Analysis of 'A Complaint' by William Wordsworth.

Transfer-Encoding: chunked A COMPLAINT- WILLIAM WORDSWORTH The poem 'A Complaint' is written by William Wordsworth. He was a Romantic poet who helped to launch the Romantic Age. The poem is in a collection of poem named Lyrical Ballads. The poem speaks about a grave change that the poet has undergone in his life when someone in his life has gone away from him. Historians generally agree that the friend that Wordsworth was writing about was Coleridge who became addicted to drugs. A Complaint begins unnervingly with the persona's exclamation of 'There is a change — and I am poor'. He has become a stranger to himself shown by the noun 'change'. It also must be noted that the persona does not mean 'poor' in the monetary sense but rather he uses the term to suggest the loss of something that has been once very important to him. It is also this line, which sets the tone of helplessness and resignation that is quite resonant in the poem. Especially because the persona exclaims on the onset that something has changed, but by immediately following it with 'and I am poor' he communicates that nothing more can be done about the situation and that, what is lost, is simply lost for good. It opens up the idea of this loss as being something personally shaking. In the second line, we get an idea of what has been lost — some person's love, which 'hath been, nor long ago.' This

  • Word count: 1395
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Looking at Six Poems You Have Studied, Discuss how they are Typical of the Romantic Genre

Looking at Six Poems You Have Studied, Discuss how they are Typical of the Romantic Genre Romanticism was a movement led by a group of 'rebels' in the eighteenth century who reacted against industrialisation. The main characteristics of the romantic era were pantheism, the expression of the beauty of nature, the purity of the people living in the country living amongst nature, interest in remote lands and the strong feeling that industrialisation is corrupting nature. The first poem I shall discuss is 'London' By William Blake. This poem has a very pessimistic tone about London as he talks about pollution, how the church is to blame for the injustice to poor people and babies being born to young prostitutes, 'The youthful harlot's curse blasts the new-born infants tear'. Blake uses a lot of repetition to create emphasis and the feeling that there is no escape from the negativity of London, 'In every cry of every man, In every infant's cry of fear, In every voice in every ban'. He also uses an oxymoron 'marriage-hearse' to create the image that to every good thing in London, there is an equally bad, if not worse side to it. Blake uses imagery of blood of a soldier on the walls of the palace to create the picture that the palace and government are to blame for the death of the soldier by sending him to war, 'And the hapless soldier's sigh Runs in blood down palace walls'. The

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Poetry Comparison on Wordsworth's

Poetry Comparison on Wordsworth's "Lucy" and Tennyson's "Dark house, by which once more I stand" Wordsworth's and Tennyson's poems are both about someone who was close to them and is now gone. However Tennyson uses the physical surroundings to portray his emotions as well as his own reactions whereas Wordsworth's poem is less specific and less obvious about his feelings, focusing his attention on the lost person. Tennyson's poem is more about himself, "I stand, my heart, Behold me, for I cannot sleep, I creep". Because he describes his own actions, the poem is very self absorbed and the reader doesn't get to know about the person that is now gone. On the other hand, Wordsworth does focus his attention on the lost person and in fact the whole poem is about her: only at the end does he refer back to himself, "The difference to me!" Both poems use metaphors and produce vivid imagery. Wordsworth describes Lucy throughout most of the poem whereas Tennyson is focused on his own feelings and the description of the physical surroundings is used to mirror these emotions. Here, Wordsworth is describing Lucy and refers to her as being shy and unique as there were none to compare her with; the violet being a symbol for a timid personality. "A violet by a mossy stone Half hidden by the eye! Fair as a star, when only one Is shining in the sky" Tennyson by contrast doesn't resort to

  • Word count: 911
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Compare and contrast two poems that you have studied.

