The Dear Departed - 2012

It is 31 December and time to look back at the year gone by. Just as Wordsworth wrote in his Ode to 'Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood': "Another race hath been, and other palms are won", we can say that 'another year has been'. But what next? As I flip the pages of my 2012 Diary, I almost relive all the experiences - some sweet, some sour, a few bitter and some beyond being just sweet. So it had all the shades of grey. After all, life is never black or white!

Mixed Emotions

The bitterness was not all personal but social too as one person is not a detached being, he is a social being and hence, cannot live in water-tight compartments. And it's not either about the gender too! Whenever a rape or molestation case is reported I am affected as a human being first and then as a woman. But my talking of 'human being' and 'humanity' might seem out of place as 'being human' is just fashionable but it's not a practical reality. We 'humans' have a very short term memory. We see, hear, discuss and just as easily forget all things. Candle-light vigils are alright, but have we started to change our mentality or have we tried to change the sick mentality of others. Until and unless we 'the common man' changes no change will be absolute. Being totally dependent on the government to do something will be nothing short of a tragedy. Oh! but why have we deviated into discussing things seriously? We should be preparing for our new year bash! After all, life goes on, isn't it? How does it matter if a person died of inhuman brutality? How can we imagine the plight of the 23-year old's dear ones left behind tormented and shattered? Right?

Everything is a combination of both good and bad, same is true for a year. And for 2012 as well...but at the same what remains with us for a comparatively longer time is how the things end. If something ends on a good note, it leaves an after-taste of gaiety. But this time 2012 does nothing of that sort. The after-taste this time is a very bitter one. It is not just about one case, the point is the crime continues unabated. The ones who should be taking some concrete steps are busy in suggesting a ban on skirts or opposing the death penalty to be included in the Rape law or pressurizing parents for a hushed up cremation in the wee hours. Where will it take things? Nothing much to expect I suppose...

I apologize for having written on this because may be readers would expect something literary on a literary blog. But if a writer is not sensitive, who will be? Kindly ponder over this... "Don't mourn my death, preserve my thinking and carry forward my fight" - that will be the real tribute to the departed soul and the dear departed 2012 too!

Words are all I have

Pic Src: Words

Someone said, "Take these words and do what you want to do with them." Now this was something I never expected. Normally words come out so spontaneously that I hardly have to look other quarters for some help. But now I had my hands full with this gift of words. And I had to do something with them.

I always say that words are all I have. They come so easy when it comes to expressing myself in writing. But often it happens that we feel tongue-tied. And that too even when mind is so full of thoughts. This is the exact situation I was in when I received this unique gift.

I took hold of my pen and then it began to flow smoothly onto the blank page in front of me. I had to ink in the tale of life on this empty canvas. And then a word picture emerged. It was my story, a story of how my life changed one day suddenly. It would never be the same again. And was I happy! I was on cloud nine...and the story ended happily with love showering its blessings forever.

Democratic Note in Wordsworth's Poetry

SOME VIEWPOINTS:

Wordsworth was brought up in a democratic environment. The principles of the revolution were ingrained in his nature.
He is the first to strike the true democratic note in English poetry. He makes the lowliest rustics the heroes of his poetry, glorifies them and brings out the essential heroism of their souls. He learns lessons of virtue, faith and fortitude from them.
It was the French Revolution which made him the poet of Man by bringing him into contact with human misery. Hence, he became as much a poet of man as of Nature. Nature herself took on a sober colouring in his poetry.
It was through Nature that Wordsworth came to Man and not vice-versa. He loved Nature and also those who live in her lap. He shows man in his surroundings. Nature glorifies Man and reduces the intensity of his suffering.
He believes in this basic identity of all, to his mind there is no essential difference between Man and objects and creatures of Nature. This oneness is indicated through numerous comparisons. Many of his characters are incarnations of the particular mood and spirit of nature.
The same laws govern Man and nature. Hence, Nature can be the moral teacher of Man. Life in the lap of Nature is best: materialism is the cause of all human suffering.
Why does Wordsworth prefer humble rustic life? He explains his reasons in the Preface. He wanted to understand the heart of Man. Therefore, he studies the essential human passions, and this can be done in the simplest societies. He studies Man rather than men. His characters are types rather than individuals.
His study of Man is limited and one-sided. He could draw only simple natures. He has no evil characters.
He went to the child for the same reasons as he went to the humble rustics, that is, to see into the heart of things.
He attached great importance to childhood memories. He believed that the child symbolically lives the various a stage of life through which human race has passed. Hence, a study of childhood memories can help much in the study of the growth of human consciousness.
In the great ‘Immortality Ode’ the child is glorified as ‘the mighty prophet and seer blest’ for he has visions of a prior existence in the blessed world.
Wordsworth’s attitude is poetic and mystical rather than philosophical and should be taken as such.

