ishes-out of your sight,, passing from winter into y .winter again, 97 v.’ v- ; .. y y : ,, y 1 ■ ' .

97® Potts, Op. Cit*g Note to I al6, quoted from-Words­ worth’ s not© referring to Bede’s Ecclesiastical History, trs, by Sellar, pps 116-117® W ly" . y W y The condensed version made by Wordsworth is filled with the feeling of its : graceful flight: . ; ,V. V: • ' ' -, ^ MAHtS life is like a Sparrow? mighty King! . That =• while at. banquet with your Chiefs : you sit. ; : Housed near a blazing fire - is seen to flit .. ^ : ; Safe from the wintry tempest= Fluttering, Here did it enter; there, on hasty wing . Flies out, snd passes on from cold to cold$|: ■ i

f..-. / -' ': 1 i- 'u. ■ g/’ff-l/fo i6e: - y ■It isy another Instance of Wordsworth8s ability to keep his ; eye steadily on his object, for this is the work of a man who has obvioUsiy watched the flight Of sparrows® . %■ ' ''::f ■ i : Wordsworth showed much concern with the sonnet under ' consideration0 The.subject warmed his imagination* When this occurred, ;his editorial changes were usually for the hettere The'-lS^l^first •.MB0read as follows: 1 - i t ' yyl.iggii^e.iife^df mahyB^,:balcon^a^ied^'CS^y:J£ing . : 1" . Even: to a sparrow one that while you sit y : ^ -Housed with your Friends hath entered and doth flit Beneath your warm roof8s happy covering; y. Then forth in all men9s sight on hasty wing ■ It flies etc® ■ -v : ; . 1 ' - . \ 1 ; : y ' ■ ' n 1-6o ; - ■ ;■' -rg » 2 :'(183;7) was changed to . thiS t.., > ; : . . 1-: ; t . That entereth and departeth as you sit .• Housed with your Friends o In; truth:81is seen to flit Well sheltered and in comfort tarrying /.. ' 11?.- . '■ ri ■ For a brief while 2 then forth on hasty wing y . She flies etc® t : : i - ■'■? ■ ". ■ 1 : . :;v: :1 2"6 - / : / Lines 2-4 appearedvin .1837 as follows: ' y • That, stealing in while by the fire you sit •(? Housed with rejoicing Friends, is seen toflit yt ?1 '. • ■f Safe* from the storm,. in comfort tarrying®. y Critics have remarked the f act -that in; his final, years . Wordswcrth showed a rejuvenation in his dealing with natureI ;:VHis fihalvversion of /-Persuasion" reflects a change in this - direction <, It is to his everlasting credit as a poet that his dissatisfaction with the sonnet carried over Into i ; the; last decade of, his life, when he produced the 'final ', formo On only two other - sonnets in the series did the : poet pour so; much: obvious attention0 ' I. 17. CONVERSION ; _ ' / ; v; V' . ^ConversiohV adds to the accumulating ■evidence that . Wordsworth no longer believed that every flower enjoyed the air it breathe d. In these. lines nature seems clearly to • have lost her ability to feel: : . 'N: Temple and Altar, sink, to hide their shame ; ' I ' . ■ ■ Amid? obliviouavwdeds.fS f" d .,\■ : " : .;N'.

. ' : Z - 17- 9'-10- The eMstenee of;nature has become for-.him objective and d : vN - dgr. I. ia. AROIOGY : ' ; - ; ^-.V -;■■■ . d Ih is in nApology1f that Wordsworth makes one. of his increahingiy rare ■ references: to the imaginalnon and its ; r powersI He seems, in fact, bent on accomplishing some­ thing of the. task : set forth for Coleridge years before In . . the preparation of the Lyrical Ballads, for he would have us suspend disbelief in good and evil spiritst ■ V ' ,Edr scorn .the aid which Fancy oft doth lend ; • . ’ ,

The Soul 1 & eternal' interest to promote: ' -

Deathj' darknessj danger 5 are our natural lot; ; . And evil Spirits may our walk attend /-:% y For aught the wisest know, or comprehend; Then be good Spirits free to breathe a note ;‘ Of elevation; let their odours float c y- Around these Converts ; and their glories' blende , .-;v : The midnight stars outshinings or the blaze v Of the no on-day 0: ' ;rV y.; , : ' The remainder-: of the sonnet is unexcitingly orthodox© It is

a notable example of the moralizing.engaged in by the yagings

.poet:;-: :-■■■: ' : .'S v'Zy-:: ■'y.r ^ :' y :y :. ■' ' ■ " . hor . doubt that golden cords ;; , / y Of good works,.mingling m.th the visions) raise The Soul to purer worlds; and who the line' Shall draw; the limits of the power define/ A : y . ' That even imperfect faith to man affords?

y,-;;^ : :y,yy.-';;.yy: ^ y-'; : %: 1©: 1 8 e 9-14. It is one of the curious yaspects of the Ecclesiastical; Sonnets that with the wealth of material on they historiography of the Church of England Wordsworth should so often have turned from the main trends to deal with matters less essential to the church’s development» The explanation y probably lies in the fact that such side issues usually ' concerned matters which could be expected to appeal to y a poet in the romantic era®. For instance, the sources Of "Apology" lie in the account of: the - vision of Brythelm in which he saw "a crowd of evil spirits dragging five souls • of men, wailing and shrieking, into the midst of darkness, whilst they themselves exulted and laughed o00y there appeared behind me, on the way by'which I had come ©c„ the brightness , of - a - star s Mnihg aald.S'fc: ’darkness ., f and Wihen It drew near, V, all those evil spirits, that sought to carry me away with ■" ■ ' 1 t ; t: , f \ 9& : ■. - I ' I . ■; their tongs, ,dispersed and flefi,^ v : ' ' I . Miss Potts sheds interesting light on the nature of the words eternal (”eternal interest^) and natural (?!natural lot11') as used by Wordswortho She indicates that the word eternal doe s not occur in the Prelude but does appear eight timeh rn v’ ■ the Ecclesiastical Sonnets« Natural, bn the other hand,, • occurs sixteen times in the Prelude as o ppos e d to six ti me s'; - in the sonnet series* a \ 'v:. l , ; I « -19»" PBIMITiyE SlIONim E R G r V : : at ■ ' h ■ t . / I: . There.appears to be nothing in this sonnet worthy of 7 me-ntion in ; conheotloh; with romantic glimmerings* : . : ' ;#* 20 * ^ ''I # # W # ■ " ’ ' : 7 : : ' :: : / "There is nothing to be remarked in-this sonnets

® f c v 7 . sh(liUhioi;;;;h7';-'" ■ ' " . ■ ;... ' , 7 ; • The appeal of solitude is a recognized theme in . Wordsworth9s poetry, early and late. It is expressed in

1fSeclusi on^r . 7 ; • ■ ; ' 7 ". . 7 Lance, shield, and sword relinquished - at his side

7 7 A bead-roll, in his hand a clasped book, . Or staff more'harmless than, a shepherd’s crook, . I The war-torn Chieftain quits the.world - to hide 7 His thin autumnal locks where Monks abide In cloistered -privacy # " . t -

7 -7 7' ' ' - - - . 1* 217.-1^6* • ' 7 .

98* Potts, ope Cite, Note on I® lS0 3-10, -quoting from ' translation by Sellars, op. cit., ppe 327-7328= 7- 6 Q e

The picture of a chieftain-turned monk shows the romanticist$S ' - interest in things medieval. In addition the sonnet contains an image of tfnaturals$, nature used symbolically; Within his:cell?" . - . _ > Round the decaying trunk of human pridey - , : : At. morn, .and eve, and, midnight8s silent hour, y : ; v: Do penitential cogitations cling; ; ;; 'y I : . 'r v ' ; V ; ' ' Like ivy, round some ancient elm, they twine • In grisly folds and strictures serpentine; - • Yet s while they strangle, a fair growth they bring, . . , ... - For; recompense - their own perennial bower0 . ; ^’:;

' ''■ - i v . ■ .1 y ; .■ 1. 21v ^»l4f : y \ y / : y i, . The description of the solitary monk at 1tmidnight,s silent"! \ - Y hour" and the .reference!to the "decaying trunk. of human .. ' pride" are the very essence of romanticism. ' X . 22» CONTIMUED ; : '. y-y:. ! . y ' ' yTiN-.y.-'Yy-' "■--■.yv y " tty " The- subjective treatment of .1. .22 concerns itself ' . .. yywlth the romantic ■ concept of the poet1S desire to escape from : "the world and all its industry»" The phrasing and the nature y of the pastoral setting reach;deep into the pre-romantic ■ period® ! : . y ! ! y - ! . ; y ' -y;-Methinks that to some vacant hermitage ! . ■ ' ■ . ! - y. feet would rather turn - to some dry nook : _Scooped out of liying rock, and near a brook !-Hurled:zdown: a mountain-cove from stage tostage, : . ""rc-v!-"-'; -Yet tempering, for my sight, its bustling page y " In the soft heaven of a translucent pool; '! V Thence creeping under Sylvan arches cool, ’ -yy, y ! ! y : & whose glOriouSyequipage : . Would elevate my dreams. A beechen bowl, : - : ;i. - . . A maple, dish, my furniture should be: ;.y, I \ . Crisp, yellow leaves my- bed; the hooting owl My night-watch: nor shbuld e^er the crested fowl From thorp or vill his matins.sound for rne, . . ' y Tired of the world and all its industry® :h "- ■ /; • ' The re is; a r ;f ai nb echo of the old pantheism in the poet is > /-t. reference to "living rock5n while pathetic fallacy exists1 ‘ in the notion rf a brook adjusting its ,noustling rage7T for . ¥or dsworth5 s he nefit». As for the pastoralism^- it was not new in..Wordsworthf s work; he employe d it in Book H I I of the Prelude, complete with beechen bov/le : ; "One possible explanation of the pre-romantic tone may be what Miss Potts "terms a deliberate paving of'; the way for ' a:ha:.. •: ' : ioi V .yy.; V y y \ta t t : the - sdnne t lAh ich - f o Ho w s e.; The : very d el i her ate composition of the sonnet may account for. its artificial tone $ sine# the poet himself apparently did not concur with what he expressed,, : ' : :: V yp. > - % y : y : y.;-: In its imagery, this sonnet *s extolling of thePFenerable y Bede reflects the. vigor of romanficism: . • . ■ f.' ’ h /; : :;::y-''the creeping.feet, - t Of a iroluptuous indoience® ; - " - ‘ v - - V : V y, ' . _yyy.lv. 23», 2-3» p. •, «,<> where thou heards ’ t the billows beat y . ' Onla wild coast, rough monitors to feed : ■ ■".I- . Perpetual industrye P a t' - P ::a"/V . y^Pp-: ^

’-I't-y p;py : a P a Pp.'- ■■P.p:p.: p ., „ l>p2 3 * 7-9 . ^ p:.P.p ■ XV".' 2i^® . SAXON MONASTSEIES,: AND: LIGHTS AMD SHADES OF THE : RELIGIQM . ;P. . p ■: ,. . ' a. - . P^ .. f , . P , -PPP This sonnet succeeds in being as heavy?as its title, p: and has no clearly romantic aspects^ . . ■ y . . , . y . 'p

P 100*. /Lines 200~2il®. ; : P // - P P/"p y P 101 Potts, opt cita, .Mote on I* 24. 9-14, p. 230* .,I-0 aSo MISSIONS AMD . TRAVELS ^ V: v , - : : ; • There is nothing of apparent interest in “Missions and Travels. ; ; " ' 1 0 Z6« A1FRED : V : ’ <: ' :. . ' ;' ' " . T-"' : . Mo trace el romanticism;is found in this sonnet® :i0 270 M s DESCENDANTS " : : . -: ■ ■ ■ • Wordsworth1 s ability to employ aeciirate descriptions ■ ■ of nature- in his imagery is revealed once again in this - sonnet® ' ;V'. : V:-!'-'V; w ■lot The root sincere, the branches1bold to strive With the fierce tempest ,- while, within the round , Of their protectidh, gentle virtues thrive;/ / As oft, 'mid some green plot of open-ground, :; Wide as the oak extends its dewy gloom, t - / The fostered hyacinths spread their purple bloom® / V:\;/:/p/- : ' ' > :-h: - W-'l o- ' Employment of an oakin the simile was a customary device o with Wordswortho In "Michael,J! for instance, there was an oak at the. door: ' ' ■. - . ■ ■ - / t • . Sate with fettered sheep before him stretched : Under the large old oak, that near his door - - '

From 1822 to 1^37, the opening lines of "His Descendants: read as follows, asking - a question which has universal appeal / . ' Can aught survive to linger in- the veins _ •. - V : ; Of kindred bodies « an essential power .- - / That may not vanish intone fatal hour : And wholly cast away terrestrial.chains? /

