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Irony is also used in ’The Convict’, in line 9 ‘the thick-ribbed walls that o'ershadow the gate’ The ‘thick-ribbed walls’ hints that there was no freedom for the prisoners and it also indicates that the speaker observed the shape of the prison and uses the observation as a proof for his statement.
The question in line 5 in ‘The Dungeon’ is this the only cure?’ is a rhetorical question. The writer does not want the reader to answer this question. He only wants the reader to think about alternative ways to treat these people who carry guilt. The speaker hints that there should be better treatment to these prisoners.
’The Convict’ uses a rhetorical question as well as to emphasise the writer’s thoughts about the inhuman being treatment within these prisons. In line 5 ‘And must we then part from a dwelling so fair?’ William Wordsworth indicates that he disagrees with separating these prisoners far away from their homes; he thinks that it is irrational to put them into such a poor condition.
Sensory description is used in line 7 in ‘The dungeon’, when the writer says’ by ignorance and parching poverty’. The writer uses ‘parching’ to describe the common poverty condition in 18th century. Parching means very hot and ‘parching poverty’ means that the condition of poverty is common. Parching combines with poverty shows us that the writer was very care about this poverty situation.
‘The Convict’ does not seem to be using as much sensory language as ‘The dungeon’. But unlike ‘The dungeon’, ‘The Convict’ prefers to use imagery to let the readers to imagine the scene rather than using personal opinion to convince the readers. For example, in the first sentence of the third stanza, the writer uses imagery to describe the view of the outside prison. He says’ the thick-ribbed wall that o’ershawdow the gate’ to given out his opinion about what he thinks the prison looks like. He creates word pictures because he wants all his readers to imagine the shape of the prison. Personally, I think that the prison, which the speaker is talking about, would be looking like a castle with a very thick and giant wall surrounding the centre of the building.
William Wordsworth had written down what he had felt about the prison. He describes his feelings when he first steps into the prison. In the third stanza, the third and forth lines ‘I
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pause; and at length, through the glimmering grate, that outcast of pity behold.’ He given out his feeling when he walks through the gate, William Wordsworth thinks that the prison is pity.
Samuel Coleridge also demonstrates his feelings about the prison, but he does not mention the structure of the prison. He only describes the atmosphere inside the prison. Unlike William Wordsworth, Samuel Coleridge does not use one of these ‘victims’ inside the prison to support his negative description of the prison.
In ‘The Convict’, we know that the speaker is focusing on just one prisoner’s life and the whole poem is just surrounding this prisoner. However we have not been told that what that prisoner had done, which had caused him to be jailed. Although we do not know his crime, we know that he is held captive in what Wordsworth calls a “dungeon” in line 10. The fact that the main character of this poem is a convict shows that Wordsworth is remaining true to his promise of portraying characters of “low and rustic life.”
It is not difficult for all of us to guess what the language would be in the poems before we started reading the poems. The language inside these two poems matches the title ‘prison’. Both of these two poems uses negative adjective to support the writer’s views. For example ‘dark’ and ‘poor’ does support the views from both writers.
In the poem ‘The Convict’ we can find the kind of language that we would expect, in the semantic field. It recreates the dark atmosphere of a prison with words such as ‘deep’ and ‘sadness’ in lines 7, ‘pity’ in lines 12, ‘dark’ in line 25, ‘terror’ in lines 40, ‘victim’ in lines 45 and ‘disease’ in lines 32. The most impressive one is ‘his life-blood is dried’ in lines 21 because I think these are the most suitable words to represent the writer’s thoughts about these prisoners.
The concept of freedom as a primary law of nature is evident in the opening lines of “The Convict.” The poem begins with an inspiring description of evening in which “The glory of evening was spread through the west” in line1. The speaker goes on to explaining that a feeling of “joy that proceeds the calm season of rest. Freedom will heal the dark side of prisoners. Rang loud through the meadow and wood in line3-4.
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In ‘The Dungeon’ we can find the same kind of semantic field with words such as ‘poor’ and ‘against’ in lines 3, ‘poverty’ in lines7, ‘savage faces’ in lines 14, ‘evil’ in lines 7. However, I think there is one description which is the most suitable to express the writer’s feeling about the prisons. In line 13 ‘and friendless solitude, groaning and tears’, expresses the feeling of the writer when he first walked inside the prison, he seems to have written the poem just because he did not like the atmosphere in the prison.
But we can also find another lexical field that evokes some kind of hope in the last few stanzas in both these two poems. In ‘The Dungeon’, the writer uses the last stanzas to create an atmosphere which is opposite to the first stanza. The words such as ‘Nature’ in lines 20, ‘sunny and fair’ in lines 23 are all positive language and that is what the writer wants to change to provide a better condition for these prisoners. The same technique of using positive language also appears in’ The Convict’, for example ‘plant thee…again’ in the end line, ‘brother…share’ in lines 48. But by comparing ‘The Dungeon’ and ‘The Convict’, the writer of ‘The dungeon’ seems to be using more positive language rather than ‘The Dungeon’. The language also tells us that the intention of these two writers to change the conditions inside the prisons is very strong. But the different levels of using language between these two poems may express the different levels of hatred between these two poets. I think in’ The Dungeon’, Samuel Taylor has used his personal view to write down what he felt about the prison.
On the other hand, in’ The Convict’, William Wordsworth has a third person been using a third person’s view to express and to write down the poor condition of prisoners. Overall, the rhetoric and language, I think the speaker uses in’ The Convict’ displays more hatred than the speaker uses in’ The Dungeon’.
The concept of freedom as a primary law in these two poems is evident. ‘The Convict’ begins with an inspiring description of dusk in which “The glory of evening was spread through the west’ in line1. And ‘The Dungeon’ shows the happiness of freedom ’Thy sunny hues, fair forms, and breathing sweets’ in line 23. I think both of these two poems are using a simple and direct language to express their main ideas. And sometimes irony and imagery appears again and again to emphasize the importance of freedom. Overall, I find the
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individual messages and the simple language in the poems very easy to and this make it easier for me to explore the background and the emotion of these two.
