A comparison of Wordsworth's 'I wandered lonely as a cloud' and Clarkes 'Miracle on Saint David's Day'.
A comparison of Wordsworth's 'Iwandered lonely as a cloud' and Clarkes 'Miracle on Saint David's Day'. The title 'I wandered lonely as a cloud,' says a lot about the poem, especially as it is also the first line. It immediately starts off the poem with a sense of inner disharmony, shown by the words 'wandered', 'lonely' and 'cloud'. 'Wandered' gives the impression of being purposeless and 'lonely' shows that he longs for some sort of relationship. The word 'cloud' also relates to the loneliness and distance between him and civilisation. It could also mean that the poet is comfortable with his loneliness and wandering, just as a cloud seems comfortable alone. It also starts off a comparison between man and nature, an idea illustrated throughout both poems. The title of the second poem 'miracle on Saint David's day' starts straight off with a religious theme. Though this is not particularly shown through either poem, the fact a 'miracle' is a revelation is. In the first poem it is shown by the words 'when all at once' and shown in the second poem by 'he is suddenly staring'. It seems that the theme of an evolution for the better runs strongly throughout each poem. There is also a cultural side to the second title, the words, 'saint David's day' might be showing welsh culture as saint David is the welsh saint. The welsh theme also applies to the first poem as daffodils, 'a
A comparison of two poems which have the common theme of daffodils
A comparison of two poems which have the common theme of daffodils William Wordsworth's "The Daffodils" and "Miracle On St David's Day" by Gillian Clarke have common ground even though they were written two centuries apart-William Wordsworth's at the end of the eighteenth century and Clarke's in the last ten years of the 20th. "The Daffodils" inspired "Miracle On St David's Day" in that William Wordsworth's poem "The Daffodils" creates the extraordinary event, which occurs in Clarke's poem. William Wordsworth had never seen the daffodils about which he wrights. However with a wonderful imagination William Wordsworth was able to transform the details into a remarkable poem of a of a truly beautiful scene "what wealth the show to me had brought," which allows the reader to join in and feel the beauty of the scene. A confrontation is obvious in the first four lines of his poem when the use of "I" and "lonely" contrast with the words "crowds" and "host" in lines three and four. The writers joy continues till the end of the poem, though his loneliness also continues it is not burdensome. The same type of loneliness is felt by the speaker in "Miracle On St David's Day" when she also manages to find herself amongst large numbers of flowers and patients who are mentally ill. The big labouring man appears to be the most lonely as "He has never spoken" for some time owing to
Kubla Khan
S.T.COLERIDGE KUBLA KHAN "Kubla Khan is a voice and a vision, an everlasting tune in our mouths, a dream...revived and re-inspired...a piece of the invisible world made visible by a sun at midnight and sliding before our eyes." (Leigh Hunt, "sketches of living poets) Born in 1772 in Ottery. St., T.S.Coleridge lead a very disquiet life in his early childhood. After his father's death he was sent to the Christ's hospital school. There he had felt a great emotional vacuum, which was the beginning of his continuos ill health. Charles Lamb, his schoolmate, gave us an account of this period affirming that Coleridge was highly imaginative, who sought refuge in reading old romantic tales as well as Homer, Virgil, and Shakespeare. Perhaps the most influential period in Coleridge's life was the period when he met Wordsworth in 1795, after he had left Cambridge. It seemed that in the company of Wordsworth, Coleridge found the mental peace, security, and environmental harmony. This had resulted in the sudden flowering of his genius, a sudden release of his creative impulses, and he wrote "The Ancient Mariner", "The Christable", and "Kubla Khan". Much about the composition and subject matter of "Kubla Khan" can be detected from Coleridge's Preface to that poem: " This fragment with a good deal more, not recoverable, composed, in a sort of reverie brought on by two grains of
William Wordsworth's `The Daffodils' compared to Gillian Clarke's 'Miracle on St David's Day'
In this essay I will attempt to compare two very contrasting poems, William Wordsworth's `The Daffodils' which was written in pre 1900s and Gillian Clarke's 'Miracle on St David's Day', written in the 20th century. Strangely enough Gillian Clarke's 'Miracle on St David's day' was actually inspired by 'The Daffodils'. In 1804 William Wordsworth wrote 'a masterpiece', two years after his experience with the daffodils, while the poem "Miracle on St. David's Day" was written by Gillian Clarke around 1980, one hundred and seventy-six years after The Daffodils was. Wordsworth was born on 7 April 1770 in Cockermouth, Cumberland, and raised around the mountains of Cumberland around the River Derwent. It was here that he would have been in 'pure communication' with nature and this was probably the inspiration for most of his poems. Gillian Clarke was born in Wales in 1937. Her parents spoke only Welsh but she learned to speak English as well as Welsh and currently lives in Tallgarreg, Wales, where she breeds sheep with her architect husband, daughter and two sons. The poems have many differences and similarities. I plan to write about some of them in this essay. The poems are set in two different places. 'The Daffodils' was written when Wordsworth was out walking on his own, in Gowbarrow Park, by the River Ullswater - which was obviously outside. 'Miracle on St. David's
In William Wordsworth's "We Are Seven," perception plays an important role in the relationship between the perceiver and the perceived.