102 » ; T)e Selincourt, ed., Works/ II, S6® The WoT’dsworth of the Prelude was- not concerned with the kind of immortality which waited for mahkind0 Perhaps the question he raises shows that he had some awareness of thethen-devel­ oping Science of hidlogy<, More' valid perhaps is the conjecture that as he watched: tiis> own children inatufe he wondered if ' 1 ■ they or their children would show any of,, the strain of genius which he recognized within himself= Byrl837 he had made up his mind on the points if the rewritten lines can he trusted: Mien thy great soul was freed from mortal chains'j, Darling of England.i many a hitter shower - ■ t' :W thy tomb;; huh emulative' pch«rer w ^ Plowed in thy line through undegenerate veinsc V;;- ' ; . f ; It is one instance where it would have been better to leave : well enough alone s f or the later lines are stilted by comparison ■ If 28. IMFhUENCE ABUSED . : .. • I 1 :'f;; . v;':!- No romantic elements are found in this sonnet0 If 29V DANISH COMQDESTS. : : , - - - , ' ■■ ^ The sonnet exemplifies once again Wordsworth-1 s powers of ohservation3 fthis time in the simile which alludes to the f civilizing effect of Ghrlstianity on the fierce Danes: a . Thus often, when thick glodm, the east o 8ershrouds, ' : The full-orbed Moon, slow-climbing, doth appear Silently to consume the heavy cloudsj i . -.:v ; How no one can resolve; but every eye : Around her sees, while air is hushed, a clear* ' ■ And widening circuit of ethereal sky0 > . i . V 1.:" y l/t: ' l e^ ; Obviously, however, there is nothing here of the youthful Wordsworth * s attitude toward naturej, " Fairchild drives to the : ,^eartv:of the. matter: : : :v : . .. . -T; - - '■ ; .In' Wordsworth’s original system, man’s .ability V ' : to discern moral qualities in nature was part ' of the divine imaginativeneas of the: universee -..Now the patient sun and moon are given the more :... conventionally pious function of providing symbolic material for little sermonso-’-^ I e 30 o CANUTE ■ ; '-'f' f it, ' \ , The p^fcture yof .Canute and: his -oarsmen listening to the , monks chanting at high mass - is surely matter for romantic poetry5 but Wordsworth’s mariner of treating the subject seems turgid. ;:v; . t'i y; :y- ■ " t ’ .■' ./■yf :i:;;f " .y ;;<::': ■;y. ' 31 e THE NORMAN CONQUEST • ■ ' ' . .■ None of the aft if i el alit y which mars many of the Ecclesi­ astical Sonnete obscures the picture presented in ’’The Norman Conquest” of the curfew and its effect on the lives of men. The description of lamps and ”lights that cherish household ■ V dares” Is femihis cent of: the ’’Evening Star” ’in ’’Michael. ” . Hark I ’.tis the tolling Curfew I = the stars shine; But of the lights that Cherish household cares • .. And festive gladhess, burns not one that dares ' To twinkle after that'dull stroke of thine, • y Emblem and instrument s from Thames to Tyne, . '■ . . Of fOfCe that daunts, and cunning that ensnaresI Yet a s •the terfors of the lofdly bell, ' That quench, from hut to palace, lamps and fifes, Touch not the tapefs of the sacred quifes$ . y yy ' f:; 1 ^ I' ■ rXy31^-

XP3.o fair child. op. cite, p. 242t ' yyy - t'-v yy • -t-y X * ..32, , "COLDLY we spake0 The Saxons, overpowered” ' ; ; This untitled sonnet offers a curious instance of the- ; ’ poet? s allowing personal prejudice to Interf ere m t h the . ; ' forward progress, of the sonnet series in the strict vein of : church - historyo With the excepti on of I<> 22 (which functions as a transitional unitj, this is the first■sonnet to deviate from the main objective of the series0 It reflects a younger . poet Who j observing the course of history in France, came .. gradually to harbor: a biased view toward things French„ Dnless one accepts' this idea, it is difficult to explain the insertion of a sonnet devoted to a figure who opposed t the Normans but. who'apparently eontfibuted nothing to the progress of the Church in England6 There are no .discernable . romantic -elements in the sonnet» • ‘ • t li 33 . f THE COUNCIL OF CLERMONT ‘ t "The Council of Clermont" affords another instance of ' romantic material treated unromanticallye The subject matter Concerns the miraculously Instant notice spread over the world of the Council is declaration in favor of the crusades* . ■ t ■ Perhaps one should not be too critical of Wordsworth?s , lack of poetry in sonnets Such as this'o As Laurence Housman says, "Poetry and prophecy only come to a man “ like a - : ;::v •: > : : ■■ ■■; f t : sore throat - occasionallyo"eS"'" The truth of the matter is that a search for those elements that characterized the f

l.OAo. Laurence Housman, "What Happened to Wordsworth?'" The Atlantic Monthly,(November 1944), P « 66o - - v; ■ - •: v: ' v.v.v -■ "; ' 660 best in: Wordsworth.; reveals how. far- he; had departed: from his peak powers by the time he wrote the Ecclesiastidal Sonnetse le 34o CRUSADES : :: ' 1 - " V : Motion and color mark the description of the infidel hordee in "Crusades«"vx^Jhe same:poetic genius that put the surge of ocean into J’lt is ;a beauteous eveningj calm and; free" here reveals itself once again; - \ * ' The turbaned Race are poured in thickening swarms i : ■ Along the west; though driven from Aquitaine,' ■ ■ The Gresceht glitters on the towers of Spain; ; Andsoft Italia feels renewed alarms; The scimitar, that yields not to the charms .% Of easethe narrow.Bosphorous.will disdain; : ■ ' Nor long (that crossed) would Grecian hills detain - ; Their tents, and check the current of their arms0

';l-y;;;;:r; : h . y y . ; Ty/.ih';h'I.; -Ie 34o 1 -Bsi.>syy y; The sestet cohtains one of Wordsworth rS increasingly rare references to the imagination: '. ? ■ :; Then blame not those who ; by the. mightiestlever - : • Known to the moral world s Imagination, Upheave $ so seems: its, from her natural station ; ; : All Christendoms \ ■’ y y.".;.' < ■ ■ : - ; ’u ■: : ' '" :'.. ; 34® 9“12e It will be noted that the motion of the early lines has come to a standstill in the sestet portiOn quoted;above0 - 35.0 RICHARD I : - v ^ 1 f y : . ’ Duty , to which the poet, pledged allegiance toward the close of his third period, interferes with what bids fair to be a love idyl in the romantic manner; ; I watch thee sailing o ser the midland brine; . . . > In conquered Cyprus see thy Bride decline : ' • Her. blushing cheek, love-vows upon her lip, - : . ■. And see love-emblems . streaming from thy ship,., . . V :: :: :: ^ And thence she holds her way to Palestine, t My Song, a fearless homager. Would attend Thy thundering battle-axe as it cleaves the press Of war, but duty summons her a.wayot-1 ; :• : : 35o 4-11» Howeverj as Wordsworth rarely wrote romantic love poetry, the passage can scarcely be termed characteristic of his work in any period, - - v ;v 1 /. . I » 36 ., # INTERDICT .'' . : : - t ' 5. ; 1:1 - ; The poet returns to native soil in rtAn Interdict which concerns the closing of all ohurches in England in conjunction with the King$s‘ excommuhication® There is a; trace of the younger poet in the straightforward simplicity

of these lines: - 1 3, v ,r:; t il lin ' -5-' 1 :: -1 v t I'V i ) All sacred things are covered: cheerful morn i

nv Grows, sad as night - no seemly garb is worn,: 1 1 Nor is a face allowed to meet a face With■natural smiles of greeting„ Bells are dumb;

; . ■ Ditches are graves - funereal rites denied it: 1 t : t t ;;;;v t:l;-:;: . ;v 1;\^ - tlt l • V 1 : ; t, t;: ^ 3 6 . 6-10. 3 ' :;1. The presence of these lines in a sonnet which also contains

the following: ' t-" ^ t . 1 ';:‘:t ; l - 1 v , She arrogates o ’er heaven’s eternal door,-. ; .

:! "iL ■ u t lo 36. 3 <» may serve to demonstrate the inharmonious character of many of the sonnets» I t -., ,C- .••1. :,; ' .. tv - - I® 3 7 e PAPAL .ABUSES :: , / ^^1 t: t - l:- t t t , ' ■ ■ : t t . A rare instance;of objects displaying feelings of their own occurs in ,fPapal Abuses’’: / . : ' . : ' file spears that line ■: • Baronial halls the opprobrious insult; feel) - ; : vAnd.apgiry Ocean roars a vain appealo ■ ; .-L- ^ 1 ;

■ ■; - :" ■ " ■ Vv''-;,i„ 3 7 . 1 2 -1 4 .; - - The sonnet’s 'final line does mot depart in essence far . from the 1806 line, ’’And Ocean hellow from his rocky shore9t? which.appears in ^Thought of a Briton on the Subjugation

■ ; ; ‘T v:-;' f-'''.'; 105 vV ' ■ . / ■ • : ; V- . ' of Switzerland.” f 'v/;' ; v: \ - : :V . 'V/\v; r V V

' I. 3S. ; sc s m IN vmicm:; . ' ^ ' , ' 7 V ' ; Two lines in this sonnet contain romantic overtones« The first has supernatural elements, with ^Black Demons % hovering pier his mitred head” (line 1), while the second encompasses Wordsworth’s respect for all men, when he Speaks of Frederick’s neck under the Pope’s foot: . ■ Btooped, of all glory disinherited, d And even the common dignity of man I .... - w - : y . : : V..yv ■ ■ 28. ^ 9. :y:y li:39. t F1PA1 1 The final sonnet in Part I brings church history to - • the point where papal power has spread over everything but the' ’’viewless wind” (line 1}. There are no distinctly romantic elements in the sonnet«, . . . . - The fbregoing analysis of Parti has revealed that clear views of the younger Wordsworth are rare and that even veiled glimpses of the poet’s earlier powers.are

1 0 $ Be Selincourt, Works', III, 115, 1* 13 relatively infrequent in the 546 lines of Part lo The poet displays a distinct tendency toward- the selection of material ‘ which is more interesting: than it is essential to the progress of church historyG But if the subject matter;is romantic» the poet? s treatment :of ' it; on the whole ,■ is. ngt>. for his verse is too often turgidV.too often interlarded with the prosiness Of such expres sion's, as- t or shall -we s ay s w ' yas-: - i p might be deemed,n and "so it seems0n . v : : : : Vi jl: r Whether the reihainder of the sonnets in i the. series reveal inore frequent sighs of Wordsworth1 s earlier mark is a matter which willbe assessed in the following chapters - bn. Bart II and Part III of his Scclesiastical Sonnetse ; :■ \ ': - ■ ■ : ; : CMPTER IT v V :•:: : :

; : ai^ m e y s x r w bcM h t x e ■ ELMEMfs i n • k : - PART II OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL SONNETS ■ : :V.

• Apparently Wordsworth had a well-conceived plan in Mind when he wrote his sonnet series- on the history of the English Church0 : Part I was concerned with the growth of Christianity in England and the evils which resulted from papal rdominion« Part II was devoted to the development of-nationalism in England ah d to the change f rorn the Church in England to the Church of England, tracing the path the Establishment followed I n ■ its separate existence as' a national Institution^ % - - -h -r -v ; - It seems advisable to -settle certain questions at the outset Of the analysis of Part II, to avoid misunder™ . standing the poet’s aim and his method of attaining it« To fail to understand Wordsworth’s viewpoint can result in criticism such as; Fairchild makes about Part lit : :; - vf - In Part II, nothing is said about the basic . :' ; principles of the Reformation or about the hearing - of that event upon the status of the English Church , Rid the Church in England, upon becoiaing the Church of England^ continue in communion with, the one - 'Holy,. Catholic, and Apostolic Church? On this . :: issue of cardinal importance to his own e eels si= '0'.'-'' astical party, Wordsworth offers no opinion^ -

1Q6 9 Fairchild, OR, cit. ^ p » 22d The fact of continuance Is so basic a principle withim/the." Church of England that to Wordsworth any argument in behalf of it would haye seemed unnecessary0 It was the papal authority of the Bishop of Rome which the English Church denied® Members of the Establishment have always considered themselTes truly a_ part of the One, HolyGatholl c; and Apo c Chhf ch; they differ from those who adhere to the papal authority in . that they are hot Roman Catholi c s ; At the outset; their > ; : separation;was not so much doctrinal as it was. political® : '• In matters of dogma-the years following the Reformation witnessed an increasing schism® ■: Wordsworth$ s sonnets dealing with the Reformation are ; as specific as others in the series® His ability-to convey '' $uch in little has already been indicated; for example, his compressing info a- Sin^e' line reference to the Celtic Church and the contributions of Theodore of Tarsus« If, in matters of history, he seems to; some critics to be lacking a proper sense of emphasis, still it is well, to recollect that he was a poet, and it is his sins of omission and commission as a ■ poet; that are the first , concern of the student of literature«,

' TO THE CLOSE OF THE TROUBLES IN THE REIGN : l : v::; ; ;i . o f :emRiss x : . . . ' '.-f : II o lo "HOW soon -alas I did Man, created pure - n , - De Selincourt says that Wordsworth "devoted much care : ' to these, two sonnet's [ll® 1 and 11® zjs six complete versions of i and siven. pf 11 <> all showing revision, are found in :G„ the copy of Poetical- Works 1836=7 which belonged to Lord-f 2^ — — ' V.-; z - . • V f - v / : ' Coleridge en The most; significant change ?v it seems to the i whiter^is that reflected in- the "opening lines of. II cl; poetically it does not seem a change for the betters however neatly it snugs the idea into the harbor of orthodoxy^ • ■ ; The first version shows the poet concerned with living mans ' How difficult for Man to keep the line ! ; ' : r Prescribed by Butyl1 Happy Once s and pure . . % In thought and deed, a woeful forfeiture He made by wilful breach of law divine®. : , -; l :: :;: iflle ;i0:: 1 - 4 'via The first two lines might Well apply to the youthful pOet • himself i 1 : ' ' : "n z/-0.VY : i'-g t't' Y’r"-:- How different in tone are the opening lines as published for the first time in 1845: - - . • y ' ; HOW soon - alas I did Man, -created pure W .Y :' ;Y - ; ; ■ By Angels guarded, deviate from the line - , Prescribed to -duty: Woeful forfeiture . : ; d ' Y. \'Y Y HeY made by/wilful breach of law divine^ '

i >■ .Y -g Yy - :YY'V: ;-V V i'r: VY-' IIa l/ 1-4* -The revised form has lost its life, becoming as cardboard theology» where as.the first version presented above reminds One of the ?tOde to Duty®” The poet' succeeded in erasing ‘ . whatever slight trace of romanticism existed in th© ■ manuscript yersions of the sonnet ® . YY - ' ^ Yll.0 2® "PROM false assumptions rose, .and fondly hail? d" Aside from the fact that: the sonnet reveals a tempering

IOT» Be Selihcdurt, opt cit®, p® 564® \ s ; ■ 1 of the aging poetf s attitude toward the Roman Catholics - the sonnet heing published for the first time in the 1645 edition 1 nothing can be-said for it® : ^ ' ?I; ; III :3V CISTERCIAN MONASTERY 'There are no romantic elements in this sonnet* II. 4:;, "mRhpRABm^h the grodnd9;fc-l: : .Apparently Wordsworth never.relinquished his ability to uphold in verse man*s right to individual freedom® It. . found voice again in 1635 with the publication of the following lines: ' : - /'If' ; :' ,' ; : : Deplorable his lot who tills the ground, His whole life long tills it, with heartless toil. Of villain-servicey passing with the. soil'; . ' To each new Master! like a steer.or hound$ , Or like a rooted tree„ or stone earth-bound=