My Blog's Second Anniversary

It was on this day, that is, May 15 in 2007 that I published my first post on my blog 'Literary Jewels'. My maiden post was: 'English Poetry:My Inspiration'. My blog is 2-years old today. I have tried to post as frequently as possible so that I can provide my readers with new material now and then. But there have been phases when I have been unable to write for my blog. When I try to analyze the causes  behind that absence, I zero in on one of the most prominent reason, which is my studies and to be more specific the most dreaded examinations! Now again they are coming to invade me and my 'spontaneous overflow' from June 3. The flood waters will only return on June 24. But as they say, "This too will pass!". So I preparing to give my best shot. And once they are over, I seriously intend to come back to my blog more often. 

I thank all my readers for being supportive and being constant in their admiration for 'Literary Jewels'. 

I dedicate this poster to my blog on its 2nd anniversary and to my loyal readers. These lines of William Wordsworth from his Ode: 'Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood' are one of most favourites from the world of English literature:

Wordsworth's 'The Stolen Boat' from 'Prelude'

'The Stolen Boat' (text)

( photo source: http://www.flickr.com/)

One summer evening (led by her) I found
A little boat tied to a willow tree
Within a rocky cave, its usual home.
Straight I unloosed her chain, and stepping in
Pushed from the shore. It was an act of stealth
And troubled pleasure, nor without the voice
Of mountain-echoes did my boat move on;
Leaving behind her still, on either side,
Small circles glittering idly in the moon,
Until they melted all into one track
Of sparkling light. But now, like one who rows,
Proud of his skill, to reach a chosen point
With an unswerving line, I fixed my view
Upon the summit of a craggy ridge,
The horizon's utmost boundary; far above
Was nothing but the stars and the grey sky.
She was an elfin pinnace; lustily
I dipped my oars into the silent lake,
And, as I rose upon the stroke, my boat
Went heaving through the water like a swan;
When, from behind that craggy steep till then
The horizon's bound, a huge peak, black and huge,
As if with voluntary power instinct,
Upreared its head. I struck and struck again,
And growing still in stature the grim shape
Towered up between me and the stars, and still,
For so it seemed, with purpose of its own
And measured motion like a living thing,
Strode after me. With trembling oars I turned,
And through the silent water stole my way
Back to the covert of the willow tree;
There in her mooring-place I left my bark,--
And through the meadows homeward went, in grave
And serious mood; but after I had seen
That spectacle, for many days, my brain
Worked with a dim and undetermined sense
Of unknown modes of being; o'er my thoughts
There hung a darkness, call it solitude
Or blank desertion. No familiar shapes
Remained, no pleasant images of trees,
Of sea or sky, no colours of green fields;
But huge and mighty forms, that do not live
Like living men, moved slowly through the mind
By day, and were a trouble to my dreams.

The poem ‘The Stolen Boat’ is an extract taken from Wordsworth’s long autobiographical poem ‘The Prelude’ consisting of fourteen books. This poem has been taken from Book I. the subtitle of ‘The Prelude’: ‘The Growth of a Poet’s Mind’ hints at the autobiographical nature of the poem. The poet describes his inner life out of which his poetry grew.
The given poem ‘The Stolen Boat’ is related to one memorable incident of his boyhood. The poet describes that one summer evening led by the promptings of Nature he found a little boat tied to a willow tree within a rocky cave where it was usually tied. He immediately untied the chain and after getting into the boat pushed it away from the shore. It was an act of theft and his pleasure was mixed with anxiety. When the boat moved on, there came echoing sounds (of warning) from the mountain sides. The boat left small circles of water gleaming idly under the light of the moon till all of them were mixed up and dissolved giving way to one single track of glittering light. But then, like a person who rows with a sense of pride in his skill to reach straight to a selected spot without any deviation, I fixed up my gaze on the peak of an uneven mountain range which formed the farthest boundary on the distant horizon. Above the poet there were nothing but the great sky and the stars.
The poet’s lovely boat seemed to have a fairy like appearance. He dipped the oars vigorously into the silent lake and as he rose up after the stroke to move it forward, his boat moved from behind that uneven range of the high hill which had so far seemed to him to be the boundary of distant horizon, a huge and black peak put its head up, as if it were a living being endowed with a will and a power of its own. He continued to row on and on over the calm lake but slowly growing larger in stature the awful peak with its towering height seemed to stand between the poet and the stars. It seemed to the poet as if the peak was a living creature following him with regular steps with some fixed purpose of its own. With the oars trembling in his hand he changed his course and moved on silently over calm surface oof the lake to be back to the shelter of the willow tree.
The poet left the boat at the place where it was earlier tied and went back to his home in a serious and thoughtful mood through the grassy fields. But many days after he had seen that striking sight, his mind was haunted by a vague and strange feeling, that in nature there were mysterious forms of life beyond the knowledge of man. His mind was clouded by a deep darkness and all previous knowledge was wiped out. He was without any impression of all previously known objects and pleasing sights like that of trees, sea sky or of colours of green fields. Only huge powerful forms and shapes whose mode of life is absolutely different from that of man, haunted his mind during the day and also troubled the poet in his dreams at night.
The poet in the last stanza addresses wisdom and Spirit of the universe. He calls it as eternal as human thought and says that it transmits life and everlasting movement to all objects and forms. It was not in vain that from his earliest days of infancy by day as well as by starlit night it took up0on itself the task of shaping an intimate relationship between the human passions in my soul and high and everlasting things of nature and not the temporary and vulgar creations of man. Thus, by this mode of interlinking it refined elements of the poet’s feelings and of thoughts and through proper control and training lent a sacred quality to both pain and fear. And finally led him to recognize the grandeur and loftiness in the human heart beats.
Hence in this poem, an experience of his boyhood brings upon a poet a profound awareness of the wisdom and spirit of the universe.

