The Relationship between Wordsworths Critical Theory of Poetry and Dantes Literary Work - Research Paper Example

“The Relationship between Wordsworth’s Critical Theory of Poetry and Dante’s Literary Work” Introduction The primary concern of this essay is to explore Wordsworth’s Theory of Kindred Emotions with close reference to Dante’s written material of Vita Nuova. The actual correlation, between the Critical Theory of Wordsworth in relation to the aforementioned work of Dante, revolves around the origin and subsequent maturation of a poetic work. Wordsworth gives a detailed examination of the basis upon which the foundation of poetic works is established. He further outlines the relevant stages requisite in such a process, starting from the observational point of view to the ultimate end of a poet, which is a written display of an event, or happening. Thus, the definition put forth by the aforementioned scholar concerning a poem is an impulsive overflow of ideas and feelings, that owe their origin from a perception of emotions in tranquility, undergoes the stages of recollection, integration and ultimately composition giving rise to a written literary material. Analysis In the first stage of poetic construction according to Wordsworth, a person is keen to observe an event in the first hand occurrence of that situation under consideration. This kind of observation triggers strong emotions as well as feelings in the poet’s mind, since the poet must react to the events attributed to the entire physical phenomenon. In the second stage of the poetic building, the emotions triggered in the mindset matures over a given time interval to become a powerful recollection. However, this varies from one person to another. The fundamental picturesque of this step is solely a situation in which the conceptualized events sink to the deeper understanding of the poet. Consequently, for this process of selective filtering of ideas and continuous development of thoughts to be realized, a period of personal solitude is ideally of greater significance. The next step in view of this theory is the integration of the resultant feelings of the poet’s memory. In this process, the poet further internalizes the facts and tries to relate them with the outer atmosphere through actualization (Kanti and Mukherjee, 160). This results into the last stage of poetic building, which is the composition of the entire feelings, thoughts and decisions of the poet together with the already established picture of how the structure of the poem will appear. Thus, the general outlook of a poem is not an immediate action, but rather a gradual process whose execution is procedural in nature. On the other hand, the literary word under consideration notably Dante’s Vita Nuova, refers to a literary performance whose reflection is based on the autobiographical account of the writer’s admiration for poetry and love. The character Beatrice is at the epicenter of love serving as a driving force behind the writer’s pursuit for the implication of his newfound expression of an innate poetic voice, a provenance of love (Alighieri, 11). At the beginning of the love story for the writer and Beatrice, the writer meets Beatrice at a tender age in a church after which he begins developing feelings towards her and this materializes when she first greets the writer after nine years. This meeting confirms the love feelings that the writer had over the past years. However, it is unfortunate for the writer of this poem because, Beatrice is apparently out of his reach and because of this; the love, which he had, does not come to reasonable realization. This is attributed to the former character’s decision of proceeding to marry a different person in the name of Simone de’ Bardi and later dies after a short duration, while still young. The period in between is characterized by a devotion of the writer towards offering praise commentaries in form of written poetic material. In due course of praise, the writer gets a spiritual revelation that Beatrice will soon die and then ascend to Heaven. This again leads to a crisis in the writer’s life who, as result consoles his own being by marrying a different character of a person as opposed to the earlier expectations of marrying the object he considered to be of his choice. Donna Gentile reminds the writer of the betrayal of a woman he loved ever since his childhood days. Consequently, the flow of the poem further illustrates the turn of events on the part of the writer as he deviates his attention from principally a poem creation, to a life of religious experience and spiritual reflection herewith. This happening results to an end of the writer’s praise poems about her. It is notable that, at this point the writer waits until he is able to write poems of greater standard in comparison with the previous works. Additionally, it is of critical essence to note that at the end of Dante’s work the character Beatrice does not serve as a love mark but rather an instrument of spiritual guidance, which according to the writer serves the sole rationale of guiding him through the spiritual journey to the Heavens (Magdalen, 42). In view of the requirement of this analysis, it is essential to examine the existence of the aforementioned features of poetic construction in the Dante’s literary work together with the associated relationship thereof. Thus, concerning style and the subsequent manifestation of the poetic information of the writer’s love display to Beatrice, accompanied by the approach of the same situation in the absence of Beatrice in the later years and the “immature” death of the former, are as well of equal significance in this discussion (Alighieri et al, 1287). At the start of this love story, the writer and the love-god-Beatrice meet in a church when the writer is aged nine and Beatrice aged almost the same age. Even at this tender age, the mind of the writer is able to perceive a striking beauty in Beatrice (Alighieri, 11). The resultant effect of such a phenomenon is falling in love with her although; he is not in a position of revealing his hidden feelings at such a time. The critical aspect of the Wordsworth’s theory of