To what extent is Wordsworth a typical romantic - Essay Example

?To what extent is Wordsworth a typical romantic? William Wordsworth has been acknowledged as one of the most talented and remarkable poets of the 18th century. The Literature Network has revealed his works that include nine poetry books and 67 poems (Literature Network, 2011). From among the poems that he wrote, I have some personal favorites: I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud (which was discussed in class) and Anecdote for Fathers. To answer the question: to what extent is Wordsworth a typical romantic, one required to initially analyze briefly the life and period when he wrote his famous poetry. As revealed by Lomardi (2011), “many scholars say that the Romantic period began with the publication of "Lyrical Ballads" by William Wordsworth and Samuel Coleridge in 1798. The volume contained some of the best-known works from these two poets including Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" and Wordsworth's "Lines Written a Few Miles from Tintern Abbey” (par. 1). The Romantic Period’s exact origin could not be exactly identified by Lomard, but she averred that it ended in 1837, only 13 years before Wordsworth died. It can be clearly deduced that Wordsworth was a literary poet during the Romantic period: “a movement that championed imagination and emotions as more powerful than reason and systematic thinking” (Cummings, 2008). The topics for his poetry were diverse, but the Poet Hunter site (n.d.) described the universal appeal of Wordsworth’s peoms through the poet’s own words of what the role of poetry was to him: “what he called "the most philosophical of all writing" whose object is "truth...carried alive into the heart by passion" (Poet Hunter, par. 5). Through his own perception and the value by which he defined poetry, Wordsworth was a true romantic. Technically, a romantic is defined in the Merriam-Webster dictionary as “marked by the imaginative or emotional appeal of what is heroic, adventurous, remote, mysterious, or idealize” (par. 4). All the characteristics and traits depicted in the definition are manifested by Wordsworth. In the poem I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, the poet expressed admiration for the beauty and radiant colors of daffodils, especially from afar. The simplicity and effective description of Wordsworth using imagination, metaphors and other figures of speech were eminent. There was simile as the narrator compared his solitary stance to a cloud – far and distant but overseeing. There was personification as the narrator depicted the cloud’s similarity to a human being (through the title of the poem); and the daffodils were compared to a crowd: “When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils” (Literature Network: I Wandered, par. 1). There was also the element of alliteration when Wordsworth wrote: “Beside the lake, beneath the trees” (Literature Network: I Wandered, par. 1). There was a formed pattern and structure: four stanzas of six lines each; and rhyme: the first line rhymes with the third and the second with the fourth. As interpreted by Cummings (2008), “Wordsworth unifies the content of the poem by focusing the first three stanzas on the experience at the lake and the last stanza on the memory of that experience” (par. 13). The profound themes focused on the beauty of nature through flowers that grow in multitude, radiant by the sea side. Further, in one’s solitude, one gets the chance to reflect on the beauty that abounds in the natural environment. Sometimes, it takes being alone to truly appreciate the beauty around us. This poem truly manifests Wordsworth as a romantic in expressing his imagination and emotions through the beauty of nature. There is the sense of romantic appeal in expressing delight and adoration for natural beauty in simple things that people could normally forget to truly appreciate. The poem Anecdote for Fathers, Wordsworth clearly manifested his being a romantic through the bonding shared between father and son. The poem shows a defined structure with 15 stanzas and four lines each. Syllabication was perfect using 8 syllables for the first three lines and 6 on the fourth line. There are rhyme words for first and third lines and second and fourth lines. Aside from the structure and rhyme, the poem’s themes focus on love, innocence of the boy, and openness to realization by the father. As indicated in ABC Tribe (2010), “the poem tries to demonstrate how adults should learn from children and echoes Wordsworth's idea that 'The child is father to the man'” (par. 16). Likewise, as Gray (2009) averred, “adults' learning from the innocence of the child is something which is found throughout the Romantic poets, but especially in Wordsworth and Blake. The child can also be taken as a symbolic representation of hope, hope in what must have been seen as a troubling time for lovers of the natural world and the old ways of living” (2). The language of the poem was simply conversational and straightforward. There were no elements of personification or imagery or metaphors. But the theme expressed the sensitive feelings of innocence of the boy as he wanted to please his father into preferring his father’s old home. Again, since the poem expressed Wordsworth’s emotions and sentiments on enticing the readers’ curiosity and feelings towards the boy’s response, there is the sense of romantic appeal that the poet manifested through this poem. His talent and creativity in designing the surprise response made this poem memorable and noteworthy. To reiterate, the response to the question: to what extent is Wordsworth a typical romantic? Wordsworth was a truly romantic poet to the full extent of the word. From the time period within which he lived, to the manner by which he expressed personal feelings and emotions through his poetry, to the various themes, messages and literary elements used in his poems. All personal characteristics, traits and emotions embody the romanticism that lived within him. References Cummings, M.J. (2008). I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud. Retrieved 14 June 2011. < http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/Guides3/IWandered.html> Gray, J. (2009). Poetry analysis: Anecdote for Fathers, by William Wordsworth. Retrieved 14 June 2011. Literature Network (2011). William Wordsworth. Retrieved 14 June 2011. < http://www.online-literature.com/wordsworth/> Lombardi, E. (2011). Romantic Period: Where did it all begin? Retrieved 14 June 2011. < http://classiclit.about.com/od/britishromantics/a/aa_britromantic.htm> Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (2011). Definition of Romantic. Retrieved 14 June 2011. < http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/romantic> Poet Hunter. (n.d.) Biography of William Wordsworth. Retrieved 14 June 2011. < http://www.poemhunter.com/william-wordsworth/biography/> Read More