Preface to the 'Lyrical Ballads' - Wordsworth

In the ‘Preface to the Lyrical Ballads’, William Wordsworth has revolted against the poetic principles of the eighteenth century saying that the life of a poor man can serve as a fit material for the poetry. The diction should be drawn from everyday speech and he wants to through a colouring of imagination over the simple material chosen for treatment in poetry. His poems like ‘Michael’, ‘The Solitary Reaper’, and ‘To a Highland Girl’ – to name only a few have been written keeping this in mind. Wordsworth has remarked that “all good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings. It takes its origin from emotions recollected in tranquility.”
If we consider this statement divorcing it from the part that precedes it, it would mean that a poet writes a poem as an immediate reaction to some experience. He expresses this through powerful feelings. A poem would be spontaneous if it comes directly from the pen of the poet without any pre-medication as a song comes from the throat of a bird. But Wordsworth qualifies his statement. He goes on to say that poems can be produced only by a man who has also thought long. Thus, it means that Wordsworth does not rule out contemplation or meditation. According to Wordsworth, our feelings are modified and directed by our thoughts which are indeed the representatives of our past feelings. He himself admits that he has “always looked steadily at his subject.” According to him, the poet is a man of great sensibility whose mentality has been already shaped.
The emotion is contemplated till tranquility gradually disappears and an emotion similar to the one already existed, is gradually produced in mind. At this time, successful poetic composition takes place:

For oft when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude.
And then my heart with pleasure fills
And dances with the daffodils.

Further he says that the process of writing poems has four stages, that is, recollection, contemplation, recrudescence and composition. This is one of the reasons that he has revised, ‘The Prelude’. Actually his emphasis on emotion is a reaction to the eighteenth century poetry, which was intellectual, devoid of any feelings and it had its appeal to the head.
Again, Wordsworth insists that the immediate object of the poet is to give pleasure. The poet’s mind is in a state of enjoyment and the poet’s description of passions ensures an over-balance of pleasure in the mind of the reader. The music of harmonious metrical language, the sense of difficulty, which the poet has received from the works of similar construction and perception of the received language – produce a complex feeling of delight.
The poet has unusual capacity to perceive and feel. To be a great poet, according to Wordsworth, he must have thought long deeply. Thus, he differs from his fellowmen only in degree and not in kind. The poet can feel, think, perceive and imagine. Besides these, he has the capacity to express himself in verse. In ‘Tradition and Individual Talent’ T.S. Eliot has criticized Wordsworth’s theory of poetry and has said “Poetry is neither emotion, nor recollection nor tranquility, nor spontaneity”. It is something like “concentration” or what is called “a deliberate process”.

Will no one tell me what she sings?
Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow
For old, unhappy, far off things
And battles long ago.

