William Wordsworth and Robert Frost - Views on nature.

To many people Nature is something of little thought, but when we take time to "stand back" and acknowledge it we can actually see its beauty. Until now a meadow or a tree in a forest to me, was little more than something of everyday life. Now having come to realise the power and force it has upon mans emotions and actions, I realised the thoughts of other people when studying the work of William Wordsworth and Robert Frost. Both poets see Nature in different ways although there are some aspects of the subject which are clearly the same. This view is such a vast subject which is an always changing thing. From the changing seasons to the day- to- day weather Nature never ceases to amaze. For both poets Nature brings the same thing, yet in very different ways. For Robert Frost, the simple scene of a wood (forest) filling slowly up with snow. As for Wordsworth the scene is very much a more vibrant picture as he describes the daffodils in their 'sprightly dance'. To you or me, to see these things is just something that happens and we don't notice it. In today's society such events are not even acknowledged, and there fore people don't normally take the time to experience the occasion. We realise that both Wordsworth and Frost where alone as Wordsworth states 'I wandered lonely' and Frost states-: 'Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village

  • Word count: 2060
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Critical appreciation of Tintern Abbey, focussing on the ways in which it is a typical romantic poem.

Critical appreciation of 'Tintern Abbey', focussing on the ways in which it is a typical romantic poem. Set in the tranquil welsh countryside, the opening of the poem is dense in naturalistic imagery impelling the reader to be transported into the magnificent "wild, secluded scenes" and thus forcing the reader to appreciate the power and beauty of nature just as Wordsworth himself does, an approach typical of Romanticism. Samuel Taylor Coleridge saw poetry as "the mediatress between, and reconciler of nature and man". This quote lends significance to the fact that the opening stanza immediately connects nature with man, focusing on the emotions that nature enforces and man feels, forming the connection between the two and thus defining the poem as undoubtedly Romantic. Wordsworth finds solace in the memory of the landscape; it provides him with "tranquil restoration". This was particularly important for Wordsworth seeing as he suffered from what we now call bipolar disorder and thus, emotionally, he would have been very unstable. Nature acts as "the anchor of my purest thoughts". It is Wordsworth's constant; unlike the world around him that is radically changing in an industrial revolution. Nature is fixed and impervious to changes in the physical world, much like how Wordsworth would like to be himself. The beauty of Tintern provides Wordsworth with access to a more

  • Word count: 1439
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Write about the importance of memory in Wordsworth’s “Daffodils” and Clarke’s “Miracle on St.David’s Day”.

Write about the importance of memory in Wordsworth's "Daffodils" and Clarke's "Miracle on St. David's Day" The first of the two poems, Wordsworth's "Daffodils" is about a man remembering that some daffodils cheered him up one day. The poem starts off with the person being described as a cloud and how he slowly joins a "host" of "golden" daffodils. But the reader does not know at first that this poem is actually a memory until further down in the poem. Throughout the poem Wordsworth refers back to the daffodils and makes a connection with other things like them such as stars. Wordsworth also depicts how the daffodils "dance". In the last verse the reader finally finds out that the poem is a recollection. Whilst the second of the two poems, "Miracle on St. David's Day" written by Gillian Clarke is about a mentally ill patient reciting Wordsworth's "Daffodils" in front of a crowd of other patients and daffodils. The poem starts off in a very positive setting "among the cedars and enormous oaks" but by the second verse the reader finds out that Clarke is, in reality, describing an Insane Asylum. The poet describes herself "reading poetry to the insane" as she does a "huge and mild" man recites Wordsworth's "Daffodils" with no emotion the memory of the poem is perfect but the sound isn't because he hadn't spoken in a long time. He recites the poem in front of the other

  • Word count: 1371
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Literature and Imagination.

LITERATURE AND IMAGINATION: "Poetry is the art of uniting pleasure with truth, by calling imagination to the help of reason." "Life of Milton"-Samuel Johnson In "Critical Approaches to Literature", David Daiches has said that the imagination, in its primary manifestation, is "the great ordering principle", an agency which enables us both "to discriminate and to order, to separate and to synthesize, and thus makes perception possible", for without it, we would have only a collection of meaningless sensory data. Literary theory and poetry materialize concurrently, for poets have a strong tendency to form opinions about their craft and to use these opinions as part of the message of their poems. Imagination is undoubtedly inherent in literature, the prime component in any work of art, but this view has been a cause of debate since the dawn of literature and criticism. As with most dissentions and philosophy regarding literature and its attendant features, the first records of this debate are to be found in the germinal works of Aristotle and Plato. Writing at a time when the poet was venerated for his work, and the philosopher persecuted for his, it is but natural that Plato would react negatively towards poetry. He regarded it as being fundamentally unsound and his view of imagination was much the same, since the imagination is the wellspring from which poetry arises.

  • Word count: 1484
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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How do Coleridge and Wordsworth present human suffering in the 'Lyrical Ballads'?

How do Coleridge and Wordsworth present human suffering in the 'Lyrical Ballads'? * Marginalized Characters * Epiphany's (show how life gets better...comparison) * Rime of the ancient -C * The Thorn * Female Vagrant * Foster Mothers Tale -C As shown in the advertisement for the 'Lyrical Ballads', Wordsworth and Coleridge place a huge amount of importance on "human passions, human characters and human incidents", which they reflect in their poetry. Inevitably, human suffering is one of the less positive focuses of some of their pieces, such as 'The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere' and 'The Thorn', and is a recurring theme throughout the anthology. One way in which Wordsworth depicts this is through introducing marginalized individuals as focal characters for his pieces. It is unusual for a person to live outside of society, and in much of the 'Lyrical Ballads', people that experience this are shown to be suffering. In Wordsworth's 'The Thorn', the very subject of the poem is a woman who has been forced to live in the wilderness, away from the community she previously lived in. From the very beginning, she is shown to be "sober sad from her exceeding pain", and having nobody to help alleviate it. The woman herself is shown to be "in a scarlet cloak", which alludes to the concept of a 'scarlet lady', who in the time that 'The Thorn' was penned, was also a marginalized

  • Word count: 1057
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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analysis of 'nutting' by wordsworth

.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

  • Word count: 1219
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Compare and Contrast 'The Happy Warrior' by William Wordsworth with 'The Happy Warrior' by Herbert Read.