His warning to the Chiefs,;despite its orthodox coloring? harks" back to the Prelude with Its expressed belief that . .a- benignant spirit was abroad • ■ might not be withstood, that poverty • Abject as.; this would in a fit tie time .; Befound no morethat we should see the earth Unthwarted in her wish to recompense / ' , The meek, the lowly, patient child of toil. : All institutes for ever blotted out ■: That vlegalised exclusion, empty pomp Abolished, sensual state and cruel power, .11 IfJhether by edict of the one Or fewg ; : 1.; -' ;; : .:.' ■' 1 :' •: :: Book If-, $16-528®

In 1 6 3 5 , the poet expressed this: ' . yl;; - . . vl'. > ■ nYe Chiefs, abate These legalized oppressidnsi Man - whose name ; And nature God disdrained not; Man =• whose soul ' ■ ■ : Christ died for - cannot forfeit his high claim s To live and move exempt from all contrdul f ’ ./ ■ Which fellow-feeling doth not mitigate In : ' ; i: ■ ' '■ ; ;; ll e 4° 9a14s ' The instfumentality had changed,f'but the basic idea remains ® : fllo ;5;> MQNES AND : SCHOOLMEN .' f; ' :':d; - Wordsworth*s admiration for schoolmen is not. a part of his most productive period of life* As late as IbZp he had cracked.his poetic whip at theif professipn: ' Dogmatic Teachers, of the snow-white furl . ; . Ye wrangling Schoolmen, of the scarlet hoodI Who with a keeness not" tp be withstobd, - : t ; ■ Press the point home, or falter and demur, . tQfr Checked in your course by many a teasing burrg Therefore, despite oyertones of a fomantic admiration for solitude, it seems best to reject the sonnet .as one which . . - reflects WordswpfthJ.s clearly recognizable romantic elements ® ■f.IIo: bfi-OTHgE dEMEFiTS: •; ^ v'-:;/ There appears to be • nothing of romanticism in this sonnet

d:.iio , 7:1:' .cohTiNUiD.■..:v: \: ::':-: ■ ^.:: ■ : ': i v ' .1 '; The echo in the lines of nContinued1’ are pre-romantic f ather than romantic in their appeal- to senses: ’’melodious sound,11 ’’ho w bright a gleam,” and ’’heartfelt fragrance’’ exemplify this* / ' . a / ' p T

'Tl0 8 a CRUSADERS f: . p: fip .; .f ^ . v,:' / - There is romantic tone in the manner in which the poet

10 S, De S e line our t, ope cit« , Miscellaneous' Sonnets, •• r w part i l , ”Composed on the..Banks of a Rocky Stream^” p » 361 I" . amplifies M s concept of the', growth of the Church from a small rill to a mighty stream, parts of which offer such fascinating Mews that the traveler is tempted, to tarry: ' . ■FUEl: wez the „ saiIs, "and p>ass ^ ^ith: tardy oars ■ -Through these bright regions, casting many a glance ;; Upon the dream-like issues - the romance . : . Of many-coloured life that Fortune pours Bound the Crusaders, till oh:distant shores : Their labours end;■or they return to life, The vow performed, in cross-legged effigy, : Devoutly stretched upon their chancel floors*

'..Medievalism had an appeal for Wordsworth as well as for other

romantic poets> : ' 'y-. ■ :. ' . ■ 1 1 . : ■ ■ ■: t ■ ll - 91 "A3 faith thus' Sanctif 1 ed the warrior7 s crest17 ■ . Nothing romantic is apparent in this or the following ■" . sonneto > d . t . ■ " ' ' : .;y;' : 1: . : - '' ■ i: "I :. ■ ■ :■ , d'd" . IIo 10 o ' "1HEEE long and deeply 'hath been- fixed the root" III o' 11 o TBAlSUBSTlUTIATlOU- y ■'- 1:1': .,y, - g.'r - .1 yy .yl : 1 - "Transubstantiation" is rich in the mystical:allusions and color of the Boman Catholic Mass, a drama: that has romantic appeal for Wordsworth even though, like Faldo, ■ he cannot brook its doctrinal implications« It is interest­ ing to note that the octave devoted to these allem rites V' is suffused with a sensuous quality that breaks off, In y the sestet, once the poet has recalled himself to the stern , r1 _ : : - 1 % # y ^ : demands of conscience* v y . . . : • The presence of this sonnet in the original series would seem to contradict Fairchild? s statement that the "original :. ■. ' - ■ ' : . ■ - ■■■ -y - ^ version contains no sonnets on the sacraments „i? .While : it Is- true that it is not concerned primarily with, the •. sacrament ' of Holy Communion in the Church of England,, whi ch mould have been historically out of place, still this sonnet brings pnt clearly by inference the difference between the Boman Catholic concept Of Transubstantiation, with its emphasis upon;the corporeal Incarnation, and the Anglican concept of the Beal Presence, np less a mystery and no less an Incarnation because it is spiritual® For all his apparent aversion, ' : Wordsworth was, as an Ahglican,-' much nearer to t.h® Boman - . doctrine than to the Protest ant viewof the Holy Communion' : as merely; a memorial act0 Undoubtedly, he placed ”Transubstan-f tiation" in.the: series at this point to illuminate a major cause of the Beformation® ;,; .; . . . . ; incidentally, it appears to the- writer that in this sonnet the apparently long-dead influence of Hartley rises to the surface; . ' _a.a;. -I': . . . a:. Enoughi for see, with dim association. : :■ ' ; The tapers burn; the odorous incense.feeds . i ■A.greedy flame; the pompous mass proceeds; " The Priest bestows;the appointed consecration; And, while the Host is raised, its elevation- ■ An awe and supernatural horror breeds; ; V ; , And' all the people bow their heads, like reeds' . ' '. To a soft breeze, in iowly adoration.- : >h;\; , h ' . ' ; ^ h 'v ; h ty : V;;;':ii0 : i i v i „ S v l ' ;

- 110,- Fairchild, op= cit», p, 229=. . ; The poet^s shririkiiig from the Eoma.n Catholic concept of • -Holy Goramunion finds expression in the closing llne of th-e •: sonnet? which, it will -be noted9 also reflects his rational .approach to the problem: ■'! ■ ;;.-i r;.;' From rites that trample upon soul arid sensBe i ity : : ..(• 1- ;>'w ^ ; y /; n o H a 140 :V' v ■ ■ lie 12e THE VAUDQIS ' ::3 • ". . i .'; ' w - Aside from the fact that this sonnet1 reflects the / - ppet5 s old ' admiration for,. Switzerland, which he still describes with something of his youthful forcethere seems • to be nothing of the early Wordsworth reflected in s!The Varidois>n The lines are as follows: • . . .

o «= mists 3 that brood • • - ; O^er chasms with new-fallen obstacles bestroMi, Protect them; and the eternal snow that daunts .Aliens <, is God1 s good winter for their haunts 0 / - ;

III 13 o ’’PRAISED: be. the Riyers, from their mountain ’springs’® In 18 0 2 Wordsworth had writteh of Venice that she was "The eldest Ghild of iiberty,." and had, in the same sonnet series, revealed some of his admiration for the Swiss, with . his poem to Hoferj"Advance - come forth from thy Tyrolean ground; Dear Libertyf,n which was composed in 1809»: The: same theme is expressed in II® 13: V d ' Praised be the Rivers, from their mountain springs Shouting to Freedom, "Plant, thy banners here I" ;-d. ,d : V .dd : ^;d.' d d- . II® 131 1-2® • : d . Ilia. De Selin court, op, : c i t ®.,.’’0n..the Extinction of the vVenetian Rephblic," 1® A, p d 111® • . ; ;; ' . Such glad welcomings ' ' ;- Is Po..was, heard to. give where. Venice rose , " : %" /,.. : ; II. if, Individual lines, however, must serve to illustrate the \ ■poet? s admiration■ for freedom,ifOr the old; and urgent voice ' has subsided into a toneless chant in praise of orthodox ■ Vi. : . % 1: ■ :;:: V:: , Anglicanism, broken only by occasional bell-like tones that bespeak the younger poet0 ; 7 - .••'■. ■ -.f .:;.■ ii. iio m i m m s B s -" -i /' i. if ' i: / Ihere: seem to be no clearly romantic elements in this ' Sonnet.;; • ■ ' :ll - y .If I>:' ' ;7-:. \ : ■ ' " - . yi ■ I I . 15. • ARGHBISHOP CHIGHELS1Y TO HENBI V ,1 . I- 1 '■ I ’ There is - a touch of the old magic in the imagery that follows: : ' - I"" ' 'I' y:' - ";l: i;;v ; T"; ;':7 ;I,- ii'I;: .:II':;'i; r I,: ; ... ® .ambltioh, in the breast ; • ; Of youthfulIheroes, is ho sullen fire, But one that leaps to meet the fanning breeze. I;" I- y ll. 7 7i7 I' ? ' 7:;: : ;:IV IIo 14. 12-14. How pedestrian the aging poet was ^becoming may be remarked by the stodginess of the phrase - which precedes the Imagery : For, sooth to say, ambition, in the breast. f I I.,;;"" "7''l7- 77III I:'7-'--1 ■ : 7;.ll " 11.14. 12f : -I I I- 7 II. 16. 7 m s OF YORK ABB LAHCASTER I I The poetis dread of violent revolution may be seen in this:.lyl-'I'r-i^ ’ \l - V;I; ;-:;I;'i':::' ;v I y/I fyi;:;;-;-:y7 For deep as hell itself, the avenging draught I ■ Of civil slaughter. : - . 7 : There seem to be no other traces Of the best of Wordsworth in 79 o the "Wars of Yorkand Lancaster^% despite the potential ' ' promise of romantic material as suhject matter®. . • .

lio 17 6 ' WICLXFFE-: 1 ; /■ ; ^t;.' : "\ : ' / The old feeling for a voice in all nature appears in the lines concerned with the strewing Of ZicliffeN ashes -; a in the brook; . : ^ ' Forthwith:that ancient Voice which Streams can hear Thus speaks (that Ydice Which walks upon the windg . Though seldom heard by Wsy human kind}:,** • • i r

'• v : II:. 17./5-7.: . It was a voice which years before the coimposition of the Foclesiastical Sonnets had become only as a remembered sound to the poet® / v -r- : : . / ;/. .IIQ ISe- CORRUPTIONS ' OF ;THE/ HIGHER CLERGY / , . / /The old revolutiohaiy spirit ? never/strong for violence in Wordsworth3/ tolls a warning to those prelates Who,, succumb­ ing to luxury/ give themselves over to anything but godly -lives: / •>;/// '■-■ /■- ':/■' - - : r.r ,/'; / - v • "Woe to you, Prelates! rioting in ease .. And cumbrous wealth - /:- Alas'l of fearful things - f Tis the most fearful.when the people^ s/eye ' /<;': Abuse hath cleared from yain imaginings; . . A ' • ■ ■ ' And taught the general voice to prophesy '

. Of'Justice armedj and Pride to be laid low 0 ' . '.A. :-'/;■ : /.; '.^ /y-v /A/A-'/" II. 2. 1-2, and 10~14« II®’ 19o' ABUSE OF;HOWASTIC POIEE> A'// ./■ .1 > This sonnet. V/ith its; personifications of Penance 3 ; : A Mortification, and Avaricey is far from romantic in treatment® : ix0- 20o MONASTIC VOLUPTUOUSNESS- . / . - S : - ; ' : \ ; : S , ^ There is lusty life in the pictures drawn by Wordsworth in ^Monastic Vdluptudusness> ^x Hfe employs classical mythol­ ogy? a device which he used inGreasingly after ISO?® As he

applies' it to this sonnet 3 • the mythology may be said to be in accord with its use by other romantic poets„ It seems safe to conjecture that i although, he led the way in the romantic period in many respects, some of; the age5s aspects - exemplified by his contemporaries may have left their- imprint on Wordswortho This may well be partially the ease in the f oil owing sonnet: I- , - p>;;. \ '; ' - - . "■> ; rliet more- round many a Convent$ s blazing fire Unhallowed threads of reyelry are spun; . ; There Venus sits disguised like a Nun, - : ^ ‘ While Bacchus , clothed in semblance of a Friar ,1:1 Pburs out his chbicest beverage high and higher :: - Sparkling, until it cannot choose but run - 1 : Over the bowl, whose silver lip hath won V v^ An ihstant kiss of masterful desire =* To stay the precious waste® Through every brain • 11 The domination of the■ sprightly juice ' •. , Spreads high conceits to madding Fancy dear, Till the.arched roof, with resolute abuse ■ - Of its grave echoes, swells a choral strain, 1 Whose votive burthen is - VOUR KINGDOM5S HEREIn The.rebuke is implicit, but fOr once Wordsworth avoids the . didacticism which would have marred the sonnet® However, as a sonnet" it fails because ~ unlike ifMutability” - it cannot stand alonee It serves more as a linking stanza in the seriese Furthermore, It falls under the:onus ofiits content which, like that of Seianus, fails to.arouse sympathy for its charactersI This bears stating 'because the sonnet as la wholep may be designated as rbmahtlc« bub'it is not romanticism at. its best„ Obviously Wordsworth did not intend that it should be,, or that it should, arouse anything: but condemnation for

the central figures 0 Its function is that of a:-nexus s as " indicated, As^ such, it is wholly acceptable* • 11* 21* DISOOhUi'IOF OP. THE MONASTERIES ':' : Do W. James notes that "a quality, which iss indeed? perhaps one of the most notable. features- of the Romantic - . mind [is] »»* the fascination exercised on the minds of " : : - h:;': ■ t :ti:. \ . : - ■ -■■■:•: : > , W : :' i. a . these poets by Strangeness and desolation*4* Wordsworth : was not immune to this». It reveals if Self in the , : ' following lines i . . V t.h " hi.'. ' : . : ii' / - The:tapers shall be quenched, the belfries mute, .- .And, tmid their choirs,unroofed by selfish rage, The' warbling. W find a leafy cage;. The gadding brambie hang her purple fruit; ' ,;v.-. .■ ^ /And^the; greehilis and the gilded - newt. : , : hi - d ; , : : head uhmblesfed lives, and die of age* i • . The owl of evening and the woodland fox t lor their abode the shrines of Waltham choose# " ‘