Coming to his view on poetic style (diction), Wordsworth has adopted the language of common people to communicate his ideas. For this purpose, he has chosen the incidents and situations from humble and rustic life. He thinks that the people from rural area convey the feelings in a simple way because they are not under the influence of social vanity of city dwellers. Such language is permanent and philosophic. He criticized the poets who have separated themselves from them. According to him, his very purpose is to imitate and adopt the very language of men. He goes on to say that “there neither is nor can be any essential difference between the language of prose and metrical composition.” The language of a large portion of every good poem differs from good prose except with reference to metre.
Criticizing this theory, Coleridge maintains that there are certain modes of expression, a construction, and an order of sentences which are in their fit and natural place in a serious prose composition but would be inappropriate to metrical poetry. He goes on to say that in the language of a serious poem, these may be an arrangement of words and sentences; and the use of figure of speech would be inappropriate. He says that when a poet writes in metre, he means to differ from prose. Poetry implies passion. Moreover, Coleridge does not accept Wordsworth’s comment on Gray’s sonnet.
When we come to wordsworth’s own poetic practice, he differs from his own theory of poetic style/diction. His poem like ‘Tintern Abbey’ and ‘Ode to the Intimations of Immortality’ are and illustration in po8int. regarding the poet’s use of metre, he says that metre has its own charm and it adds to the pleasure of poetry. Wordsworth fails to emphasize on the use of metre as metre is the integral part of poetry. Even in free v erse, here is some kind of rhythm though not recognizable.
Even Wordsworth expresses his view on “poets and poetry”. Shelley calls the poets as “unacknowledged legislators of the mankind”; whereas Carlyle refers to poet as a ‘prophet’ and a ‘hero’. According to Wordworth, the poet is “a rock of defence” for human nature. He binds together the vast empire of human society, which is spread over the whole earth and overall time. Wordsworth emphasizes his democratic view and the poet differs from other men not only in kind but only in degree.
In the end we can say that Wordsworth has revolted against the eighteenth century poetic theory and the poetic style, which was prevalent at that time. Besides this, his views on the nature of poetry, role of poet and the choice of subject matter have their own significance. He has tried to practice his views in his poetry and brought his poetry near to life. That is why he is called a literary revolutionary – his ‘Preface to the Lyrical Ballads’ shows his revolutionary ideas in the literary field. The Preface embodies the poetic manifesto of Romanticism.

Wordsworth - Coleridge Collaboration

Wordsworth and Coleridge were the founders of the Romantic School of Poetry. They collaborated to compose poetry in accordance with their definition of poetry and with ideas to enrich it, by adding strangeness to beauty. They were disgusted with the artificial poetic composition of the poets of the Neo-Classical School of poetry. They added emotion and imagination to the poetry, while the poetry of the Neo-Classical poets was dominated by reason and intellect.
According to Wordsworth, “Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings that takes its origins from emotions recollected in tranquility.” It is the poetry of these poets that brought back in to literature the element of Romanticism and Reality that was the mainstay of Elizabethan Poetry. This was the Romantic Revival of Poetry.
By the touch of imagination, Wordsworth has made the common look uncommon. He wrapped even the most ordinary things in celestial light as in ‘Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood’. He had rendered the solitary reaper girl, a common wench in the rural area, an extraordinary figure by giving certain features not found in others. She has a voice more melodious than that of a nightingale and even that reputed bird could not have charmed the travelers in the desert area as she could. The readers are left to wonder what was there in her song that made it so melodious.
“Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thoughts”, says Shelley.

Wordsworth's 'The World is too much with us'

THE World is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers:
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon,
The winds that will be howling at all hours
And are up-gather'd now like sleeping flowers,
For this, for everything, we are out of tune;
It moves us not.—Great God! I'd rather be
A pagan suckled in a creed outworn,—
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathèd horn.

In this sonnet ‘The World is too much with us’ Wordsworth deplores the extreme materialism and the consequent spiritual degradation of his time. Men are actuated only by economic motives. They have become too materialistic. People are too much engrossed in the pursuit of wealth and pleasure and waste their energies in so doing instead of turning them to better advantages. They have given themselves up, heart and soul, to the pursuit of mere material prosperity. Their mind is so much obsessed with material gain that they fail to appreciate the beauties of Nature.
For his own part, the poet would rather be a pagan with his keen sensitiveness to the mysteries and beauties of Nature than lead the modern pseudo-enlightened life of materialism. In a word, he prefers paganism to excessive materialism.
Wordsworth’s love of nature was boundless. A profound religious feeling pervades all his nature poetry. Nature was for him the embodiment of the Divine Spirit. When he insists that nature is the greatest of all teachers, he means that between the indwelling soul of the Universe and the soul of Man, which is akin to it, spiritual communion is possible, through which we may gain constantly in power, peace and happiness.

'Three Years She Grew...' by Wordsworth

THREE years she grew in sun and shower,
Then Nature said, "A lovelier flower
On earth was never sown;
This Child I to myself will take;
She shall be mine, and I will make
A Lady of my own.

"Myself will to my darling be
Both law and impulse: and with me
The Girl, in rock and plain,
In earth and heaven, in glade and bower, 10
Shall feel an overseeing power
To kindle or restrain.

"She shall be sportive as the fawn
That wild with glee across the lawn,
Or up the mountain springs;
And her's shall be the breathing balm,
And her's the silence and the calm
Of mute insensate things.

"The floating clouds their state shall lend
To her; for her the willow bend; 20
Nor shall she fail to see
Even in the motions of the Storm
Grace that shall mould the Maiden's form
By silent sympathy.