Suzi Bowen Compare and Contrast 'The Happy Warrior' by William Wordsworth with 'The Happy Warrior' by Herbert Read. Although these two war poems both have the same name, the two poets have very different ideas and the poems are extremely different. Wordsworth and Read have managed to write two exceedingly different war poems both with the same name, yet with almost opposite ideas. William Wordsworth had written a long and detailed description on his view of an ideal soldier and all the characteristics he would have. Although this poem is long, it is not that complicated and the point Wordsworth is making is quite obvious. Herbert Read, however, has written a very short poem, yet it is incredibly complicated and could be interpreted in many different ways. One way, and maybe the more obvious way, in which you could interpret it, is that the title is in fact sarcastic and you can't actually have a 'happy warrior'. I say this because the language used in the poem is the complete opposite of happy. In the poem, there are words and phrases such as "painful sobs", "strain'd hands clench an ice cold rifle", "aching jaws grip a hot parch'd tongue", "Bloody saliva Dribbles down his shapeless jacket" and "I saw him stab, and stab again." How can the poem be describing a 'happy warrior' if there is so much pain and misery portrayed? To me, the poem is a description of what the war

  • Word count: 762
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Lyrical Ballads - Nature essay

What part does nature play in 'Lyrical Ballads'? Nature and the Romantics have a close, intertwining relationship. In the Preface to Lyrical Ballads, Wordsworth writes, "the passions of men are incorporated with the beautiful and permanent forms of nature", that "the mind of man [acts as] the mirror of the fairest and most interesting qualities of nature" and this reflects his feelings on the subject; nature and men are tied together with a force that cannot be broken. Wordsworth argues, "Poetry is the image of man and nature", this suggests that in his eyes a close relationship with nature is essential to writing poetry. Also Lyrical Ballads was written at a time of great Industrial change, when England was at war with France, nature was at risk at the hands of agricultural and industrial revolution. As the Romantics stressed upon the importance of nature, it is no surprise that Coleridge and Wordsworth drew greatly upon nature within Lyrical Ballads, as nature is used to reflect upon more philosophical ideas, such as the very existence of life. Nature is shown to give pleasure to those who experience and are in constant harmony with it. In Lines written at small distance[...] 'each minute [is] sweeter than before' presenting an everlasting happiness and also shows the intensity with which Wordsworth appreciates nature, minute by minute. Wordsworth's repetition in the use

  • Word count: 1143
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Demonstrate the persistence of Wordsworthian ideal of country folk, childhood and natural education in the two texts that you have chosen.

Demonstrate the persistence of Wordsworthian ideal of country folk, childhood and natural education in the two texts that you have chosen. Critical Essay by Rachel Gowland. Wordsworth, as a poet of the romantic era, had several themes, which contribute to this title. This essay will be looking at these themes and discovering whether they have any relevance in the texts studied. These are, the Secret Garden and Goodnight Mr Tom. The preference for rural life and its people was at the height of fashion at the time of Wordsworth. Social reformers such as Rousseau talked about the "noble savage" and the rustic idyll was an accepted theme for artistes and poets alike. While the social revolutions may have changed by the time the texts were written, the ideals are still continued to some degree. Wordsworth had many sympathies with the victims and vagrants that wandered in the cities and the countryside. Many of his short poems were portraits of simple rural people, intended to illustrate the nature of these folk and their basic wisdom. Poems such as Michael (1880) have the characters almost fused with their natural surroundings. In Michael, patience and tenderness are the key features of the old man's character. There is strength and a "natural affinity to the hills and fields in which he lived and worked." 1 The Secret garden is almost a glorification of rustic folk and

  • Word count: 2675
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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What similarities and differences do you find in the thoughts and feelings conveyed to the reader in Wordsworth's "The Daffodils" and Clarke's "A Miracle on St Davids Day

What similarities and differences do you find in the thoughts and feelings conveyed to the reader in Wordsworth's "The Daffodils" and Clarke's "A Miracle on St Davids Day "The Daffodils" by William Wordsworth was written in the eighteenth century. Gillian Clarke wrote "Miracle on St. David's Day" in the twentieth century, making her a contemporary poet. The obvious comparison between the two poems is their focus on daffodils, but there are many others. For instance they are both based on real, spectacular events, and vivid memories. They were both also written several years after the event took place. This is perhaps the first instance that the poet realised the incredible, lasting effect that the moment had inflicted on them, and that they could clearly recall the event such a long period of time after. However, as always when comparing two poems, there are clear differences, more in the structure of the poem than the content. There are still differences in the subject and setting. For instance, "Miracle on St. David's Day" is set in an enclosed, cold setting, with the beauty on the outside rather than inside, whereas The Daffodils is something beautiful happening in the surroundings. There is a great deal of pride taken in the welsh tradition of learning poetry by heart, shown in such competitions as the Eisteddfod which incidentally is on St. David's Day. Wordsworth

  • Word count: 1930
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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