''WV,: h;;.: .'t ii II* i216 3-IQ* In a note on lines seven and eight, Wordsworth made the .. following comment: ' i' 'i : vt -. : '.. ; - These two lines are adopted from, a MS®,-written - f

; about the year.1 7 7 0 , which accidentally fell into my possession® The close, of the; preceding Sonnet • on monastic, yoluptuousness. is. taken from the sameV■ -

source, as is the verse, 44#iere Venus sits , 44 etc* $

11.2 * David Gwilym James, The Romantic Comedy® p = 73 ® 32 <

and the l i n e , "Once ye were holy^^ye are holy: still," in a subsequent S o n n e t ■ Wordsworth, was usually careful to indicate the sources .from which, he drew material, His use of it in no way detracts from the selectivity which is an hrtis# rightt Il./;22f h i m S1ME SUBJBOT ; : "ihr ■ ItI, ’ ■ h ■ 1 It t:f ■ Wordsworth1s poetic imagination led him to present the after-effects of: disbanding of the monasteries in a view'of a -nun, "more meek through : saintly habit than from effort," thrust into the world 1 .The poet spoils, the, romantic subject by references to her "unveiling timidly a cheek Suffused .

with. blushes of celestial hue" (lines 5 : and 6 ) ®• -h: : ;!s' IIo -23 o:; . GQHTIHUHD ■"■■■. .f/': .1; ■; f r ' ' The further turning of the hourglass results in the ‘ comparison of released novices; with ships freed from polar: ice - not a happy simile* Wordsworth drives his subject into the ground by a closing sigh for aged monastic members too long secluded to be able to fit into the world again® II.® t;;v' ■ - "Saints" is ;akin to the two preceding sonnets in - displaying no clearly traceable romantic, aspects fn its - lineSo The roll call of English saints makes an interesting roster, but mediocre poetry® ■ : y >

■111® Grasmere Edition, The Complete Poetical Works of William Wordsworth, I, Mote 59$: 258«, > . ; ; iiv :25.„v < -' - \ ^ ^ ' ■ . There is one "'fine line in this sonnet = Wordsworth refers to the ¥irgin: as “Our tainted nature6s solitary boast” (line .

4)» Fine as it is 5 however, the. line is not necessarily . romantiei Ferhaps it is not irrelevant to remark that in ■ evaluating the Ecclesiastical Sonnets, it is not only the rehidue "of :romanticis& that matters, but also the residue • t of true poetry, regardless of its derivation or inspiration<» : yilt;;26i v"A: ' ■: ■ v ; - - , There are no clearly discernible rOmantic elements

if! t7 Apology=n ' . ' . .4 ; t. ; ;:i;:-a:/: . - ' ' II. 27. IMAGINATIVE REGRETS ■- • While there are supernatural elements in this sonnet,- V- Wordsworth.achieves his effect" chiefly from the use of - . ■ personification. It is with something :of a heavy hand that he writesr i. .a: ; Deep is the lamentation 1 Not alone . t'., " :i ■ - ; From Sages: justlyhonoured hy" mankind; V " . But from the ghostly tenants of .the wind,, : . " Demons and Spirits, many a dolorous-groan. - Issues for that dominion overthrown; - g ; ■ Proud Tiber grieves, and far-off Ganges, blind " " As his own worshippers: and" Nile, reclined ti" ■ . Dpon his monstrous urn, the farewell moan Renewsc Through 'everytfbralt^t;cayei>Qand>;den,;wv-'rvi:;:-^'rt;. ttoere frauds were hatched of old, hath sorrow past.

;:.v : ■ P , ' t r

Harper has not neglected t o not e -che beauty of imagery ; in "Imaginative Regrets," He notes the final line which

"contains the wonderful picture of a desert With 1 stalking E>4o pillars built of fiery sand0.vn The romanticism' of. the imagery is made complete by. the preceding line ’Mid spectral lakes bemoeking thirsty men, - And'stalkingAnd' stalking pillars bpilt of fiery SancUysande ' ■ ; ^■ ' • II>27ol3~14

lfe0 REFLEGTIONg- % . ' ; h 4 4 ^ ^ • There is nothing notable" in ??ReflectionSon ' :. 11,1.27* TRANSLATION. OF THE .BIBLE- ; 4;. 4 : This sonnet fails to add anything to the traces of rbmanticism being noted in this paper IT, ‘30> THE POINT AT ISSUE . . 1: : "4 Of this sonnet Fairchild says that Wordsworth’s praise of the: Catholic Ghurch as s 4n favor of democracy (as

s» v j. «rth in 1 * *4 ..w^A,h: concerns the efforts of: monks to free - th e S erf s . is .hi.-. -.11 :'l ; im.i ti-■ - V--:. v;; - 4 more than counterbalanced by ’’The Point at Issued 1 (IIj xxx), Here Wordsworth tries to atone for the . ‘ v' vagueness of the original version of the Sonnets - 4 ;- . . by grappling- with the central problem of the

4v-1 :,... .■ Reformation® ■ ; 1 .4. :y- : : Perhaps enough has been said: in connection witbr the 4 sonnet bn ’’Transubstantiation” to illustrate that in; the

poet’s mind 3 at least, there was nothihg vague about the earlier sonnet®. He eyen takes pains to use the same phrasing;: With reference to ’’soul and sensef r

;;i; :';;,1 1 4 ® Harper, op® cit® } p 0 374®; ''iiig. '4 14; 4 - ' t' . yi 115. Fairchild, on® cit ®p ® 23^4 For "what contend the widei- — for nothing less ' _ than that the Soul, freed -from honds of Sense, ' And to"her God restored by evidence - ; ' Of things not seen, drawn forth from their recess, Root there, and not in forms, her holiness, : -;.:. ) '::T' / , ^ : /; ; -■ t ii/^o. i-$. y Evidence of an earlier Wordsworth, however, does not shine forth in this sonnet* IIo ' 31v EDWARD VI :: . y - ^ ' •Wordsworth draws upon his own version of Chaucerrs ^Prioress* Tale^ for the first line of this sonnet: "Sweet is the holiness of Youths "• Curiously. Wordsworth seems to have believed that he was actually quoting Chaucer, but Stuart Robertson says the line is typical of Wordsworth and that it is "pure interpolation <, 0 = the only one ■ in all ■ . ■ -:v t: .. v . 116 , . V the thirty-four stanzas*" ■ - H o 32= : EDWARD" SIGNING" THE WARRANT FOR THE EXECUTION OF ■

.Miss Miles indicates that although physical feeiihg ^preserves its Wordsworthian quality as in the ?Ye"mal Ode t of 1S17» ?To lie and listen - till o ? er-drovised sense Sinks, hardly conscious of the influence,?t! if goes dead in this sonnet in a "form entirely foreign to Wordsworth .before .«* = the tears whi ch flood the Ecclesiastical Sonnet

ll6o Stuart Robertson, ^Chaucer and Wordsworth,t?- Modern Language Notes, XIIII (1926), 104a . H7. , ■ : , - , • ...... , II, xxxiii,n This sonnet may be aligned with those which reveal most clearly the- poet’s declining powers. ':1X6:-Sc . OF PQPBKI, - : : ' ; >A : -y ^: This, sonnet cphtaiha- npthing of romanticism^:: ' r>:; IIo 34a :; IATIMSR, M D RIDLEY , y ; : -v/v ii:,/- : - This and the preceding sonnet, both added in 1627, seem to have been compdsed in order to fill the historical gap - of the Marian ■persecutions in the original edition<> ’ Beither Sonnet s howeverj has clear traces of romanticism® ’ II o 35 o .CRjhMBR. '‘i' ; '"V , -; . . ' I I ..... In this sonnet Wordsworth has written on a highly 1 rpmantic subject, the picture of Cranmer volunta.rily holding in the flomes his hand which had signed his recahtationo How­ ever 5 the sonnet maintains a pedestrian pace and in"the . ■ ’writerrs i ppinloh does not have romantic elementsi y i il l: 36» .GINERIL ¥1E¥ OF THE TROUBLES OF THE ^REFORMATION- ^ This; sonnet, and the five which follow it3 fail, to show any traces of Wordsworth ?s earlier -rdmanticism» Housman -makes: a comment which is very much to the point in this : v-

instance; j.^. . ;■ ;.V. ^ .'V. Wordsworth was so deeply interested, not merely : in ?the meanest flower that blows $ n but in all . things df life, and in seeing life as a unity3 ■ that he did not sufficiently' realize that poetry :. is not a universal’ receptacle for all and sundry, .but rather a reflner^s flre&ldo ■ '

' 117i Miles , op, citep® 157® ' - ’ : llB® Housman, oge cit0 , p 9 680 ■ : : : : ■ IIo: 3 7 . .ENGLISH m # 0 m # E 3 -IE EXILE- : :c: , IIo 3^0 ELIZABETH : - ' % //: \ - II.' 39 o EMINENT' REFORMERS '

II. 4 0 *. ™ s A m . .. . . ; . C IIo 41, DISTRACTIONS ^ . II* 42*:': GUNPOTOER PLOT V -4 ) : : - ' ...4 ; Occasionally Wordsworth*s lines show life, and this;most notably when his emotions were stirred as. they were by con­ templation of the possible consequences of the Gunpowder: Plot® This sdnnet employs a simple yet entirely just vocabulary in presenting a subjective reaetioh with a universal appeal r ' ■ f . - v-. Fear hath a hundred eyes that-all agree To plague her beating heart; and there is one (Nor idlest bhatl) which holds communion . ' With things that were hotyet were meant to be6 Aghast within its' gloomy cavity , , /; That eye (which sees as if fulfilled and done ■ Grimes.that might stop the motion of the sun) . • Beholds the horrible catastrophe \ . Of an assembled Senate unredeemed t . From subterraneous Treason*S darkling power: Merciless act of sorrow Infinite! /F ; " Worse thanthe product of that dismal nighty ■ T®eh gushingj copious as a thunder-showery The •blood of Huguenots through Paris streamed* 11* 43 ® ILLUS TR ATI ON: ■: THE J HNG-FRAIJ M D ' f OF THE RHINE NEAR S CHAFFHAUSEN.. , ■ : . ; ; ; Wordsworth may have been bereft of his mystical communion with nature, but he never lost his ability to observe and describe nature * This sonnet exemplifies ' his powers in the latter direction: , : V; ; v ;: /'V. ^ '■>** ‘ ;v: ' . Siicoth'and greeri, ' L :: ■ ' ' 7 And seeming$ at a little distance $, slow? ■ : ; The waters. of the Rhine; but on they go , ■ Fretting and whitening, keener'and more keen; ■ Till madness seizes on the whole wide Flood? ;; Turned to -a fearful Thing whose nostrils breathe Blasts of tempesWous smoke -; ' f :V- v :';f, u * 43 = 5-ii0 II9 44 *, TROUBLES OF CHARLES THE FIRST There are no clearly discernible traces of romanticism in this sonnet9 The same statement applies to.the following 11 o >5» laud : V V ' ; ; IIo' 46a :■ AFFLICTIONS OF ENGLAND . f f : ^ V ' CHAPTER-F,' : AN ANALYSIS OF ROMANTIC ELEMENTS IN Y : Y : PART III OF THE; ECCLESIASTICAL SONNETS

■ w s s . m - : ■ ; FROM THE RESTORATION' TO: THE PRESENT TIMES: III, la % SBT the figure of a lovely Maid" . Y The purely personal approach of this sonnet sets it apart from the majority in the series» -Other elements of Wordsworth8s early work are reflected in the pathetic fallacy of the ^darksome tree whose fondly-overhangihg canopy” (lines' 2: and Si shaded the jiaidls brightness j and- :in the f act that . the sonnet is based pn ta dream with its reference to the Imagination s $? sleep - with my Fancy played” CLirie 8) o Notable too is the simile ?*like sunny mist,” in :

- line, l l o :: ^ p 'i ,: - p.'--. ; ;; ;; -'T ■' .: :p;v : ; . ' Ph , rpsaw-"the..figure • of '.a lovely Maid - h . '■ ; ; v . Seated alone beneath a darksdme tree,, ; P V' p - :p - Whose f ondlye-overhanging c ahopy ; 1:: P Set off her brightness with a pleasing shade*. • No Spirit was she; that my heart betrayed, P. p . For she was one: I loved exceedingly; P ■ : But while I gazed in tender reverie P " (Or was it sleep that with my Fancy played?) P P The,- bright corporeal presence form and face - . . ' - Remaining still distinct grew;thin and rare,r Like sunny mist; - at length the golden hair , : P Shape^ limbs, and heavenly features, keeping pace . Each with the other in a lingering race / Of dissolution, melted into air* .•.'•PP.- Raleigh has something to say about the place of emotion in- : . : , \. :/ ^-.v^ ". V : 90o ■the simplicity of language such as this sonnet possesses0 t:...:rg‘.-'''Whila:; passion holds fainij while he is moved or exalted, his ' language keeps its naked intensity« But when his own fee 1 ing: ■£ 1 ags and there is ground • ... to be covered he is a bad traveller on the flat<, .... The piain words of common life no longer satisfy ■ J him, for the flow has gone out of them* Sometimes he makes what he can of them; and there are no more { prosy passagee in #%glish verse than some of those- ; . where1 Wordsworth has an explanation to interpolate f a mechanical junction to effect, or a narrative to: : carry on to the next place where reflection may .. . ■ rest and broods In these passages, while he is. . : simple, he is often feeble and talkative0 But sometimes, on the other hand, the lack of vitality . . consciously oppresses him, and he endeayours to fmake, it gdOd by forced decoration and fancyo At ■ ' such times he produces samples of false poetic diction as vapid: as: any invented by thev rhymesters : . f of the Eighteenth Century * 119 . yt : : ;; : Miss Potts sees a similarity in this sonnet to the . - ' ' ' 1 2 0 ;y t : :: . following lines in !?To a Highland. Girl": . : . : 't In truth togethef do .ye seem ' ■ ' d Like something fashioned in a dreamy. - ./ • ’ ■ ; Such forms? as. from their covert peep . : . V : ' 'd; When earthly cares are laid asle.epl > '? d d ' .d; , ' ; ddf •: d d ; f - :;d ■ ' :\':".y : fd ;d ' " 121 \ ' .