"The stars of midnight shall be dear
To her; and she shall lean her ear
In many a secret place
Where rivulets dance their wayward round,
And beauty born of murmuring sound
Shall pass into her face. 30

"And vital feelings of delight
Shall rear her form to stately height,
Her virgin bosom swell;
Such thoughts to Lucy I will give
While she and I together live
Here in this happy dell."

Thus Nature spake--The work was done--
How soon my Lucy's race was run!
She died, and left to me
This heath, this calm, and quiet scene; 40
The memory of what has been,

And never more will be.

The poem ‘Three Years She Grew…’ is one of the best known Lucy poems written by William Wordsworth. The poet in this poem illustrates his belief that Nature is a great teacher. He believes that one can learn one can learn a great lesson if one approaches nature with a pure and humble heart.
The poet writes that Lucy grew up in the midst of nature for three years. She experienced all kinds of seasons be it summer or rain. Then after that Nature decided to adopt Lucy as her own child so that she could bring up the child in her own way.
Then Nature declares that she herself Lucy to be a good human being and will also check her from committing wring deeds. Lucy will move about on mountains, plains, even on seeing sky, earth or when in a forest or under shady trees. All this while, she will feel the presence of a power that watches her activities, a power which inspires and checks her.
The next lines portray that Lucy will be as playful and active as a fawn (young one of a deer) which wild with joy moves across grassy fields, or climbs the mountains. Lucy will have the fresh air free and open for herself which will comfort and soothe her. Lucy will enjoy the silent and peaceful atmosphere in the company of the objects of Nature like rocks and fields.
The clouds that float across the sky shall impart their beauty to Lucy. She will learn the movements from bending of willow trees. Lucy will learn to be graceful from the movements of a storm.
Lucy will thoroughly enjoy the sight of stars at midnight. She will be able to listen to the music of the stream flowing noisily. The sweet and soft music will have its effect on enhancing the beauty of Lucy.
Nature says that she will bring Lucy up in a happy valley. The joy and happiness around shall help in the growth of her height and her body will be physically developed. Nature will give Lucy noble thoughts when they both live together in that happy valley.
In the last stanza the poet says Nature fulfilled her promise, whatever she had said. But Lucy died very soon. She left the poet lonely in the barren land in a silent atmosphere the poet is left with the memories of the past, of the memories of Lucy, whom he will not be able to see again.
Thus, in this poem Wordsworth has stated that one can learn a great lesson for one’s upliftment if one approaches nature with a “heart that watches and receives”. The poem illustrates. Rousseau’s philosophy which states that a child living close to nature becomes a better person than the one brought up in the artificial atmosphere of civilization.

Lines from Wordsworth's Immortality Ode

"The Clouds that gather round the setting sun
Do take a sober colouring from an eye
That hath kept watch o'er man's mortality;
Another race hath been, and other palms are won.
Thanks to the human heart by which we live,
Thanks to its tenderness, its joys, and fears,
To me the meanest flower that blows can give
Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears."
(extract taken from ‘Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood )

I consider these lines penned by Wordsworth as one of the most precious literary jewels. How beautifully he has summed up the whole thing! It seems as if he has described a lifetime, and at the same time the whole generation of mankind – he refers to the Sun as “that hath kept watch o'er man's mortality”.

Ode: Intimations of Immortality by William Wordsworth

AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL ELEMENTS IN THE IMMORTALITY ODE

Apart from its philosophical aspect, the great Ode on the Intimation of Immortality is also in the nature of a personal document. It was written on the eve of his happy marriage with Mary Hutchison, when he was still at the height of his powers. But the poet felt that a great change had come over his relations with nature. The familiar objects of the external world were still there as usual. He could still find joy in nature, but could no longer perceive her appareled in celestial light as before. The poet was terribly shaken by the loss of ‘vision’ and asks the poignant question:

Whither is fled the visionary gleam?
Where is now, the glory and the dream.

The poem, in short, faithfully records a grave spiritual crisis and how it was overcome. The poet gradually realized that though he had lost one gift, “the divine vision”, other gifts had followed, which were sufficient compensation for the single loss. There was no cause for grieving, he could still live constantly in the company of nature; even the meanest flower could give him thoughts that lie too deep for tears. He had still the primary affections and faith in the future life of the soul in a blessed world, to console and strengthen him. In place of the earlier visions, he had the philosophic mind.
The ode also records how the boy Wordsworth was often haunted by a feeling that he was surrounded by unreality on all sides, and had sometimes to clutch at a wall or a tree to re-assure himself of the reality of things. He was thankful for those obstinate questionings:

Of sense and outward things
Fallings from us, Vanishings;
Blank misgivings of a creature
Moving about in world not realized.