Compare and contrast two poems that you have studied The two poems that I have chosen to compare and contrast are 'Composed upon Westminster bridge' by William Wordsworth and 'Island man' by Grace Nichols. Westminster Bridge is set in London and William Wordsworth is trying to tell us how beautiful London is. However the poem 'Island man' is set in a person's dream about the Caribbean and in this poem Grace Nichols is writing about how bad London is. William Wordsworth was born 7th April 1770 and died 1850. He was best known as a nature poet. He spent most of his time in the Lake District and some of his best poems were about the Lake District. He was born in Cockersmith in the Lake District. He was taught at Anne Bricket's School in Penrith where his future wife was also taught, Mary Hutchinson. Grace Nichols was born in 1950 in Guyana in the West Indies. She came to Britain in 1977 with her partner, the poet John Agard. They live in Sussex. Many of her poems were based on the Caribbean theme. Grace Nichols was a 20th century where as William Wordsworth was a 19th century poet. "Composed upon Westminster Bridge" was a poem that described London as a huge powerful place and that has been written from upon Westminster Bridge. Wordsworth uses words like 'Majesty' and phrases like 'And all that mighty heart is lying still,' to emphasize the power and greatness of London.

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Comparison of: 'My Last Duchess' and 'Tombs of Westminster Abbey'.

Comparison of: 'My Last Duchess' and 'Tombs of Westminster Abbey' Both 'My Last Duchess' and 'Tombs of Westminster Abbey' are about death. One is mostly about the characters dead wife ('My Last Duchess') and the other leans more towards burial and more than one death ('Tombs of Westminster Abbey'). Both poems are set in different time periods and have a different view of death, yet they remain similar in some ways, like the way the poems doesn't use stanzas and the way they are not regular, typical poems. In 'My Last Duchess', the poet takes on a persona and a monologue and yet, the poem falls under many possible groups for illustration as family, death and sadness for his wife. Although the poem shares no sign of sadness, it suggests to me as a reader, that in my own view of the persona he takes on, he seems cynical and arrogant and does not in the least bit care about his wife and gets angry when she smiles too much, but I see it as he obsesses about her too much now she's dead. On the other hand, 'Tombs of Westminster Abbey' is seen as rhetorical and satirical, as if it was trying to persuade us. To conclude the similarities and differences of the poem, I just have another point to bring up, it seems that in 'My Last Duchess', the character/poet is trying to sound heartless, yet in 'Tombs of Westminster Abbey', the content of death is explained and laid out so as we

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Compare 'Lake Isle of Innisfree' by WB Yeats with 'Composed upon Westminster Bridge' by W Wordsworth.

Compare 'Lake Isle of Innisfree' by WB Yeats with 'Composed upon Westminster Bridge' by W Wordsworth The title, 'Lake Isle of Innisfree,' tells us that the poem is about freedom and peace. You do not usually associate a 'Lake Isle' with a polluted, overcrowded city. 'Composed upon Westminster Bridge' is about the city. We can tell this because of 'Westminster Bridge,' which is in the capital of England, London. 'Lake Isle of Innisfree' is written in a dreamy way. The lines are long, and flowing. Yeats tells us that this is all in his 'heart's core.' To help the flow the poem has an 'a,b rhyme.' Also on the first line of each stanza Yeats repeats words, to emphasise what he wants. By using simple phrases like 'clay and wattle' an impression of a simple small cottage in the middle of nowhere is created. And simple words, such as 'glimmer' and veils' make this place sound so peaceful and glamorous. All of the first stanza is about Yeats dreaming of peace. In the last line of the stanza Yeats writes 'And live alone in the bee-loud glade.' This gives a sense of tranquillity because he is alone, there be no children screaming and couples arguing. This is Yeats' land. He is imagining this place and everything he will have there. Yeats wants 'a hive for the honeybee.' I think it's fairly relaxing when you hear a bee buzz. And I think that this is another sign of

  • Word count: 701
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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What are the poet's feelings about the city and how does he convey those feelings? (Composed upon Westminster Bridge)

What are the poet's feelings about the city and how does he convey those feelings? A man of many talents, his biggest accomplishment being his poetry, endeavoured him to write a famous sonnet "Composed upon Westminster Bridge." This poets name would be William Wordsworth. Within his poem Wordsworth delved into the inner workings of London and what London felt to him. Wordsworth is able to capture the very essence of his feelings in this poem with a few import ingredients. Including effective imagery, logical structure, exaggerated punctuation and a contrast of scenes you would expect to see upon Westminster Bridge. Composed upon Westminster Bridge is a poem which looks at one mans view of London. In particular Westminster Bridge as stated in the title of the poem, in which all aspects are described, a contrast of both man made and natural sites. "Ships, towers, domes, theatres and temples lie. In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill". Wordsworth's approach to this poem when exercising his majestic feelings tend to be very narrow minded so much so that they could be seen to be arrogant. By using negative connotations Wordsworth is able to convey his biased views "Never did sun more beautifully steep. Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!" The idea of incorporating such exaggerated punctuation as an exclamation mark that Wordsworth uses in his poem brings me onto my

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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William Wordsworth's "Expostulation and Reply" and "Strange fits of passion have I known" - review.