■ . . . ; ■ ■ ' 1 1 " 1 9 1 ■ III. 2 . FAl’RIOTIC SYM-PAIHIES ' : ' ; ■ d Wordsworth likens his dream to his fears for England in this sonnet, Which partakes of the same feelings as those in Sonnet XVIl of Poems Bedicated to National Independence and Liberty; dS,'; f ' V:, ;' d ' ;:d:d yf^ydd:- d "-d_ dyt ■ . : v d d Ihen. I have borne, in memory what has. tamed • d. dv . Great.Nations, how ennobling■thoughts depart d d When men change swords for ledgers and desert •

119 o Raleigh,; opa cit», pp . 102-103 »

120 o Potts, opo citod Note to III,1, p * 2S0« . ;

121 o Be Seiincourt, opo olt«, III, 7 3 o d . 91a • The student’s bower for gold, some fears unnamed • I had, ray Country ! t o o ; : v' r . , To this may be added: ' _ ■ ■ : " What wonder if a Poet now and then : , .' . x;. . Among the many movements of his mind, • * Felt f or thee as a lover or a child I

; ; . ■ : V ■■ ^ ■- ■■■■ ' : :'h- Nineteen years later Wordsworth wrote these lines: :v A ' Last night,, without a voice, that Vision spake : , , A A:;' .: Pear to ray Soul,,. and sadness; which might' seem a % a ■' y Wholly dissevered from our present theme; y : ■ , . Yet, my beloved Country i I partake . • ' -a : Of kindred agitations.for thy sake; . ■ Thou, too, dost visit oft my midnight dream; . -A-;. "; •' Thy glory meets me with the earliest beam V- \' v ;; ' A Of light, which tells that Morning is awake0 ■ , - ■ - : If aught impair thy beauty pr destroy ': A yv ■ Or but forbode destruction, 1 deplore A ; ;'Aa :-: With filial love the sad vicissitude; A; a A yA;: ' A:; . A' If thou hast fallen, and righteous Heaven restore A Thee prostrate, then ray spring-time is renewed, And sorrow bartered for exceeding joy« The later sonnet suffers from a slow pacing.like that of a man who has lost the springy step of youth and taken tOAthe ; solid comfort Of shuffling in his carpet slippers, ;

A- 'A III* 3 o CNARLES THE SECONI) ' y;f .; a v A;. ; Ah'

; " A a;. There is nothing of note in this sonnet» , - a a 'A III, 4o A LA TITUBINARIANI>SM W . ' a A,;.'A' a ' /AA: AA a ;

a Despite one or two fine lines in tribute to Milton, this sonnet as a whole is mediocre, It contains no romantic A A traces, -■ :;A ; VA . • AA . . - A ^ hA ... yA

122A De; Selincourt, cite, A HI , 117-118, A : 92 e iii» $ = : mKTomrs b o o k • o f l i v e s , : ; : ; ; ; ;■ Harperrs reference to this sonnet as ’'the sweet tribute to ttaaM W t o o n ,?; is an apt bne0 Something in ¥alton?s - book must have touched the innermost poet in Wordsworths for ■ this sonnet displays the same1 simplicity noted in III»le It is the kind of simplicity which marks much of Wordsworth? s finest poetry0 . The final lines have a luminous beauty in the imagery which is. h characteristic of;many poems of the ” / romantic, era: - ; W- x -:.;d . . I;- There are no colours in fhe fairest sky , ‘ : W So fair as these^ The feather5 whence thepen 1* v shaped that traced the iiyes of these good menj Dropped from an Angelfs wing0 With moistened eye- 1 v : We: read, of faith and-purest charity • ■ r11 ■; ■■ In Statesmanj Priestj:and humble Citizen:. ;■ Oh could we copy their mild virtues 9 then" v . vtoatrjdylto live, what blesse to dieI ’ ■ ' : . : :. Methinks their very names shine still and -bright; '/ ipaft "like glow-worms on a summer night; Or lonely tapers when from far they fling - ■ A guiding ray; or seen - like stars on high; I t Satellites :burnihg in a lucid ring '■ Around meek Walton ^-.heavenly memory®

i n . 6 0 c l e r i c a l i m t e g r i t i > . 'y . ;; f 1 There appears to be nothing of note in this sonnet<, wi' III o; 7, PERSECUTION OF THE SCOTTISH COVES AMTERS ' y:: i-.1> ' 1 like that preceding, this sonnet appears. to have. no . . romantic period overtones & ■ .■ Ill^ C0 ACQdlTTAl OF 'THE BISHOPS I f : i : Something of the old power to convey the essence of sound is found in this sonnet: - : : M . o i .

123 o H arper 3 op * citi, pi 574» •-I'-voice, from long-expecting thousands sent, . Shatters the- air, and troubles tower and spire; • For Justice hath absolved the Innooent, 1 tod Tyranny is balked of her desires .. ; V- , Up, down, the busy Thames - rapid as. fire .--/dd: Coursing a train of gunpowder ' - it ’ went, .And1'transport finds in every street a vent, ' Till the whole City rings like one vast quire „ •• > r-v: -I ; : ; HI, 1-S, This sonnet -is another instance of the author?s having used Sources on which, his own artistic mastery has worked poetic chang e„ Wordsworth'make s: thi s- c ommen t $ ' • : And upon the acquittal of the Seven Bishops I ; :; - - ; V have done little more than versify .a lively !;/ description;of that event in_the HS= Memoirs -; , ; of the first. Lord Lonsdale e-1^ ' .•illh; 9-0 WILLIAM T # THIRD '/ p-1 V 1 ; -v . ■ Wordsworth*s ability.to deal with the phenomena , , of nature; is 'shown in the following imagery: - • Calm as an under-current, strong, to draw. - Millions of waves into itself, and run, ; ' From sea to sea ^ impervious to the sun - : And ploughing storm, the spirit of Nassau ;’ : Swerves not» • - .•' V :;;. -h- ^ .-d;: / ■ -'*■ .h.I-.h;hw,-, 11Xo 9o i„5o ■ ■ ■.

Unfortunately, in this sonnet Wordsworth fails'to maintain the initial impetus and lapses"into didacticism* III. 10. OBLIGATIONS .OF CIVIL TO RELIGIOUS LIBERTY ■ : ■CoHo" Herford says that Wordsworth , remained throughout his life dedicatedto his principles and that toe never ceased

124o . Markham L 0 Peacock, Ur*, ede, The Critical Opinions of William Wordsworth,(quoted from Grossart, 111, 131} p» 424® 94 = to believe that by the soul only the nations shall be great and free, that} as a modem journalist might phrase it, ^4;.:. :;:-, • • > ; : : .-y :: v . i . 1 2 5 spiritual values ought to be supreme in 'national lif e 0,? 1 . The poet^s belief that his countryrs greatness arid freedom were bound closely to her religious strength is nowhere more strongly expressed than in this sonnet, which demonstrates . once again Wordsworthfs ideas on liberty and what sustains it Ungrateful -Gpuntryj if thou eier forget . The • sons who for thy; civil rights have bled I- How, like a Homan, Sidney bowed his head, ■ . And Russel1s milder blood the scaffold wet; ; ..." But these had fallen for profitless ■ regret' - .Had not thy holy;Church her champions bredj And claims from of her worlds inspirited ■ y The star of Xdberty to rise c '. Nor yet ' ' ^ ; : v • (GTave this, within;fhy heart i) if- spiritual things ' ■ : ' Be lost, through apathy, or scorn, or fear, : ; Shalt thou thy humbler franchises support, However hardly won or jnstly dear : . ' ■ . ; y : What came from heaven to heaven"by nature clings, Aridy if dissevered thence, its course is short* ' ■ -a' -' t ; ■ . . - ■' - : i This sonnet may be added to the list of those concerried with liberty* / a.;' r-:.a:-a . ; A sudden conflict rises from the "swell Of a proud slavery met by tenets strained : a . a • In Liberty1s behalfe Fears, true or feigned, y .ay :: . Spread through all ranks * q @0 . . : . . . : ■ a' . a ; aaf-V:':y-y;/.fa 'hyf III, 11.' l-4»: 'y . It is always an Interesting - question to inquire why Wordsworth in his 1cclesiastleal Sonnets selects those men

125* G0 Hu Herford, Wordsworths p.. 195* ;; , - ^ v 1' .;.v; 9 5 o tie names to illustrate church tiistory® In ttie case under con­ sideration. there may have been a double reason, one_of which pertained to Wordsworth?s hatred of revolutions A passage from George Macaulay Trevelyanrs History■of' England olarifies 7' the background: : ; . '. 7 A wave 'of ' High Church - f eeling passed over the. Queen, and her.-subjects, and mobs who a few years before-were chasing Jacobites and sacking.Mass-■' houses j once more engaged in the . alternative - 7:7; ; employment of burning Dissenters1 chapelSo Popu­

lar emotion was swelled by the folly of - the -lfhig. 7 . W':1- - Ministers in1 impeaching before- theTHouse of Lords ; a certain 7E)r0 Sacheverell} who had preached a y 7 sermon against ;the principles; of the Revolution^

on the day cohsecrafed to its memory 0 ^-^°

III®; 12« ; - nBOWE a swift ;8 tream, thus far, a bold -designn 7 In this reminder of the theme of the sonnet series, there is notable imagery in connection with the description 7 7 of the Rhine» This sonnet is one of the few which springs. 7 from the poet7s "emotions-recollected in tranquillity,n for it Reflects the Impressibns received from the Rhine during the poet^s visit three decades; before the sonnet? s composition»

Down a swift Stream, thus far, a bold design 7 - 7 Haye we pursued, with livelier stir of heart ' Than . his.; whd; sees , borne f orward by the Rhine, % - ;: The living landscapes greet him, and depart; • • Sees spires- fast .sinking W up again to start! y :; y And strives the tdWers- to number , that recline ':77777';7:--: Gjer the dark steeps, br On the horizon line Striding with shattered, crests his eye athwart« ;: 7/-I'' ;.■'■777 : ' 111»; 12c i-S0 : ; ,

V 126o George Macaulay Trevelyan, History of England. p.® 49a, ' - -; . . 7 . - --77-77:7': 7 :; 7 7 : - The simplicity of the language is 5, "of course, reminiscent of

Wordsworth 8 s earlier work® - v V - ; Jli;i 13 e: / iSPECTS^OF CHRISTiMITY IN ;*fflSBlGii -• « ^ : t:r • . lo - THE PILGRIM FATHERS ■ • ' -" " ' .The three sonnets wh: Eccleslastical Spnhets in American publisher? Henry Reed; sticRstick out like a ninth arm on ^ w>^vpus which is already having: .trouble contrdlling;

: its, natural appendages 3 - This • sonnet, and the two which ' follow^ contain nothing which can be claimed to reflect

Wordsworth 8 s earlier romanticism®

'/iillo' 1R 0 llZ'- GQRTIRHER • 'i; -a:a : d,.;' V-W : ;

III« 151 ni l - CONCLUDED 0 - AMERXGAH EPISGOPACT ; V , /;The most.that can be said of these three sonnets is.' that the concluding line of the third characterizes all of

them: 88The purest stream qf ,patient Energy ® 88 -x ; ;

III® 1 6 »- “BISHOPS and Priests, blessed are ye s if deep18 ’ Although there is nothing of romanticism in this ’ ; g . ■ sonnet; r it is worth noting that it is the first which is ■ ; devoted to the sacraments of the Ghurch of England, dealing

as 1 1 1 ® 1 6 does with the consecration of bishops and the ordination of priests® The reference to the sacrament : is by inference only® ’ ' : dg- d III® 17® PLACES . OF WORSHIP:. ; g g , ' ■ ■ g- d. “ The.deep love for native land which Wordsworth put into

his work in its third period IS found again in this sonnet0 97. The imagery is romantic in tone$ with its picturing of English ; churches like t?f air ships51 or fountains in the 7

- .desert; " .• ^ .m . . - y- - - ; : : - "•hh ^sestaj that shines dependent upon star " I Is to t he sky while we look up in love;, ^ ; •- . As to the deep, fair ships which though they move , . . ■ >V A 'Seem:fixedj to eyes that watch then : from afar ; . - ' ■ , = . As to the sandy desert fountains are5 ; . ; With palm-groves shaded at wide intervals^ ' ; ; Whose fruit around the sun-burnt Native falls - - -V .y " -h ' • ' Of roving tired or desultory war - : Such to this British Isle"her Christian Fanes, Each linked to each for kindred services; . Her Spires, her Steeple-towers with gLittering.vanes Far^kenned^ her Ghapels lurking among treesj. . Where a few villagers on; "bended knees. Find SGlace which a busy world disdains® The lines flow with a- simplicity so true that they "seem . "Bound each to:each by natural piety," There is a quiethess ; ■; herej,: a universal appeal in the, haven off ered by the peaceful churches of t he; EngLish country side 0 - It is a sonnet in T;;' , which the poet speaks rather from his heart than from his : . .. head, and it is filled with that tranquillity which, for . many, is the highest appeal of Wordsworth^ s poetry® .