For such questionings gave him “high instincts” – visions of an ideal world.
Thus, it becomes clear that Wordsworth’s poetry is a faithful record of his mind and soul. He was the most egoistical of English poets and he has used his poetry as an expression of his inner self. As an autobiographer, he is entirely faithful and sincere. No attempt is ever made to minimize his faults and weaknesses or to exaggerate his virtues.

Wordsworth's ‘Lines written in Early Spring’

‘Lines written in Early Spring’ - the poem

I heard a thousand blended notes,

While in a grove I sate reclined,

In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts

Bring sad thoughts to the mind.

To her fair works did Nature link

The human soul that through me ran;

And much it grieved my heart to think

What man has made of man.

Through primrose tufts, in that green bower,

The periwinkle trailed its wreaths;

And 'tis my faith that every flower

Enjoys the air it breathes.

The birds around me hopped and played,

Their thoughts I cannot measure:--

But the least motion which they made

It seemed a thrill of pleasure.

The budding twigs spread out their fan,

To catch the breezy air;

And I must think, do all I can,

That there was pleasure there.

If this belief from heaven be sent,

If such be Nature's holy plan,

Have I not reason to lament

What man has made of man?

All the poems of Wordsworth revolve around Nature. After he met Coleridge they jointly published a collection of poems entitled ‘Lyrical Ballads’, which marked the beginning of a new kind of poetry. The present poem ‘Lines written in Early Spring’ appeared for the first time in ‘Lyrical Ballads’.
The poem has been written by the poet in a thoughtful mood. The poet William Wordsworth has himself expressed the view that he was sitting by the side of a stream when he composed this poem. The poet in this poem contrasts the happiness of the objects of Nature with the unhappiness experienced by man. He expressed sorrow that man has finished the scope of his own happiness by ignoring Nature.
In the first stanza, the poet describes the experience of being in the company of Nature. He says that while he was sitting under the shade of a group of trees in a relaxing mood, he heard a medley of music. At that time he was in a very cheerful mood, a time when happy thoughts came to his mind. But soon some sad thoughts followed.
The poet says that the beautiful sights of nature served as a bridge between the inner conscience/soul of man and God. But the poet’s heart is pained to think of the treatment given to man by his fellow human beings. Thus, the poet wants to convey the idea that man suffers because of his drifting away from Nature.
In the next stanza, the poet elaborates the types of flowers growing at that place. He says that there were bunches of primrose (rose growing in that shady haunt). A blue creeper flower, periwinkle was curled around the primrose. The poet believed that in such a pleasant atmosphere every flower enjoyed the fragrant air there.
The poet then, talking about the birds there, says that they were playing and moving here and there. The poet could not judge their thoughts but felt that even their smallest movement portrayed/displayed the blissful mood they were in.
There were growing branches of trees which seemed to be spreading themselves out to enjoy the pleasant breeze. The poet says that, however, hard he may try he can only think that there was only joy and happiness there.
In the last two stanzas, the poet in conclusion gives two suppositions: that his belief of joy being present there (the shady haunt) is divine; and that the communion of man with nature is the plan of God (Nature). If these two are true then he definitely has a reason to mourn over the man’s fate brought on him as a result of living with his fellow human beings away from nature.

“Have I not reason to lament
What Man has made of Man?”

Hence, in this poem the poet wants that there should be a perfect harmony between man and nature. But then the poet expresses sadness over the fact man has thoughtlessly destroyed his own peace of mind and joy of life.

Healthy Lifestyle and English Poetry

TIPS FOR A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE: PROVIDED BY ENGLISH POETRY

Wordsworth, considered to be a defining member of the English Romantic movement, displayed love for simplicity. We should aim to use the word ‘simplicity’ as the guide word for chalking out a lifestyle pattern for ourselves.
Lifestyle is not a narrow concept. Its scope is as wide as life itself. The term ‘lifestyle’ depicts one’s attitude towards life, the way we lead our life and the values that we not only believe in, but also practice. Being healthy does not mean having only a healthy body. It also entails possessing a healthy mind and a healthy heart too.
In the modern mechanical lifestyle, the biggest challenge for a human being is to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Our life is full of ups and downs but the health line should go up, up and up. We read many books on health and nutritious food. But merely possessing the knowledge does not make us healthy unless we practically follow it. We have a saying, “Eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we may diet.”
Have you ever wondered, even English poetry can give us a few tips on healthy lifestyle – our outlook on life, how important the material goods are for us, how often we give ourselves a break from the back, neck or I don’t know what breaking business.
Literature reflects life, so in a way it should also provide guidelines for a healthy lifestyle and indeed it does. The need is to look for it between the lines. The call of the Romantics of being close to Nature implies that we should live in close harmony with Nature. This can safely be taken to mean that we follow the guidelines Nature provides us for a healthy life. It includes going to bed early and waking up on time, the ‘early to bed early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise’ principle. Remember in ‘Lines Composed Upon Westminster Bridge’ Wordsworth found the city of London very beautiful in the morning light:
Never did the sun more beautifully steepIn his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill;Ne'er saw I, never felt a calm so deep!The river glideth at his own sweet will:

Being too engrossed with the materialistic world is not a very good sign of a healthy lifestyle. A few years back I read in a magazine that no man ever lamented on his death bed he could have spent more time in his office. A very important indicator of a healthy lifestyle is the time one spends in family. Money is the be all and end all of everything. It should be treated only as a means and not an end in itself. Wordsworth in his famous sonnet ‘The World is too much with us’ writes:
The world is too much with us; late and soon
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers:
Little we see in Nature that is ours;

Nature is the greatest stress buster. Just enjoy a morning walk and lend your ears to the silence around you and what you will have a concert. The humming birds, the twitter of sparrows, the rustling of leaves and many other sounds can only be enjoyed by a discerning ear. This really affects our nerves and at the same time, morning walk is a good physical exercise; so it helps us in maintaining both – a healthy body and a healthy mind.
What is most important is that we become good human beings. This will reflect the quality of our lifestyle. After all we become what we try to be at heart.
Living is not just inhaling and exhaling of breath but the meaningful life that we lead. Not all of us understand the depth of life until it is too late. Then we can echo Hamlet’s words:

Had I but time (as this fell Sergeant deathIs strick'd in his Arrest) oh I could tell you.But let it be…

Or like King Lear’s words “a dog is obeyed in office”, lament over the failure to achieve what we deserved:

Remember, time is a cruel teacher but at the same time experience is the best instructor.

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The French Revolution and Wordsworth's Poetry - Part II

(previous post continued)

(4) The influence of Beaupuis
According to Hudson, a “change of spirit occurred during his stay at Orleans and Blois, between which places he passed nearly a year”. He formed a close friendship whith a Republican General, Beaupuis, “an inspiring example of all in the Revoulution”. His tenderness, meekness, gallantry and utter devotion to the cause of the people are celebrated in glowing language in ‘The Prelude’. Talks with this noble friend exerted a profound influence on the poet’s mind. His hatred for all absolute rule, and his love of and pity for the “abject multitude” grew daily and he was ultimately fired with his friend’s humanitarianism and faith in the revolutionary cause and that “better days to all manking” were round the corner. His heart was now given to the people nad he felt that the revolution was the only way to right their wrongs. The September Massacres failed to disillusion him and when he returned to Paris a month later, he wanted to join the Girondists but was called back.

(5) Conflict of Loyalties
When Wordsworth returned to England towards the close of 1792, he found the conservative opinion in the country strongly against the Revolution. But he was still firm in his faith. Later he was torn by a conflict of loyalties. His moral nature received a terrible shock when England declared war upon France. He rejoiced when England’s armies met with disaster, although he loved his country. When the Republicans, still professing to act upon the principles of liberty, equality and fraternity, entered into a policy of military aggression, his “genial feelings” were turned to bitterness.

(6) The Great Spiritual Crisis
Wordsworth now passed through a period of perplexity, disappointment and gloom, to a large extent, the result of his shattered hopes and shaken faith. But though France had failed him, he still clung to the abstract revolutionary theories and tried to seek relief in the abstract teachings of William Godwin. But the arid rationalism of Godwin gave him little relief.

(7) Dorothy and her influence
In this great spiritual crisis, both moral and intellectual, his salvation was brought about largely through the influence of his sister Dorothy. She brought back faith and peace to him. In particular, “she restored him to nature, whose beauty and benign power had been forgotten amid all the excitement and strain through which he had lately passed”. (Hudson)

(8) The Lost Leader
By 1802, his disillusionment with France was complete. He travelled farther and farther away from the political faith of his youth. Gradually he became a Tory. He was called the “Lost Leader” by Browning and a “moral eunuch” by Shelley. In this extreme reaction, he supported all existing institutions and even justified the abuses which presently inspired a fresh energy of reform. He opposed Catholic Emancipitation and the Reform Bill and wrote a sonnet attacking the people’s right to vote. In Napolean he saw and incarnation of materialism and he welcomed his downfall. He went to the extreme of saying that the cholera, which took a heavy toll of life, was God’s condemnation of the great reforms that he opposed.

(9) The Solid Gain
It should also be pointed out that not all the lessons of the Revolution were lost upon him. Though he rejected his early revolutionary creed, yet he firmly held to the essential ideals of democracy, which lay at its back. The Revolution brought him face to face with human sorrow and suffering. It humanized his soul and made him see nature in an entirely different light : he could now hear in nature “the still sad music of humanity.”

