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William Wordsworth 1770-1850

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        Wordsworth is considered to be the Father of Romanticism.  His poetry transformed the literary world in England, Europe, and even the Americas.  His poetry emphasized the importance of Nature as well as the greatness of the individual.  And if an individual was in-tuned with nature, than the idealistic capabilities of that individual were endless. 
        At one point Wordsworth was a avid supporter of the French Revolution, living in France to support the cause of the people.  There he fell in love and had a daughter, Caroline; but money problems forced him back to England. England declared war on France and Wordsworth was not allowed to return to France until Caroline was 10.  He was too soon disillusioned with the Revolution following the Reign of Terror and his political beliefs continued to drift more and more conservatively as he grew old. 

Lyrical Ballads

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        Lyrical Ballads is a collection of poems by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge.  It was first published in 1798, and it is attributed with beginning the new literary period, Romanticism. 
        Lyrical Ballads was a radical experimentation in poetry and thought.  The subject matter, form, and language of the poems were a drastic change from the poetry of the Neoclassical era.  To explain their poetry, Wordsworth and Coleridge added a preface to Lyrical Ballads.  This preface explains their ideas behind their poems and creates a standard for poetry that is later adopted by later Romantic poets. 


The 'Preface' covers a number of issues and is wide-ranging in its survey of the place of the Lyrical Ballads on the contemporary literary scene. The topics covered include the following:

  1. The Principal object of the poems. Wordsworth, in this extract, places the emphasis on the attempt to deal with "natural" (rather than cosmopolitan) man, arguing that such men live much closer to nature and, therefore, are closer to the well-springs of human nature. Behind this we can see how much Wordsworth owes to that eighteenth century preoccupation with "natural Man", associated particularly with the writings of Rousseau. He sees his poetry, in its concerns with the lives of men such as Michael, as an antidote to the artificial portraits of Man presented in eighteenth century poetry. The argument is developed when he outlines his reasons for dealing with "humble and rustic life".


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Full Text of Lyrical Ballads

wordsworth-prefacelb.pdf
File Size: 124 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Interesting analysis of Lyrical Ballads

http://romanticlit-kjaya30.blogspot.com/2011/10/prefact-to-lyrical-ballads-analysis.html
  1. For Wordsworth (and Coleridge) this choice of subject matter necessarily involves a rethinking of the Language of poetry. Note, however, that Wordsworth admits to some license in "tidying up" the language of "ordinary men". Does this affect the persuasiveness of his theories about "natural men"?

  2. This leads Wordsworth to an attempt to define poetry and its effects on the reader. Wordsworth's project is an idealistic one, and clearly Poetry, for him, has a vital role in educating the mind and sensibility of his readers, a moral purpose. This quotation illustrates how important this benevolent effect is for the reader.

  3. Inevitably, perhaps, the above leads Wordsworth towards asking What is a Poet? . His answer illustrates the underlying assumptions about the poet as genius, as special person, capable of re-articulating thought and feeling so as to educate the reader.

"Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey"

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"The World is Too Much With Us"

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The World is Too Much With Us  
        by William Wordsworth
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-gathered 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.
       
       

Writing to Persuade: Is "The World . . . too much with us," as Wordsworth suggest in his sonnet? Are people today so preoccupied with materialistic goals that they have lost their capacity to be moved thy the awesomeness and beauty of nature?
Here's what your answered:
Emil Evans

British Literature- Mrs. Vanderwarker

The World Really is too much

18 April 2011

The World Really is too much

            William Wordsworth was a poet who was very in-tune with nature. As he lived his life during the Industrial Revolution that took the world by storm, he was one of the few who could still truthfully appreciate nature. Although he was not a persuasive writer, he wrote about the joy that he derived from being around nature; especially in his childhood. Just like in his day, many people do not have the opportunity to take the time and enjoy nature. New technology, work, and family are just a few of the things keeping people from taking in the joys of nature just as Wordsworth did.

            We live in the year 2011, and every year, more and faster technologies are being invented. Faster computers, thinner laptops, and smarter phones may make our lives easier, but they also keep people from enjoying nature. Some people would rather look at nature through a screen, than actually go out and fully experience it. These newer and faster technologies allow us to finish things faster; but as a result of that, many bosses believe this is a reason to give more work to their employees. Rather than finish work only to do more work, I think the added convenience of finishing work efficiently should be celebrated by taking a trip out to a national park, or other nature reserve. A blackberry can be turned off by a simple press of a button.

            Work is another reason that many people are kept from enjoying nature. Many people have very demanding jobs; working from nine in the morning to five in the afternoon. The economy in this generation does not leave any room for people to work schedules that are more lenient. As I have mentioned before, technology in our generation allows for one man to do a job that would take three men years ago. Technology makes us even more productive. In order for us to enjoy nature, we must work the job and not the other way around.

            As awkward as it seems, family is another factor keeping citizens from enjoying nature. Many families nowadays consist of three or more members. The younger the member, the more cumbersome he or she is. Toddlers can drastically change a family’s schedule. However, toddlers are not the only ones who affect a family’s schedule. Youths and teenagers have an affect as well. Sports practice, work, dance/karate class, and school are just a few of the things that kids are a part of. Many times, the adolescence relies on the parent for transportation, further exhausting the family. A family’s schedule is very unique, and many times there is not enough time or money to take the whole family on a vacation to the greener side of nature.

            Technology, work, and family are three things keeping most people from going out and enjoying nature. I suggest that we take a break from aiming for our materialistic goals, and take the time to appreciate nature’s bounty. You can not put a price tag on a picture perfect moment with the ones that you love.

"Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood"

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From: Cummingstyleguide.com

Interpretation .......Wordsworth's poem expresses the view that the human soul exists first in heaven. When united at birth with a body, it brings with it impressions of heaven, as the following passage from the poem indicates: 
        The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star,
        Hath had elsewhere its setting,
        And cometh from afar:
        Not in entire forgetfulness,
        And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory These “trailing clouds” remain in a growing child as “intimations of immortality,” or memories of his celestial abode. However, when the child passes into his adolescent and teen years, his increasing exposure to the material world and the beauty of nature dims his memories of his heavenly beginning. By the time he enters adulthood, all but the merest recollection of his previous existence disappears. (In the ancient world, Plato believed that the human soul existed before birth in an incorporeal realm. Although it possessed vast knowledge, its memory of this knowledge failed after it united with a body at birth. A human being then occupied himself with restoring this knowledge through education.) Nevertheless, this faint memory is enough to light for him the path back to heaven:            
        Those shadowy recollections,
        Which, be they what they may,
        Are yet the fountain light of all our day,
        Are yet a master light of all our seeing



Themes
Children See the Light

.......The speaker of the poem maintains paradoxically that the more a person ages—the more educated and experienced he becomes—the less he knows about heaven and God. A very young child, on the other hand, is a fountain of insight and enlightenment about the supernal world. After all, says the poem's speaker, a child's soul is a recent arrival from paradise. Memories of his heavenly abode are still vivid to him. He still sees the light of the eternal God.

Faith

.......There is in all of us a heavenly spark that can ignite the fire of faith to support us through troubled times, keeping alive the thought of reuniting with the Creator in the celestial realm. 

Ennui

.......Humans become jaded and world-weary after losing their childhood innocence and enthusiasm. 
Cummings, Michael. "Intimations of Immortality: A Study Guide." Free Study Guides for Shakespeare and Other Authors. Web. 03 Apr. 2012.        
        <http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/Guides5/Intimations.html>.
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