; : ; lli, IB. . .FiSTCSAh . OHAfACTER y; ,-' ; r ; ; ; V ; y . The contents of this, sonnet reveal about as' much v; " ; romanticism: as Wordsworth1 a. hoteiconcerning it; ' Among the benefits arising, as Mr, Soleridge has well observed, from a Church establishment ’ of endowments corresponding with the wealth of. ;■ ■ the country to which it belongs, may be reckoned. : as eminently Important, 'the : examples of civility . ' 'and refinement which the clergy stationed at in- v tervals, afford to the whole people®' ■ The established y; • , - clergy in many parts of England have long. , . ■; been s as they continue to be', the principal .t : . - • bulwark agatfist barbarism, and the link which ' ' - - unites the sequestered: peasantry with-, the' in- :. ./ ■ tellectual advancement of the age « . 0 ' . ;: : :: This sonnet is a dull reflection-of the poet?s admiration ; for the type exemplified by the EeVc.'Robert Walker, celebrated in the sonnet on nSeathwaite Chap el?? in the River Duddon series, 'F0W,H„ Myer says: ? ‘ In Robert Walker: he: had /a. Cumbrian statesman ; : ■ : ■ turned into a practical saint; and he.describes. Y him with a gusto in which his laboured sonnets T ik;:; Y on ri’La u d n or On ^Dissensions” are wholly deficient. Despite using essentially the sameYsubj#ct matter for his . , 5fPastoral Dharacter,s Wordsworth fails to produce a sonnet„ -.which; approaches^ySesithwaIte.'Dhapel^; in excellence. Harper.,'; however, sees in it something 'of the fine quality of ^Places of Worship,?? with its "tranquil!zing picture of the Church , ; ; as vit is .and always .has been, at the points where it couches;. its rural places of worship and its humane, learned, and devout clergy,"1^ - . ■ _

There are' no- traces;of romanticism in this sonnet, . It should be mentioned, however,-that whereas "The Liturgy" ' : was'published in 1822 , only two out of- the total of thirteen sonnets which concern the services appeared in the same edition, Additional reference to this fact will be made

127» De Selincourt, op, cit,, Note to 18, p, 570= v" 128, ' Myer, Wordsworth, pp., 158-159° ; : - - : Y • . ' ; 1 2 9 o Harper, Op, cit,, p, 574« I - from time to : time e Heither >qf the two soimets immediately following contains romantic elements® • ; III®; 20®: B A PTim \ v.;:'-.'W " . ; : ' ; : 111= 21 o SPONSORS ' - ■ . ' ' :■ •' I ' . ; 111= 22= CATECHISING ; ■ V;: y y-V.- . ; : ; :y y : ^ . ,■ Wordsworth dipped deep, into the stores of memory for the reminiscence which produces such charm: in this sonnet® From Little down to Least, in due degree, y Around the Pastoreach in new-wrought vest$ ' ■-■.V. Each with a vernal posy at his breast, , _ We stood9 a. trembling5 earnest Company I : ; : Withy low' soft murmur i,; like a distant bee, , Some spakej, by- thought-perplexing fears betrayed; And some a bold unerring:answer made; ■ y -; How. flirt ter ed then thy anxious heart for me, : v :.y';: Beloved Mother I Thou whose happy hand y y; ':y'"-: Had bound the flowers I wore, ■ with faithful tier ■ : Sweet flowers 1 at. whose inaudible command ; Her countenance, phantom-like, doth reappear; . y G lost too early for-the frequent tear, And ill requited by this heartfelt sigh I When Wordsworthf:& emotions were touched by his subject, he could still produce poems dn his old vein®

III = 23 = C0NPIRMA1I0N • . V ' , - ','y:, / ' How different in tone is this sonnet, and how feeble Its impact compared to the sdnhet ■above which describes -an actual expertenceyL The moment Wordsworth assumed the role of an onlooker, the romanticism.seemed to drain from his work® There are no traces of it in this sonnet®

111= 21= GONFIRmTIGN GONTimED ' : / - y ;y 1 ’ . y y When Wordsworth bent his sympathetic attention toward individuals - the nameless ones in the world .- his work : ■ . ' ■ io° ” caiie ,alive with -the. features that characterize his best poetry= The faint overtones which have been found in this study of the Ecclesiastical Sonnets have been compared with -ppetPy of Wordsworth’s more mature period, that of;the years ;1802 to 1807o The sonnet Under consideration, ”Confirmation • Continued,t? is unique in that its roots appear to go back to the time of the Lyrical Ballads, since it incorporates the early-employed mother-child theme: " r saw a Mother’s eye intensely bent Upon a Maiden trembling as she knelt; In and for whom the pious Mother felt . Things that we judge of by a light too faint: . Tell, if ye may, some star-crowned Muse, or Saint I Tell what rushed in, from what she was relieved - V Then, when her Child the. hallowing touch received,:v ;.:. 'And. such vibration, through the Mother went ■' ■ t ; p That tears burst forth amain» Bid gleams appear? Opened a vision of that blissful place ^ : ; : Where ,dwells a ;Sister-child? And was power given 1; : ' Fart of her lost One’s glory back to trace ; Even to this Bite? For thus She knelt, and, ere y. The summer-leaf had-ifaded, passed to Heaven» ~ Illo 25y SACRAMENT : This, and the sonnet which follows, have no echoes of the younger Wordsworth1s powers« ; 111.26, THE MARHIAGE CEEEMONY' f

III, 27 b THANKSGIVING AFTER CHILDBIRTH . .: In this.sonhet there is a faint, dying breath of the old Wordsworth who found subject matter in the stories of mothers Whose children were both their hope and their affliction. Is there not an echo of the . dissolute Luke of ’’Michael” or of the sadness of the mother in fThe Affliction of Margaret” 1010 in -bhese lliies?' ; . r ( - C ' ■ ; And should tke Heir Of thy fond hopes hereafter: .walk inclined . h - ' :: To courses fit to make a mother, rue. That ever he was bora? a glance;of mind ' : ' \ : - Oast upon this observance may renew A better will: and, in the imagined view- " . .. . ; Of thee thus kneeling, safety he may. find*

: ' ■ - - .. .. > :';;k % ;■ v n . . 27, 9-14. - I H . 26. VISliATIOH OF THE SICK ; ‘ - : . "Visitation of the Sick,^ like W e ;four sonnets which follow it, doe s not evince any romantic elements*

III*:' 2 9 o" THE .COMMlHATlOh SERVICE ; y ' y - Iy v., ; : : III* ,30* EOHMStOF PBAIEB .AT SEA ^: \ ; ‘ ' v h// : III* ,3i*C: .FhhlRAI.; SEEVICE -:y ■, -y ^ hlh.'-yyy'-yV'y:: ' III* 32»: ' T O O E E M O N T y . . v ' ■ : ^ h t''':-: - :/:v - V - :: y y V :; t , Wordsworth’s lament for the paucity of ritual in the - Church of England contains a cheerful picture of how he would have the parish church deek itself out for the Christmas season* The freshness of the imagery Seems romantic: - : , ' Oo, . seek, when Christmas snows; discomfort bring, The counter Spirit found in some gay church ; Green with fresh holly, every pew a perch-'' ; ; : ; In which the linnet or the thrush might sing, ; Merry and loud and safe from prying search^ ' ' ; Strains offered only to.the genial Spring* ; 'y-.y^;:;-yvy;,y;:d .-;;iii*w39:::9™iA6.-:;y:v 111 * 3k> ' MUTABILITY y- ; ;;V> yi" ' '^-y ■' - ■; y':- , Wordswof t h ’ S youth was marke d - by many changes, each • in turn leaving him with a little less of the security , t ' which, childhooi is supposed to offer.* As a young man he was a wanderers without gainful occupation. The death of his, brother John served to emphasize life 5s mutability<> So doubt this background accounts largely for his search for unity in his life, " Even in his advanced years, long_ after: he had settled info the domestic tyranny of Rydal Mount, mutability stirred his imagination= " The result is a great sonnet which breaks through the narrowing bonds of history into the .biasing light of undeniable universality. From low to high doth dissolution climb, ; And sink from high, to lows along a scale , • Of awful notes, whose concord shall not fail $ ■ A musical but melancholy chime5 ' '■ -Which they can hear, who meddle not with - crimez , ■ ' Nor avarice s nor over-anxious .care, .: -. Truth fails not; but her outward forms that bear - The longest dote do melt -like frosty rime, v That, in the morning whitened hill and plain it - - And is no.more; drop like the tower sublime Of yesterday, which rpyaliy did wear \ - His Grown Of weeds, but could not even sustain r Some casual shout that broke the silent air, Or the unimaginable touch of Time, . - , Many of Wordsworth5 s best traits are; here: his simplicity, the directness of approach which, avoids personification, - the unforgettable -imagery which draws on nature, the appeal . to the eye and the ear, the'deep.truth of'what t h e 'sohhet T ; says, Platonism lies in the lines which aver that only ’ ' the outward forms of truth change. That Wordsworth .had ■ a wider concept in mind than mere changing of ceremonials ; is made clear by the alterations which re suited in the,- final ■ v. :;'- v ; :' . '- . : -; : * " / ^ ? 103« form of line 7, "Truth falls fiot; but her out war d> forms that : bear” ooc The original manuscript read: "The pomps and ; vanities of earth,” which was then changed to "Truth fades - hot, hat the forais of thought,” ■ ': . Oliver Elton, in discussing the spe'culatlve writing of Wordsworth, has not neglected to comment oh "Hutability After tracing the course; of similar, writing in the eighteenth century, Elton says; Blake had purified the poetry of ideas in his own way; but he crazed it with symbolism, and he , • had ho influence« Wordsworth, along with Cole­ ridge, ,recovered the art of shaping abstract - ■ i ideas, or abstractedly stated emotions, into W true consistency with poetic law;- «> . Wordsworth; found the ri^it way early; in "Tintern Abbey” he had found it beyond all cavil. Be also kept it, . ■: ..vs : at intervals, to the end, as the sonnet , "Mutability” . ®, is enough to. p r o v e . -*-30 Miss Batho answers Bale White’s question concerning the,right of this sonnet to be included in a sonnet series which o s ten sib 1y d e al s with' Church of England history: - There are at least three places in the Prayer , : Book which consider the precise point of mutability : of rites and ceremonies... Wordsworth did not : need to look this up: the whole que stion of ■ ; •the yalue, meahing and position of ceremonies ' .. in religion was a part of the furnishing of his ;> mind as an ordinary instructed Anglican, and tie :. : therefore summed it up naturally and without . .• effort in one of the most■ magnificent of his y ' Sonnets,^-31 . ■ . v ' ;; h vh--'Elton, op. cit., p. 60. IBi.: Bat ho. op. cit., p. 243. : III. 35e OLD ABBEYS: ., ,. f . . The gentle s reflective tone of "Old :Ahheysn is that of a man a step beyond, maturity3 looking backward» At least three traits characteristic Of Wordswbrth are found:in the ' sonnet: the diction, the/aubjebtive treatment, and the interest in ruins® Unfortunately, the final lines are mildly didactic; 'V; f- ;: ; : ■ • r - ’t- v - Monastic Domes1 following my downward way, • Untouched by due regret I marke d your fall I. . . Now, ruin, beauty^ ancient stillness, all ; , ; ' Dispose to, judgments temperate as -we lay w i ■ ■ . ;0n our • past selves in life ?s declining day: /, /; : f r h For as, by discipline of Time made wise,;-,- ' _ " : : V • We\ learn to tolerate the infirmities . t \ ;. .:- .■ t ; And. faults of others - gently as he may, ; It r -t'hrt f So with but own the: mild Instructor deals, :. " Teaching us to forget them, o r ‘forgive. . Perversely curious, :then, for hidden ill' • t ’ \ : ■ Why. •should we break- Time$ s charitable seals? Once ye were holy, ye are holy still; . Your spirit freely let me drink,: and • live» IIIV 36. ' .EMIGRANT FRENON GL&RGY: ' ; ’ . . t-V .:' . No tra.ces of romanticism are discernible' in this sonnet® 1 III1 3?. GONGRATULATIOW'■ ' : -t : ' t; t t : . V ■; In: ^Congratulation™ Wordsworth praises: liberty, but it is liberty qualified by, law, a viewpoint first expressed 1-in the tOde: to: Duty?? : ' : -, - h h - : . '. : 'o. , - v . ■ ; . A .State whose generous will through earth is dealt; / ,A State - which, balancing herself between ■ : : • . ; ’ : License and slavish order, dares be free. . v'

' :1II.: 38. NEW ■:GHURGHES: ' V f-; ' " - - 1:: 1 : In its opening lines, this"sonnet expresses .the•same idea: 10 5;» .^ut ll'bertyy and ‘ triumphs-oti the Main 5 ' : - ' And laupelleh armies, not to be withstood v- v J ,

; "': ’;: lihat serve they? If, oh transitory good 1 1 ' ; ^ • Intentg and sedulous of abject gain, . ' ■ I: The State {ah}; surely hot preserved in,vainl ) ; . ' . -Forbear to shape due channels which the Flood, Of Sacred truth may enter»».: : ; ;:c :.i The duty of the State to; support spiritual growth through . her Church is here displayed^ . ; ; ■- 1 h ? III. 39h CHURCH TO ;BE ERBGTEEV ■ i ; ' ' I ^ r; ■ i-p: '/ ■ ^ The picture of hature as the background'for the church i seems more pre-romantic than romantic in tphe® ill. AO. COMTIMUED ''t- . The emotional impact of Roman Catholicritual is compared with a glimpse of the Alps in a simile probably drawn' from Wordsworth^ s memory. ' ' • .