The French Revolution and Wordsworth's Poetry

1. WORDSWORTH: Democratic Background
An important event of the closing years of the eighteenth century, which stirred all Europe, and the English Romantics in particular, is the French Revolution. ‘The Prelude’ tells us much about Wordsworth’s reaction to the French Revolution. Wordsworth was the first of the great Romantics to be influenced profoundly by the Revolution, which had a far reaching impact on his life and poetry. But its ideals – Liberty, Equality and Fraternity – were not new to him. The societies, which he had been familiar with, in his youth were essentially democratic. Even at Cambridge he found a strong democratic spirit:
“All stood thus far/Upon equal ground..”

2. FIRST VISIT TO FRANCE
For these reasons, “The Revolution, in its earlier phases, involved no revolution in Wordsworth’s mental life”(Raleigh). During his third summer vacations, Wordsworth visited France with his friend, Robert Jones. They landed in Calais on July 13, 1790, the eve of first anniversary of the fall of the Bastille, and of, “that great federal day”, when the King was to swear allegiance to the new constitution; as he mentions in ‘The Prelude’ they met,
“The Brebant armies on the fret,
For battle in the cause of Liberty.”

They found evidence of the wonderful enthusiasm of the people on all sides. The nation was rejoicing and captured all his ardour for the cause and he felt:
Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive
But to be young was very heaven.
(The French Revolution)

All this was, no doubt, very exhilarating. Yet Wordsworth was less affected by such experiences than might have been expected. He himself writes:

Heard, and saw, and felt,
Was touched, but with no intimate concern.

Nature and the wonders of the “ever-living universe”, interested him far more than political excitement and the awakened hopes of man.

3. HIS SECOND VISIT
Wordsworth visited France for a second time in November 1791. This time he stayed there for more than a year. Although he stayed there for learning French, yet the influence his growing interest in the French Revolution exerted on him cannot be ruled out. While going to Orleans he passed through Paris, where he stayed for a few days. He listened to the debates in the National Assembly. He also made a visit to the ruins of Bastille (the prison in which political prisoners were kept).

And from the rubbish gathered up a stone
And pocketed the relic , in the the guise
Of an enthusiast.

Yet as he himself confesses, there was something rather articficial and unreal about his emotion. He was not deeply and really stirred. The great principles of Fraternity, Equality and Liberty were in his very blood and what was happening seemed to him very much a matter of course.

P.S. This post is to be continued in the second part (Divided into two parts due to shortage of time now)

Wordsworth's 'The Tables Turned'

Wordsworth's following lines from the poem 'The Tables Turned' set me thinking.

One impulse from a vernal wood
May teach you more of man,
Of moral evil and of good,
Than all the sages can.

Philosophers have since times immemorial loaded us with their meaningful lessons about leading life in a better way. But if we go by these words of Wordsworth, we should leave all the books and experience a first hand encounter. I would like to present a strong argument in his favour here. We all remember our childhood or have seen kids around us. How do they learn? Do they cram all things? How do they learn to sit or eat with a spoon? They learn by doing the thing. Even when are grown-up what we do practically ourselves, we comprehend and remember it easily. This is what the poet here is telling us to do.
He is of the view that the books of the 'sages' cannot give us so much wisdom as we can get from natural experiences after first hand encounters.

In this poem 'The Tables Turned' Wordsworth writes:

Up! up! my Friend, and quit your books;
Or surely you'll grow double:
Up! up! my Friend, and clear your looks;
Why all this toil and trouble?

The sun, above the mountain's head,
A freshening lustre mellow
Through all the long green fields has spread,
His first sweet evening yellow.

Books! 'tis a dull and endless strife:
Come, hear the woodland linnet,
How sweet his music! on my life,
There's more of wisdom in it.

And hark! how blithe the throstle sings!
He, too, is no mean preacher:
Come forth into the light of things,
Let Nature be your teacher.


Note here that Wordsworth is asking the readers to make Nature their teacher. Being too much involved in books is a dull exercise. What is the ideal thing is that we must apply our knowledge to real life situations, then we convert our knowledge into education. And where can we find such a great and practical teacher as Nature? Actually the problem with our education system is that the stress is on theoretical knowledge and not the practical aspect. Our focus should be the pragmatic approach rather than the normative one.

Further in the poem he writes:

She has a world of ready wealth,
Our minds and hearts to bless--
Spontaneous wisdom breathed by health,
Truth breathed by cheerfulness.

One impulse from a vernal wood
May teach you more of man,
Of moral evil and of good,
Than all the sages can.

Sweet is the lore which Nature brings;
Our meddling intellect
Mis-shapes the beauteous forms of things:--
We murder to dissect.

Enough of Science and of Art;
Close up those barren leaves;
Come forth, and bring with you a heart
That watches and receives.


Actually what happens is that we are so much involved with the material aspects in our life that we often overlook the bounties of nature around us. We ignore the 'impulse from a vernal wood' and remain occupied with Science and Art.