ABOUT THE POET Era April 1770 1850 Born in Cockermouth Cumberland in the scenic region of Lake District the landscapes of which affected his poetry Remained close to sister Dorothy who was a major influence in his literary works apart from fellow poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge Milton ID: 693868
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Slide1
THE SOLITARY REAPER
WILLIAM WORDSWORTHSlide2
ABOUT THE POET
Era – April 1770 -1850Born in
Cockermouth
, Cumberland in the scenic region of Lake District, the landscapes of which affected his poetry
Remained close to sister Dorothy, who was a major influence in his literary works, apart from fellow poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Milton and ShakespeareWas poet laureate of EnglandMajor themes in his poetry – nature, memory, the power of the mindSlide3
LAKE DISTRICTSlide4
ROMANTIC AGE
LYRICAL BALLADS (1798) – A literary work by Wordsworth and Coleridge ushered the Romantic Era in England.
In the preface to Lyrical Ballads, he talks about a new kind of poetry based on the “real language of men”
Writers and artists of the age focused on nature versus civilisation, imagination versus reason, feeling and emotion versus logic, individual versus society, rural versus urban settings.
Melancholy and impulsiveness were favoured states of mind.
Awe, doubt, horror and fear – main feelings the poems tried to evoke.
Impact on poetic form – structured rhythmic verses gave way to blank verse – as if the poet were trying to converse with the reader.Slide5
WHAT IS POETRY?
According to Wordsworth, poetry is:"the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity”
Though nature seems to be the main subject of his poems,
"the
mind of man" is the "main haunt and region of [his] song."Slide6
WHAT DID NATURE, MIND MEMORY MEAN TO WORDSWORTH
Wordsworth described nature in great physical detailThe mind was both the creator as well as receiver of sensory experienceMemory (especially childhood memory) is the crucial link that maintains the connection between the individual and nature (EG: DAFFODILS)Slide7
THE SOLITARY REAPER
Written in 1805Not based on Wordsworth’s own experiences, unlike his other poetryInspired by the manuscript of Thomas Wilkinson’s “Tours to the British Mountains
” (1824), and Dorothy Wordsworth’s
“Recollections”
(1803)Slide8
WILKINSON INSPIRATION
"Passed a female who was reaping alone: she sung in Erse, as she bended over her sickle; the sweetest human voice I ever heard: her strains were tenderly melancholy, and felt delicious, long after they were heard no more."Slide9
DOROTHY INSPIRATION
"As we descended, the scene became more fertile, our way being pleasantly varied—through coppices or open fields, and passing farm-houses, though always with an intermixture of cultivated ground. It was harvest-time, and the fields were quietly—might I be allowed to say pensively?—enlivened by small companies of reapers. It is not uncommon in the more lonely parts of the Highlands to see a single person so employed. The following poem was suggested to William by a beautiful sentence in Thomas Wilkinson's
Tour in Scotland.
"Slide10
ANALYSIS
Plain, undemanding verseThe song springs from nature – impulsiveThe girl is ‘solitary’, alone, cut off from the rest, much like the budding new age in poetry.
The poet repeats the simplest of ideas – single, solitary, by herself – reap, cut and bind – motionless and still
Uses common verbs like behold, reap, sing, stop, pass, cut, bind, chant.
The poet is chatty – ‘Will no one tell me’Slide11
ANALYSIS CONTD…
The poet does not understand the song, he comprehends only the ‘sound’, ‘voice’ and ‘music’ through his heart.There is a universality of human emotions – our shared humanity makes us instinctively feel each other’s sorrow, pain, suffering or even joy.
Memory and imagination will help the poet remember this moment forever.