Mine ear has rung, my spirit sunk subdued 5 , I Sharing the strong emotion of. the crowds ' •

T/flien each pale brow to dread hdsanna 1 s bowed - ■ .While clouds of incense mounting veiled the rood, '■ That glimmered like a pine-tree dimly viewed ■ u . Through Alpine vapors. V ' h - .1, - . :;v h ;i:; ;::V .ill.; 4Q» •l^S. ;-:: ;y III. 41a NEW GHURCHUriRP : - V- ’ . - ■ ' . : There yis a faint trace of graveyard poetry in this sonnet ? plus one line which may reflect an earlier Interest in medieval ballad subjects (i.e. 1$><>. by . merry Outlaw drivennj : . . ./And where the rugged colts their gambols played', . And wild deer bounded through the forest/glade, : y / Unchecked as when by merry Outlaw drivens • . : ':;' Shall/.hymns of prais e resound at morn and: even; And soon, full soo, the lonely Sextonis spade ; / Shall -wound the .tender sod. . - 111. 41o :A”9 e : ril a 42^ ' GATHEURAlj5 ETC

There appear to be ho romantic traces in this sonnet 0

XITo 43 o INSIDE1 OF KING ?S COLLEGE CHAPEL, CAMBSIDG1 ; ,' - f . ... - The moral perception which characterizes some of the best of ¥ordsWrth?s poetry is reflected in this fine sonnet0v It has something of the old appeal to the eye and the ear, some of the vitality of expression in which ' plain diction is so- well suited to subject that the result is inevitable beauty,, . ■ ' ' ri : ; : . ' . Tax not the royal Saint with vain expense? With ill-matched aims the Architect who planned - I ' Albeit labpuring for a scantyyband .: ' .' i Cf Miite-robed .Scholars ' only:>- this immense ; And glorious Work of fine intelligen ce 1 ‘ : • live all thou canst; high Heaven rejects; the lore ' Of nicely-calculated less or more; .- 1 . 3d deemed the man. who f ashipned f or the Sense r o These lofty piilars, spread that branching roof Self-poised,; and scooped into ten thousand cells,, ' Where light and shade repose,, where music dwells lingering - and wandering bn as loth to die; like thoughts whose very sweetness yieldeth proof ; That they wero born for immortality» r '/ ■ ; When one considers the perfection of this sonnet, the : is i n cl in edto wi sh that Wordsworth had not produced ■, 'the two which follow,. It is not that they are the same ■ poor stuff which the- reader discovers in seeking poetry ■ within, the' majority of the Ecclesiastical Sonnets, but their tone inevitably suffers because they follow upon

the heels Of a truly splendid sonnet? Harper, ' however, . finds all three sonnets excellent«; 7 : .r: ^ - f;: I'-'. 1; ::7'';;: : : io?o ' v ' III». too ;: ™ • SAME ; : . . - : ; - ■ ■ I / Z. • ■ . . The beauty of this sonnet is not grasped with the first;

I ,', 'few readings 5 but becomes apparent with increasing familiarity ’ v with its appeal to the eye and ears : With gradual stealth the lateral windows hide - ; 1; Their Portraituresj their stone-work glimmers, dyed In the soft chequerings of a sleepy lighto x-7 - v 'v 7 :: 7v7;7^-7' I' 'r;7-^: 1 7:r yiioitoov'stoV7-7: 7 '

7 ; a m . . 1 : 7 : ; : x :;v -y, 7/ ; t;-: o o o from the arms of silence - list I 0 llst l ’ ■ ■ The music bursteth into second life; The notes luxuriate^ every stone is kissed

, By sound, or ghost of sound 3 in mazy strife 0

7:7.7' ^ 77i'. i d :7- 7 •t-;7::; : IIIo too 9-12. ^

' ; III, A 5 o : COHTIMUEB ‘ ■ I ; : 7 ; y 7:.7,:y 7 .7 ; . 7' 7'; 7 The subjective: treatment ? the longing for a haven to ■ , which.to retreat in time of trouble, and the diction in this sonnet may all be considered mirrors of romanticisme The imagery in the closing lines reflects the poet$ S ■ patriotism,; The Wordsworth who was cpncerned with reinter­ preting the relation of Man to God could,not help being

moved deeply by the beauty and grandeur of King 9 s Gdllege 7

• Chapel7 Westminster, and Sta Paulvs 0 ... 7 , .y s. r ^ They dreamt not of a perishable home - ' . >

Who thus could build 0 -Be mine, in -hours of fear Or grovelling thought, to seek a refuge here; • ■ Or through the aisles of Westminster to roam; • ■. : : Where bubbles burst, and folly!s dancing foam. Melts, if it cross the threshold; where the wreath Of awe-struck wisdom droops; or let my path ’ : Lead to that younger Piles whose sky“like dome Hath typified by reach of• daring' art v ■ . V Infinity?s embrace; whose guardian crests The silent CrossV among the:stars shall Spread As nowwhen. She hath also seen, her breast . Filled mth mementos ? satiate with its part - ■

Of grateful England 3 s overflowing Death liio 460 EJACULATION {i;' v : : f : V. w l .1, : : .Helen Darbishire, in' commentirig on t?Laodamia.5!: makes a statement .which can be applied to the diction of ”Eiacu- latibh"; v . '.".i: . Certain it is thatg from now bn, his poetic art appears more,studied and deliberate ? and his ; dictioh more , conventional® . Watch a straw that shows, the way the wind is blowing: the epithet ■ “purple” applied to light® There is purple'- w : ; light at morning or evening in "An Evening Walk” - and •“Descriptive HketchesF j but never ^ . - ■ ; light abouhds -■ in -the Lyrical Ballads, nor in ' ; the Poems of 1007, never in the:original Prelude® In “Laodamian Elysian fields are “invested with

1 purpureal gleams®” 132 ■ ' p . •' ; ' v:' - ' ; " - p

And in “Ejaculation” - ' - ' 1 ; 1 1 :: Like Ocean, burning with purpurea! flame; '

"y'V: ; : III* 4 6 0 5® : 1 ;: III ® 47 o ' CONCLUSION ' ■ V;, ' ; y w : W . % - V :: For purposes of the present papers. ft: would, have been ■ ideal had Wordsworth been so moved by conciuding his Eccle- s last leal Sonnets that its final lines showed, a; splendid rebirth of his earlier powers® • Unfortunately^ hothing of : '

1 3 2 ® Helen Darbishires The Poet Wordsworth, .pQ 160® :: .: :'. \ -v-';^ 1 0 9 0 the ■ sort; ocettrred0 It is marked by the same ' sehtenti;ous; dullness which brands the majority of the sonnets in.the serieso Like so many of its prededessorsj .it betrays no trace of .romanticism in its turgid lines* L QHAPTER;:VI \ s m m m T -

Romantic glimmerings in the Ecclesiastical Sonnets reveal that by the time he had reached his sixth decade Wordsworth had drifted far from concepts which were the

mainstay of his poetry during his most productive years 0 Of the total one hundred and thirty«=two sonnets^■ only eight possess enough of Wordsworth®s earlier mark to mak the writer of this paper Classify them as predominantly romantic in tone» Of these only two rank with the best of Wordsworth»: They are s of course ? ,tMut ability" and "Inside King s College Chapel, Cambridge»" "Continued" (111:45)? while it expands the latter„ is of a lower poetic calibere Is for the remaining five, tfCatechising5® presents a delight*

ful picture of children receiving instruction 5 but it lags far behind the impact of the two greatest sonnets in the • serieso "Confirmation Continued" (111:241 is of ho real consequencej and "Monastic•Voluptousness" (XI:20} fails in part because it cannot overcome its inherent inability to create empathy» Superior poetry? but not to be ranked with . the best of Wordsworth, are "Persuasions" (1:16) and "Gun­ powder Plot" (11:2) o - . Deducting the eight sonnets from the total list of those found to have romantic traces leaves fifty-nine to be accounted for„ The total figure is misleading, for it:'lmpilie;stfchattlbhe: 'Sonnets may., show a significantly large survival of the post^s romanticism« The reverse is actually true, for the romantic : glimmerings are.often no more than a single phrase or a line* The designation of stich elements, as romantic is, of course, . . :: y - : '.;-■ , v : ’ highly subjective* Nevertheless, the results of this study - uncover interesting indications concerning Wordsworth ? s change of poetic method and content as he agedo . The existence of romantic traces in the Ecclesiastical Sonnets are easily classified in relation to Wordsworth$s most productive.periods* For instancej only; three of the one hundred; and thirty-two sonnets employ a purely personal • approach, with Wordsworth projecting himself into the poetry (1:1, 22,* .111:1), and to these may be added two others which ■ have highly subjective treatment (111: 22:, 45)» I, partial . explanation-Is, naturally, the nature of the sbhhet series* There had been a time, however,.when’the poet could not .yp . separate self from his; poetry* ,, : . : ■ ' Strong appeal to - the eye andear, so characteristic ' of the younger Wordsworth, occurs in only three sonnets ’ - (III: 43, 44), excepting, of course, references to : nature* Gone too is the poet1s direct concern with the lives • of humble men; reference to their daily lives_ is found in ; only two sonnets (I: 3:^31) * As for reaching into his own ' .past for inspiration, Wordswerth •seems to have exhausted r .y that "source s for it occurs only in ^Catechising*! (Ills 22) &- 'Otheh 'aspects Of' the sonnets show the diminution of the. aging .poet * s .romanticism;,, ... **There are no words, more character­ istic of ¥ordswofth>,s„ says Sperry, 3*than those which ring changes on the idea of .solitude0n The Becles1astical Sonnets, concerned as.they are not only withevents in church history but with holy men whos e. lives are marked by . solitude , . should have of f ered simple opportunity f or Words- ;N> worth* s old powers to invoke once again the spirit of soli- -

tude 6 Qnly two sonnets reflect It (I: 2 1 , 2 2 )® - Various, echoes of Wordsworth’s earlier work recur faintly in the sonnet series® Two hark back .to interest in the mother-child theme (III: 24, 27)> The old .admiration for Switzerland and its scenery shows in two others (Ilr 12, • III: '40)I, The interest in things supernatural which was. partially responsible for nGoody Blake and Harry Gill** finds f aint expression in three sonnets (I: 3 , IS = II : 27)«. The ; appeal of strangeness and desolation survives in two sonnets

(IT: 2 1 . 9 III: 33) ® Ten sonnets, may: be grouped as having either patriotic overtones dr a voice assenting to the

desirability of freedom for mankind (I: 1, 1 0 f 11: 4, 13,

lG®; III: 2, 10, 11,.. 37, 3G) 0 It is hot the frequency of romantic traces which is.illuminating, but their paucityc A,'Striking change in Wordsworth?s poetry is that concerned with his attitude toward nature® The .first sohnet in the series yaakes clear the fact that the poet no longer communes with, nature as his moral instructor® He indicates later

(ill 1 7 ) that the voice of nature exists ? but is seldom heard by mane As for nature!s capacity to display feelings of its own ? only four sonnets convey, even remotely that the ' 'poetlhpnsiders such phenomena possible (Ii 12, ; 22, 37 o III: 1) *; JThe.wings of the poet* s morning seem lost in prosaic de~ . t acriptions of nature, no matter how nnaturaln he makes:.It * Even here the poet is'weak, for in only eleven sonnets has

the writer detected "natural" nature (I: 1, 7, 1 6 , 22, 27, 29• III 43® IIIi 1, 9 ? 12, 24)® How limited his expression \ is. may be ascertained by. referring to the comments made in

connection with these sonnets 6 As a younger man, Wordsworth' had said that his communion with nature,'through the eye and .. ear, had enabled him to touch the infinite and to' receive

instruction: 1 . 0 moral good® , As an older man, his senses were : apparently dulled® In place of the sacrament of the senses with nature, .he sought those of: the Church® Beach says In this connection, "It is at any rate true that the main period of Wordsworth?s nature-poetry was that in which he was least • dominated by the theological doctrines of Christianity« •» Mature may he regarded as then in very large measure a-kind of substitute religion, which we may call the religion of :v' m > naturaiismThe so-called nature poet who produced the .wonderful pqetry of the earlier years is clearly absent from the Ecclesiastical Sonnets,. an absence that cannot be blamed on the subject matter of the sonnet series^ • •

■ : Bbmanti c imagery 3 :a term which here covers such diverse applioations as that found in ^Monastic Voluptuousness,^

Hdunpowder- P1 ot,tf and ',1 Regret s,n is found in fourteen sonnets The precise nature of the imagery can be seen, by reference to

the Comment on individual sonnets (IV 8 , 9, 13 3 2 1 , 23, 34,

,3 5 .; ii: i5, 2 0 ; 2 2 31» piii; 8, ,1 7 , 33). ' .v../;; yf. 3 ;;- ' The matter of diction- is always one of interest in any study of Wordsworth’s poetryt As indicated in.Chapter II, the cohnotation :bf favorite words used by the poet had under­ gone changej and the more frequent:the occurrence Of favorite words in any sonnet$ the less likelihood of that sonnet’s showing •romantic glimmerings. All that remains of t h e ' striking,plainness of diction ^obvious enough to require " • comment - may be found in four sonnets (1 : 36»• III: 1", 5,: 35)o A reversal toward the early Popeidn is mirrored in the pompous style, the long- adjectives, the double negatives, the personificatidn and the inversions j which, while they have not been a subject of study in this paper, are too obvious to be ignored. They are components of that poetic-glue in which more than one writer has dragged his poetic feet® .

134® 'Beach, op. cit., p. 20$. • . ;:' ' 'A significant change noted in- the Ecclesiastical Sonnets is the apparent absence of philosophical referenceo : It may­ be remarked, of course, that the poem/- purpose did' not call for'such, reference, but it can be said that during-the:greater part of Wordsworth?s most productive yearshe was deeply concerned with philosophy and a search for unityh,One sonnet appears to.reflect the/ poet?s search for unity (I: p), while one other may refer to Hartleian concepts (II: 2} 3yhltnOugby this idea is open to interpretation® .There is a possibility that something of Kaht*s categorical imperative is reflected in the basic idea underlying the poem that the Church of England, is supreme because It has peon decreed so by the mass mindo •'The acceptance of the Church began as an idea in a few minds, like the:source of a stream finding its beginnings in the run-off from rain which is channeled into a tiny crevice; gradually, in the same, manner a stream becomes great , more \ minds accepted the Idea of the Church until the mass mind bores- the flood of belief in the Establishment @ Miss Sherwood

.says:;::- ;.:, :v/ ^ :: s : / - / \ -''1': / - : -/ . In this great philosophic 'idealism is expressed belief in the supremacy of, the individual -in the :■ ..; intellectual world, in the moral world0• To Kant / t h e mind Of man is creative interpreter, in space and time forms, of the universe in which- he lives : - by virtue of' birth; the will of man, the -moral :/ ' . / . sense of man, who owes allegiance not to outer . , rule, but to his consciousness of inner responsi- . bility, is creator Of that; spiritual„worM in : >- Which he lives by virtue of choice . ;

: 13#® Sherwood, hp, cita -ppo 16 - 17® : ' ; - ' / : 116.

Moreover, Miss Sherwood states- that tfthe i. 5 collectivist 1 ■ ’ idea is in his, piarLt ?"sj ethics; man in exerting his will toward good must, of- necessity, recognize the whole; must : ': v\'' : ' - t . ; ' ■.; ' :. i # show in his choice the dignity of a law of the universe»n While the writer has nowhere found evidence to support the. idea, or to indicate that Wordsworth consciously iased his ; concepts on Kant*s philosophy^ it still appears that there is a reflection of Kant in the Ecclesiastical Sonnetsi first, in the idea as a unit on which. the ..sonnet series, is: based; second,, in Wordsworth5s devoting sonnets to individual will . evinced in the Christian fortitude of men like Cranmer, and, third, his desire to bring before men a.history of the: Church in verse, because he believed that the mass of men who live under Church guidance will develop moral strength through each man5s ^consciousness of inner responsibility.n Mention was made earlier in these pages about the possible influence of other romantic poets on Wordsworth. However, as far as suph influence is concerned*, it is not • reflected in the Ecclesiastical Sonnets to a positive extent which warrants deductions. Traces of graveyard poetry and balladry (111;41) could very well find their origin in

Wordsworth 5 s acquaintance With Percy 5 s Refioues and the poetry of Young and Gray. Interest in things of the past

(such as medievalism) -was never too strongly marked in-.