poetic construction becomes evident in this regard. The initial observation of Beatrice’s beauty leaves behind a mental impression in the writer’s personal reflection. This is due to an overflow of emotions that emanates from a perception of an event, which according to Wordsworth’s theory is a description of the functionality of a poet’s sense of sight (Magdalen, 32). It is imperative to note that, its core essence is to instill a sense of pleasure in the individual being of the poet, regardless of the nature of the observation. The ultimate goal of the poem is to please as well as offer a thrilling sensation to readers. It is notable that there is a direct relationship of the first criterion of Wordsworth’s theory with regard to Dante’s initial encounter and or observation. Similarly, when considering the second step of the Wordsworth’s Critical Theory, it is realizable an illumination of the life of the writer of the poem ” Vita Nova” between the periods, when he first meets the beauty of his life and the second time that they meet is reflected. It takes a long period of nine years for this to happen. The time lapse as described by Wordsworth represents a period in which the poet comes into full acceptance and comprehension of the experience under consideration (Magdalen, 36). Regarding the excerpt under discussion the writer of the poem took the entire period to reflect, recollect and or contemplate on his feelings and emotions concerning the extent to which he loved Beatrice. This is wholly a derivative of the first step of observation. He keeps on writing poems in her praise since he becomes obsessed with her memories. He makes this part of his daily life and encounter. It is as well of importance to notice that the writer took the whole period of nine years in wholesome solitude and consequently, it coincides with the criterion under investigation in relation with the critical theory put forward by Wordsworth. The third step in the poet’s life is a period of memory integration in which all the incidences resulting from the aforementioned situation are organized in a chronological pattern. This culminates into a situation in which the poet can visualize the expected outlook of the poem even before written on paper (Kanti and Mukherjee, 159). Thus, with reference to Dante’s poetry work, it is evident that, the writer contemplates on the events unfolding from his admiration of Beatrice, his experience of obsession with the woman, to the ultimate confirmation of the writer’s love at the second meeting point where he looks at her amidst other ladies in great anticipation (Alighieri and Musa, 23). Fortunate enough for him is the fact that the woman as well notices his intentions, turns to him and greets him with much appreciation. This is followed by a period of “mind intoxication” of the writer to the extent of leaving the crowd behind, and going back to the place of solitude to rethink about her. The result from that meeting results in a situation in which the writer of the poem employs figurative language to demonstrate how marvelous the woman apparently is. Additionally, from the episode the writer gets a fair glimpse of how his later works regarding the subject of love will appear thenceforth. Thus, in relation to the Wordsworth Critical Theory of poetry, the entire process of integration of ideas in the memory of a poet regurgitates around the above-illustrated scenario and it culminates into the final step of composition, which is the outward manifestation of the content of the poet in terms of written manuscripts. The fourth and last stage of comparison of a poet’s conformity with reference to the Wordsworth Critical Theory is the concept of composition of the cumulative sum of events throughout the three steps as discussed in this excerpt. This stage gives rise to the emergence of a poetic piece (Patricia, 53). The writer starts from a point of observation of a beautiful girl, proceeds to think about her in the period of recollection, integrates the happenings regarding the encounter and finally writes poems from attributed to the whole scenario. This implies that after a close examination of the events, a proper synthesis and arrangement of accounts of an episode in an orderly manner is ideally fundamental for any poet who intends to come up with an eye-catching written piece of poetry. Dante through his love episode with Beatrice employs the above principles, which enables him to produce poems that are accorded world acclaim and are relevant even up to present day (Alighieri et al, 1284). Thus, it is highly recommendable for any aspiring writer in the same field to ensure adherence to the set standards of poetic construction as evidenced by the theory of Wordsworth. Conclusion The essay is a representation of the Wordsworth Critical Theory of poetic building with a closer reference to the Dante’s literary work of love and poetry. It is evident from the above scenario that, the processes of perception, recollection and or contemplation, integration of ideas in the memory, as well as the composition of the same ideas to form a single work, are the same steps that are adhered to in bringing forth a readable and interesting piece of poetry. Therefore, the core purpose of this paper is achieved relative to the correlation between the theory under investigation and Dante’s poetic works. This evidenced in the in-depth discussion carried out throughout the entire excerpt. Thus, as to whether there is a relationship between the Wordsworth Critical Theory and the works of Dante, it is an interestingly affirmative yes as illustrated herein. Works Cited Dante, Alighieri, and Mark Musa. Vita Nuova. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999. Print. Dante, Alighieri, Teodolinda Barolini, Richard H. Lansing, Andrew Frisardi, and Alighieri Dante. Dantes Lyric Poetry: Poems of Youth and of the Vita Nuova (1283-1292). , 2014. Print. Das, Kanti L, and Anirban Mukherjee. Language and Ontology. New Delhi: Northern Book Centre, 2008. Print. Nabb, Magdalen. Vita Nuova. New York: Soho, 2008. Print. Waugh, Patricia. Literary Theory and Criticism. Oxford [u.a.: Oxford Univ. Press, 2006. Print. Read More