Derrick Matthews November 13, 2002 Engl 211 William Wordsworth is well known for his great works of poetry, spawned from his unique idea of how good poetry should be written. Wordsworth was a firm believer in using simple language, and more importantly emphasized the need to have a reflective component to his poetry. As a result of his writing poetry in the Romantic era, elements such as nature and spirituality have a more profound effect on the poem. In two of his own poems, "Expostulation and Reply" and "Strange fits of passion have I known," Wordsworth demonstrates the use of nature and spirituality combined with his more reflective style to create stunning poetry. Although no two poem can entirely capture his writing style, these two are as representative as possible, they're alike in that they both use elements of nature and spirituality, but dissimilar because they create different experiences. Nature is a theme prevalent in many varieties of poetry. Many Romantic poets, including Coleridge and Keats used nature, but in a drastically different fashion than Wordsworth. When Coleridge and Keats used nature in their poetry, it was often portrayed as this destructive horrible force that should be avoided. They would both often juxtapose a harsh natural environment such as a stormy winter as in Keats' "The Eve of St. Agnes" with a warm, safe, and inviting interior.

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Compare and Contrast Sir John Betjamen's 'Slough' and William Wordsworth's 'Composed Upon Westminster Bridge'

COMPARE AND CONTRAST SIR JOHN BETJAMEN'S 'SLOUGH' AND WILLIAM WORDSWORTH'S 'COMPOSED UPON WESTMINSTER BRIDGE' Betjamen's 'Slough' and Wordsworth's 'Composed Upon Westminster Bridge' are both written about urbanity. Betjamen and Wordsworth both praise nature. Betjamen writes with hate and anger towards the city, Slough. Wordsworth uses natural imagery to praise London. Betjamen had a love for nature (he was a naturalist) but not a Romantic poet like Wordsworth. The poem, 'Slough' contains more modern language, this is explained as it is a 20th Century poem. Wordsworth was a Romantic Poet and writes with a more traditional style. Although Betjamen has a passionate resentment towards Slough and Wordsworth writes with delight towards London, they both share the same opinion - that nature is beautiful. Wordsworth's 'Composed Upon Westminster Bridge' contains one fourteen-line stanza, known as a petarchan sonnet. It is known as a petarchan sonnet as the first eight lines of the sonnet are linked as an octet. This is because Wordsworth describes the man-made beauty of London using majestic imagery - "The City doth like a garment wear The beauty of the morning; silent, bare". This quotation contains personification. Wordsworth gives the city a personal attribute by saying the city wears a garment. He uses it to make the city seem like a royal person, therefore he is praising the

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Comparing and contrasting 'i thank you God' by e.e. cummings with 'Composed upon Westminster Bridge' by William Wordsthworth.

G.C.S.E. ENGLISH Comparing and contrasting 'i thank you God' by e.e. cummings with 'Composed upon Westminster Bridge' by William Wordsthworth Both are sonnets and talk about landscapes, but in a different way. Cummings' is unconventional, spontaneous and doesn't include much punctuation. It starts off by thanking God, which immediately illustrates that the poem is full of praise and joy. It then uses moving pictures to acquire the clearness of his meaning. 'The leaping greenly spirits of trees' is clever, because it's suggesting that trees are literally jumping all over the place. 'Greenly' is emphasized by the pronunciation being wrong and it is positive because it implies life, growth and generally good things. Wordsworth's begins gently. He starts off with; 'Earth has not anything to show more fair.' This means that there is nothing more beautiful. He then goes on to say that you must be of really dull nature if such a wonderful sight does not touch you. This poem is more conventional and uses proper punctuation. The wording is not spontaneous and rushed liked Cummings's. It is first an octlet and then a seslet. It is an iamic pentameter. The poem by E.E. Cummings is also an iamic pentameter. The poem continues by saying how beautiful the sky is and everything that is forever, 'which is Yes.' The word 'Yes' is effective because it only has one syllable has a capital

  • Word count: 728
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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