In William Wordsworth's "We Are Seven," perception plays an important role in the relationship between the perceiver and the perceived. It plays an important role because it shows how the death of the girl's siblings is viewed differently by the speaker (the perceiver) and the girl (the perceived). Firstly, the speaker's perception of death is different from that of the girl. Heaven or the afterlife is viewed differently by both the speaker and the girl. In addition, the speaker represents cynicism and experience. The girl is perceived by the speaker as pastoral and innocent. Their different circumstances in life create the different opinions that they have. Finally, these areas of contention between the perceived and the perceiver create a situation where the two characters insist on their own individual perceptions and this shows how limiting individual perception can be. Death is viewed by the speaker as completely removing the dead individuals from existence on Earth. "But they are dead; those two are dead! / Their spirits are in Heaven!" (Wordsworth, LL 65-66). The speaker believes that the girl's dead siblings are in Heaven, while the girl believes they are in the ground and still dwell on Earth. The speaker perceives that the girl's dead siblings are gone. The speaker is experienced and has a different perception of death than the girl. The girl insists that "we are
William Wordsworth (1770-1850), British poet, credited with ushering in the English Romantic Movement with the publication of
William Wordsworth (1770-1850), British poet, credited with ushering in the English Romantic Movement with the publication of Lyrical Ballads (1798) in collaboration with Samuel Taylor Coleridge. William Wordsworth was born on April 17, 1770 in Cockermouth, Cumberland, in the Lake District. His father was John Wordsworth, Sir James Lowther's attorney. The magnificent landscape deeply affected Wordsworth's imagination and gave him a love of nature. He lost his mother when he was eight and five years later his father. The domestic problems separated Wordsworth from his beloved and neurotic sister Dorothy, who was a very important person in his life. With the help of his two uncles, Wordsworth entered a local school and continued his studies at Cambridge University. Wordsworth made his debut as a writer in 1787, when he published a sonnet in The European Magazine. In that same year he entered St. John's College, Cambridge, from where he took his B.A. in 1791. During a summer vacation in 1790 Wordsworth went on a walking tour through revolutionary France and also travelled in Switzerland. On his second journey in France, Wordsworth had an affair with a French girl, Annette Vallon, a daughter of a barber-surgeon, by whom he had an illegitimate daughter Anne Caroline. The affair was basis of the poem "Vaudracour and Julia", but otherwise Wordsworth did his best to hide the
The Daffodils
The Daffodils 'The Daffodils' was written in the eighteenth century by William Wordsworth. Gillian Clarke wrote 'Miracle on St.David's Day' in the twentieth century, making her a contemporary poet. 'The Daffodils' is about a day when Wordsworth was contemplating, and decided to go for a walk. Along the way he observed a host of daffodils. He thought that the flowers were so beautiful that they left an indelible impression in his mind. Weeks, maybe months after he had first seen the flowers, when he was in a "vacant or pensive mood," Wordsworth remembered the beautiful sight of the daffodils. Just thinking of the flowers gave him inspiration and filled his heart with pleasure. We know that something remarkable is about to happen in Gillian Clarke's poem by reading the title; "Miracle on St. David's Day." The word 'miracle' conveys this feeling. After reading the title there's a chosen extract or a prolog from the poem 'The Daffodils.' We now know that Gillian Clarke's poem is accociated with William Wordsworth's poem. As this extract is located at the beginning of her poem it makes us believe that her poem is also going to be about daffodils. The poem by Gillian Clarke is about a 'miracle' that occurs on St. David's Day, when a dumb man is touched by the power of a poem. She visits a mental hospital and recites poems to the patients. When in middle of a poem the dumb man
