.Write an essay of which you analyse the poem ‘Nutting’ by William Wordsworth
Throughout ‘Nutting’ Wordsworth uses many different techniques to help with the development of its meaning and effects. Written in the first viewpoint, it is allegorical with its focus being on a young boy going out to collect nuts, dealing with the past of the outing framed by the adult’s memories with nature teaching and guiding him. One of the leading themes in Wordsworth’s poetry was of childhood and nature, as seen in other poems such as ‘There was a Boy’, ‘We are seven’ and ‘Lucy Gray’, showing his interest in the relationship between the two. (Blades, 2004, p.7Written in iambic pentameter we see that ‘at somewhere around ten syllables, the English poetic line is at its most relaxed and manageable’ (Fenton, 2002, p.56) giving room for the variations seen in the poem, such as the short opening line to be used with great effect to the overall feel and meaning.
The poem opens with a dramatic pause, which also creates a visual impact; ‘________________ It seems a day’, indicating that the poem is reflective and immortalised in his memory with it being a day ‘which cannot die’ (line 2). The use of poetic inversion with ‘When forth I sallied from our cottage-door’ (line 3) helps in the creating of a rhythm, setting up the most commonly used line of 10 syllables throughout the poem. The word ‘perhaps’ (line 28) emphasises that he is looking back on something that took place some time ago. ‘The violets of five seasons reappear and fade, unseen by any human eye’ (lines 29&30) could be symbolic of the passing of five years and enforces the feeling of excitement at a place previously ‘unvisited’ (line 15). The internal rhyme ‘by’ and ‘eye’ help in creating a tempo. The youthfulness and inexperience of the boy is highlighted by his ‘nutting crook’ (line 5) and clothing ‘put on for the occasion, by advice’ (line 8) of the Dame showing his eagerness and enthusiasm. There is the use of a dactyl with ‘heavenly’ (line 2) emphasising the excitement of the excursion. The use of the half rhyme ‘occasion’ and ‘exhortation’ (lines 8&9) speeds up the line, again helping to create a sense of excitement. The ‘milk-white clusters’ (line 18) and the ‘virgin scene’ (line 19) point to the purity and innocence of the child, while the use of the simile of ‘stones that, fleec’d with moss’ were ‘scatter’d like a flock of sheep’ (lines 33-35) is a childlike image again emphasising the youth and innocence of the boy. The stones being ‘fleec’d’ is representative of the fleece of sheep, adding imagery to the metaphor.