13,'6 . ■Sherwood, op. clt., p; 23. ■ in Wordsworth$ s poetrys In the sonnet series it seems restricted

to three sonnets (I: 3, 21; II:8 ) 3 which of course overlooks

the fact: of the theme as a whole 0 Wordsworth was interested in me diev alism, as his comments on Sir Walter Scott and on Ossiah attest, but he was not Concerned with it to the same extent as ■ were his contemporarieso Where his interest in medievalism - occurs in the Ecclesiastical Sonnets it may well be assigned

to its suitability in the course of recounting church history 0

fhirty sonnets were added at various times to the 1 8 2 2

edition of the Ecclesiastical Sonnets 0 Their number is too small (as is in fact the entire sonnet series) to supply a - definitiye answer concerning the decay ©f Wordsworth’s poetic powers, but an analysis of their romantic traces adds to the storyo There is, of course, no question concerning Wordsworth’s loss of poetic power= It is, as ToS„ Eliot says, ’’not even doubtfulo <> „ „ he went droning on the still sad ■ ■ . . - . : : f , . ; ■ 137 music of infirmity to the verge of the graveo” Whether it is loss of power or the subject matter of the additions to the sonnet series which Is the answer, the fact stands that of the twenty'-nlne sonnets added (and probably composed) after 1822, duly six;show:romantic traceso Two of these (III: 11,24) were added in 1827; three in 1835 (II: 4,12,

137o To So Eliot, ’’Wordsworth and Coleridge,” The: Use .

of Poetry and the Use of Criticism, p 0 69o ^ .

. 1 3 8 0 Omitted is III: 12, first published in the 1822 • edition of Memorials of a Tour on the Continent, and revised and added to the Ecclesiastical Sonnets- in 1827* 1 3 ) „ and-oiae fill: 2 7 ) In 1845, this last being close to the dreadfully sentimental in tone. Nine sonnets, having no romantic elements appeared in the first decade after the ;

original publication of the sonnet 1 series, as opposed to five with traces of^romanticism^ In subsequent editions 1 ' fourteen lacking romantic characteristics and one having

themewere.added to the series 0 If anything can be drawn from tSeselfacts, it is a further inference of the. poet$s removing himself from those marks which chardeterized. him,;:as a

romantic poet, % ■ :. .'v 1 - : 1 ; '-' ' - The question of whether the sonnet form as;employed in the'series implies any romanticism has been discussed in Chapter To It: is not, apparently^ the imposition of the sonnet form which is the chief cause of the decline of

romantic feeling in the poetry of the series 0 Perhaps Wo- J „ Courthope is nearer the truth when he says that Words- : worth seems to have thought that a poet could always write poetically by the mere exercise of his wills But the evidence of the greatest creative poetry proves that, the imagination mtist, in the first place, be dvermastered and possessed by ■ ■ ■ ' ; i 139 . . : i...... ■ an impulse, f rom without o ?? ; : ;v : Surely the Ecclesiastical Sonnets fail in one undeniable and mighty manner® In 1821 Shelley wrote that "Poets are the • uhacknowledged legislatofs. of the world oH Wordsworth strove <

139 o Ifo J, Courthope j !! Words worth? s Theory of Poetry The National Review^ (December^; 18841 ? p Q 521» to remove the ’’unacknowledged” from the statement, and in so doing he: slugged; away until romantieism remained in the sonnet series only as ah unconscious participant^ Perhaps if Words­ worth had possessed the fiery" zeal of a saint, the story might have teen different ® - . is it was, ?tHe insisted upon the s distinction between religion in poetry and versified religion and refused to venture in the*latter field. His Ecclesiastical Sonnets contains fine lines, and was his contribution to the cause of tradition; but it is conventional as history and unimportant as .theology0n Henry King says that it was not the fact of Wordsworth?s orthodoxy which keeps the sohnets from being great poetry^ but the .absence of passionate feeling . ' - . •Ihl - ' ' : which .renders them dullo • . The Ecclesiastical Sonnets make sad reading for one who reveres Wordsworth for his living communion with nature, for the probing of his own mind, and for the marvelously lucid and beautiful phrasing of which he - is mastere The sonnet series leaves one bemused and;saddened by the spectacle it

offers of romantic traces in non-glittering array 0 There is in the sonnet series that which.reminds one of the remarks made by a Westmoreland native who said that the

, =oo would often in church-time be like a dazed man,- forget to stand up and sit down,"turn right arouhd

140o Sperr^, dpi cit»V p. 1^6« " ’ 141o Henry King, 5,¥ordsworthvs Decline,1? The Adelphi, .p. Ms. ; : : - 120 and stare vacantly at the congregation„ But I remember one time - particflar , when he and Hartiey- and I coomed out of the church together« X said, :■ f ®Miat did you think of the sermon, Mr= Wudsworth?f and hev answered me,'' ?0hs it was very good, and .• g very plain;1 and l±?.le Hartly put his- head- on one side and squeaked out, . /. $Oh, did ye think it.was good? well,: well, I. was in purgatory the whole time«, %" '

142o Enight, op, cite,- p« 104» : TABLm X FREQUENCY OF WORDSWORTH'S FAVORITE WORDS' ' Ilf THE FCGIiESIlSTICAL SONNETS • " • '

FREQUENCY IN FREQUENCY IN ECCLESIASTICAL SONNETS ', TOTAL POETRY ' PART I , PART II PART 111:; ■: TOTAL

feel . : : ^ ' 2': : 0 : - Ww :/1 : 4 X - . -J.'-'v feeling 0 ' 1 ■■■*■■; 0 1 hand , . • ■ ■■!YR. Aw i ■ v.'v ■' 3wW ': iw. : "'3:- - - V--::V V.9.-■ aoy . . p 1 ' • -i ; :w' ■ 5.: Xiigh ; ; ; _ : v 4 z * ■'/ 9 . . . 8 21 mountain 0 ■"■:2 W- .. ■' :■,■'.:'■ 2.V . old W 4 : 5 v:v- -\ 0:.V . ^: '9- : ■ please,.' -ure 0 :1: A-;. . ■■ .: :' . ' . " ■ vl ■ ■ ' 2 soul . - "•■■Q 7 4 7 IS spirit • 4 ' 5 10 igw- .trueg -th ; 4 :7 ■ 11: ; 22

■■ A4'''7;'v v die, death . 4 4 • 5 ' ' 13; ' earthc' ;.W : 5 4 5 14 heaven 5 S , ' :: 11 ■ 23 hope 2 5 ■ ■ : ■ 7 . 14:. hear H \ .A- - ' SQ: light - - - ' . X ': long'; V: 2 i i- : I : look ; - ... . ';■-■■■ : ;-X'' '2-.: : ' . : 4 ■ w■■'-'-7Y'.' mind . H ' ' ■ ' 2 :. 3 . . 8 - 'WvllW; --l: 6;': :T. , ^

7 ;;. . . : 25 6Ye : ■ : -v . 3 w . nature: ...... time 3 ■I 1 : 1 - 122 o : TABLE 1 (CONTINUED) ' : : . v PREQUEmCT m? WOED8WORTH * 3 FAFORITS WORDS : . / V-:■ IM THE ECGLES1 ASTI GAL SONNETS : ^ : :

FREQUENCY IN FREQUENCY IN ECCLESIASTICAL SONNETS TOTAL POETRY PART.I ^ PART II . PART III- TOTAL.: 2 "ilOOO;!3'::' 7rF--^. -V'c. ' 27

.. I 7 l - '-'ll""

. : . ; A L O A l l d O :: AA ; 10 think 5, .thought 2 2; : ' ; v 6 10

1200 6S seej- sight 4 6 ■ 7 17 live, life 4-.;Vy- ; ; 5 '; - x.; L:' ; : 6 15 love \ 4 : v 3 , , A 12 17 man 5 A 'A 8 .> '■'^'-■■'vA'6;x^;;-;-19 -A:” 123 TABLE 11

.FEEQUE.NGf OF ¥DRDB¥OETH: ? S EAVORITE WORDS < AND. THEIR CLASSIFICATION AS. ROMANTIC OR NON-ROMANTIC IN THE ECCLESIASTICAL SONNETS PART I FREQUENCY OF FREQUENCY OF F AVORI TE' WORDS 7 FAVORITE WORDS SONNETS -SONNETS SONNET HAVING SONNET HAVING -NUMBER t e e ; NUMBER R: N»R I / ROM^ELEM ,

■} b : 2 0 r ; , /. 21,;; 0 1 - K . 3:/:; 2 0 0 ' . ' 3' •' " : /. 22 , : - ; 2 ’ 3 0/

' 'D :: 2• X - :,23.:3:|o - 4 : 1 . A 21+: 0 2 ,1 ;■ ;X-:3';X 0 j::3;25':3:■:i'.3v 1 6 0 2 2 6 v 0 2 :7Yv| O 0v ;;:- :r ;;:'-:3■ 27 0-/2...; 3 :;/;:'' % / 7;' 0 3 a ■ . i ; .: \ % 3 ':; 2 d . :'V 9i: 1 X) 3 : 29 0 - I ;:-'7:7 7 3 3 7 ^ r™- ;; 4 :■ •_ : 10 O ' 3 ' ^3: ' 3 0 3 11 0 2 0 ; 1 3 ■■ 7;:3: ;x// ; |— 2~T 31 T3- T V3 % . ; :3 2 : I- 5

13 ; ::1 0 33 j 0 0 14 0: 3 1 3 4 0 3 1 ; 4: 315::.,;1333-.1;,;; 3: 35 3 /0; 3,V 2;' .; : 73 \;'vX; .' :7 16 0 :'';:2:■; •' ; " 3 :■ 36:;- 3 0 3 r i 7 ■ 0. 2 ; 37 31:'/ 1 ; -7/9 :::# ■ ;3;/ IS .0 4 : ' X . -30 | 2 ; '■ 2 7’;_v/.::^7:- 3- 19 ' o: 4 39 2 3 20 3 3 TOTAL 177 74 7, 7 3 7 .21,7333; ; , FREQUENCY OF WORDSWORTH{S FAVORITE WORDS ... AND THEIR •CLASSIFICATION AS . ROMANTIC OR NON-ROMANTIC IN THE ECCLESIASTICAL: SONNETS PART II FREQUENCY OF FREQUENCY' OF FAVORITE WORDS FAVORITE WORDS SONNETS SONNETS SONNET HAVING HAVING NUMBER Re NoRe. ROMoELBM.

1 0 3 24 : 0 3 1 2 0 2 25 0 5- ■ 0 2 . 26 0 1

4 3 7 | .':;A - X, 27 0 ... 1.

5 0 ' 2 T ™ ■ 2 8 0 . 0 :'6 :: 0 ' ■ 2 ; f ' ; . ■ 29 0 4 : 7 ;'(1 - ' 2 ' - |A, . ' ' A 30. : 0 4

2 2 - A-A'A ■ 31 O A. X' :';;A- j- :;1 AAY^ t 7": '' :,;:A^ ,'a:.. 32 i . 2

1 0 o :.A4 A , 33A 0 2

1 1 - 2 0 ;; ' - t : A 34 0 4 . . . - -: o :'' -i;: -.A A: • X ' 35 2 .::.,0A:

-13' 0 2 - A;' ' - VA V; 3 6 A O V3: ■

:15 'o A A IAA:A y A . 3A: :A „; 38 AO ’ 1 ':V1 S;: 0 5 39 0; 2

17 2 0 : ' X ^ : 40 0 5 ;

_ lS | l -A G ; .A A x AA :4iA 0 'T

A ; 1 9 ; .j Q A:v- 3;vl A.: A - ; A:;42a ; 0 .AS-A , x . ' A ' f A '

' 20 : : 2 ;: ; 0 A A ' X A A : 43 Qi 0 X A:

' -21, ■ R1 A ■ 2- A ^ X A A - " 44 0 3 A A : : : A: - A ' ' ' . ; ' : ' 22 0 2 : | , ; /AA ' - :/ " A , ' \ - A:-'45:'A o : 5

. 23 \ |:0 ': . 4 : ; 4 8 A ; AO 2 TOTAL 17 107 AA;A'> U--:M : 125 TABLE IV. . ’ - FREQUENCY OF • WOEDSWGETH ?’S EAVOEITE ¥OBDS ■ AND THEIR CLASSIFICATION:: AS: ROMANTIC OR - NON-ROMANTIC ‘ I M THE ECCLESIASTICAL SONNETS ' \ : '

ERgQUENCi: OF FREQUENCY OF FAVORITE WORDS FAVORITE WORDS SONNETS ■ .SONNETS SONNET HAVING SONNET HAVING - NUMBER R, N o R« ROMcELEMo NUMBER Bo N 0R 0/ ROMolLEMo: c . i U 2 - 0 7;:, x. 7 : .. : ■ . 25.,. : G:. 3 : '2 ' ; 0 ' : :7X 7' 7:'- ; . 7267:; 0 3 : v 3:i ■:.Ql : 27 % 5 1 7 X : : 4- i 0 772: 28 .0; 6 w ^ 7 5 . ::I I ::29 V: : 0 10 “g— Q — 5 30 : 0 7 :. 2 - ■: c ;: 7 1 0 2 31 0 7 ' 8 0 0 : ■: .: 32 0 7 r 9 ,i,o ■;;7 3_j T— ■ 33 . 0 3 : : . x ■;\:7 10 i[ 0 7' 3 ■ ■•x : 34 5 . 0 ; ■ ::7x . : 7 : 7 7 % : : : .."irn|: 0 3 •: 4 7 ■ 357 2 7' 2 7 7 : X :; {~~12 ; : 0 2 X 36 0 . 2 1 13 o - 0 :37 0 3 : X : 14 0 ; 5 777-.7:;; "-7/3 38 0 3 15 ■ :0 ' . ; 4:; 3 9 v 0 2

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