Miracle on St David's Day by Gillian Clarke
Miracle on St David's Day by Gillian Clarke Miracle on St David's Day is an enchanting, and ultimately optimistic poem relating to the theme of identity by Gillian Clarke. The poem tells the story of a man in a mental institution, who exceeds the expectation of both the nurses and his fellow patients when he regains the ability to talk. In the first stanza of the poem, Gillian Clarke describes the country house in what seems to be an idyllic setting, "The sun treads the path among cedars and enormous oaks, it might be a country house, guests strolling". However despite the seemingly pleasant tone, implied by the use of her making it seem informal, through the relaxed wondering of what the House may have been," might be a country house, guests strolling", suggesting normality her use of the word might alerts the reader that this idyllic setting may be an illusion and not what it first seems. The illusion of normality is swiftly extracted by the opening line of the second stanza, "I am reading poetry to the insane". This line ends with a certain finality, that is so abrupt that it disturbs the so far, flowing effect to the poem, also implying informality and normality, to the effects that it shocks the reader, not only in the disrupted rhythm of the poem but also in the disturbingly blunt reality of what she is saying. Furthermore this is shocking because it is not commonplace
It Is a beautous evening calm and free
Wordsworth is combining the beauty of the nature with religious images, and introduces the reader with an idea of a child, who has not religious thoughts but with the nature of a childhood it is still possible for her to contact with the God by her heart, probably the poet suggests that her soul is still connected with the Creator. The poem is structured as sonnet, divided into two parts. The first part of the poem depicts an evening which is serene and beautiful, to represent the beauty of the atmosphere poet uses religious images, at the second part of the poem, the allusion to religion continues, but at the sestet poet introduce the girl who is not religious for him, yet with the innocent nature of a child has religion inside of her. The tranquil atmosphere and calm tone of the poem combine and point out Wordsworth's works marks evidently. The words chosen by the poet infers that the religion and nature are highly connected and nature's beauty comes from the Being. The 'holy time' is 'quite as a nun' and the metaphor of 'mighty being is awake' perhaps suggest that the Creator shows his presence with the natural incidents. The sea metaphor and the sound of it indicates that the existence of the nature, its voice, its effects, all of them are referring the God. The sound of the sea literally will be 'everlastingly', and for the peole who have belief in them it is one of
In your opinion, how successfully does Lyrical Ballads capture the hour of feeling?
Tutor Marked Assignment R Love, now an universal birth From heart to heart is stealing, From earth to man, from man to earth, It is the hour of feeling In your opinion, how successfully does Lyrical Ballads capture "the hour of feeling"? Lyrical Ballads has been called a poetic revolution, the true beginning, (In British poetry) of the literary, philosophical and artistic movement known as "Romanticism". The Romantics were concerned with feeling. In his preface of the Lyrical Ballads, Wordsworth wrote that "all good poetry is a spontaneous overflow of feelings" The above passage is from Lines written at a small distance form my house whereby the poem very much centres on "it is the hour of feeling". In this poem Wordsworth wants his sister to experience the blessed pervasiveness of this "one moment" which fifty years of reason cannot substitute for, in which he finds himself connected to the earth and mankind through love. I shall use the underlined statement as the definition for "the hour of feeling" and imminently discuss the success of the poets in accomplishing this in the Lyrical Ballads. The Romantic Movement was a reaction to the classical literature of the Augustan age, which was classic, impersonal and formal, championing rationality as opposed to feelings and used a large number of literary clichés and overblown phrases. The readers of poetry in the