“Critical theory”, in terms of literature, can be defined as a form of criticism through the close reading of a text and the application of knowledge acquired from the study of the humanities. The “multiple readings” mentioned in the question refers to the different schools of literary criticism – for example, structuralism, feminist theory, new historicism/cultural materialism, ecocriticism and postcolonial criticism. It is true to say that Wordsworth’s “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” can be read and interpreted in many different ways, especially when both the original and revised versions of the poem are taken into account. In my opinion, the most interesting criticism that can be applied to this poem is structuralism, which I will be analysing …show more content…
org/wp-content/death_authorbarthes.pdf Web. (Accessed: 18 November 2015) the death of the author is the birth of the reader, therefore meaning that because structuralism detaches Wordsworth from the poem (which is written in the first person narrative), the reader has an opportunity to engage with the poem without being affected by Wordsworth’s own opinions on it. It would seem this gives the reader the best chance to appreciate and understand the beauty of the daffodils without be swayed by the poet’s personal experience. The daffodils are portrayed in an idyllic, almost over-exaggerated light, are called “golden” and are personified the flowers so they are “fluttering and dancing in the breeze” William Wordsworth, “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”, Poems (1815) Cited in Harvey Sucksmith, “Orchestra and the Golden Flower: A Critical Interpretation of the Two Versions of Wordsworth’s “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”, The Yearbook of English Studies vol. 4 (1974), pg. 149-158. By stripping the poet from the poem the reader takes the place of the “I”, meaning the reader forms their own unique images and ideas of what the poem means on a personal level. Barthes also references the fact we can contextualise the writing style of “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” by comparing it to another text, for example Dorothy Wordsworth’s Grasmere Journal. The journal, kept for Dorothy’s personal use, is blunt and …show more content…
I never saw daffodils so beautiful, they grew among the mossy stones about and about them, some rested their heads upon these stones as on a pillow for weariness and the rest tossed and reeled and danced and seemed as if they verily laughed with the wind that blew upon them over the lake, they looked so gay ever glancing ever
Have you ever wonder how people survive and thrive in Antarctica? In the excerpt from the story Alone by Richard E. Byrd the narrator explains how a man lives in Antarctica for 5 months during the winter alone in -83°F weather. Being alone changes a person’s attitude and state of mind. When you are alone people tend to start to become more negative and have a gloomy mindset.
In Wordsworth's poem, he used syntax and diction to show how the flowers changed his once depressed lonely mood to positive and grateful. While in Muir's essay, he also uses diction to tell his story of finding calypso and his overwhelming sense of happiness when he finally sat by the beautiful flower.
“Mother to Son” develops a sense of happiness and determination. As Hughes explains that the mother endures trials and tribulations throughout the poem, we find that she continues to persevere, setting a wonderful example for her son. In contrast, “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” uses a tone which is somewhat different to “Mother to Son.” Wordsworth takes a different approach in showing an individual’s feelings. Wordsworth’s character feels lonely and depressed. Suddenly, the tone changes to a more joyful and appreciative tone when he stumbles upon a field of daffodils. Clearly, the tones of each poem differ and resemble each other at the same
The poet orders his listener to behold a “solitary Highland lass” reaping and singing by herself in a field. He says that anyone passing by should either stop here, or “gently pass” so as not to disturb her. As she “cuts and binds the grain” she “sings a melancholy strain,” and the valley overflows with the beautiful, sad sound. The speaker says that the sound is more welcome than any chant of the nightingale to weary travelers in the desert, and that the cuckoo-bird in spring never sang with a voice so thrilling. Impatient, the poet asks, “Will no one tell me what she sings?” He speculates that her song might be about “old, unhappy, far-off things, / And battles long ago,” or that it might be humbler, a simple song about “matter of today.” Whatever she sings about, he says, he listened “motionless and still,” and as he traveled up the
John Muir and William Wordsworth are great examples of this theory. Throughout their stories, both men give great insight to how the harmony of nature impacts their lives in a way that can make them forget about all the sorrow and depression they have following behind them; Wordsworth and Muir’s stories include syntax and diction to verbalize their passionate relationship towards nature. William Wordsworth’s poem, “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” excellently shows how the power of beauty can changes one's once depressed, sad day into joy and blissfulness. In Wordsworth's story, he exploits his experience of how nature changed his mood of depression and sorrow to grateful and glee when he stumbles across a bed of beautiful golden daffodils dancing in the breeze. Wordsworth writes: “A poet could not be but gay, in such a jocund company” (stanza 3). In this passage, Wordsworth shows his change of heart when in the presence of something so beautiful and alluring. Wordsworth also shows how nature impacts his mood from the quote: “They flash upon the inward eye, and my heart with pleasure fills” (stanza 4). In this final quote, Wordsworth explains that even when he is apart from the beautiful golden daffodils, it is the memory that keeps his spirits alive. While Wordsworth's experience with nature
Two literary works best conveyed nature in their own manner, one called "The Calypso Borealis," an essay written by John Miller called and a poem written by William Wordsworth's called "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud." Both author created work that captures the beauty of nature, while displaying their compassion and emotion for such beauty. They each capture the essence in their own way, one through a poem while the other through an essay , each using a their own descriptive imagery to cultivate the scenery and amazement of the experience. William Wordsworth and John Miller not only through the diction , vocabulary, and syntax, but also through the impact of tone, and mood, and while both authors express their relationship in different ways there
“I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” by William Wordsworth, a poem that discloses the relationship between nature and human beings: how nature can affect one’s emotion and behavior with its motion and sound. The words the author adopted in this poem are interconnected and related to each other. They are simple yet profound, letting us understand how much William Wordsworth related his works to nature and the universe. It also explained to us why William Wordsworth is one of the greatest and the most influential English romantic poets in history. As Robert DiYanni says in his book, “with much of Wordsworth’s poetry, this lyric reflects his deep love of nature, his vision of a unified
Wordsworth says that, wandering like a cloud floating above the hill and valleys, he encountered a field of daffodils beside a lake, in the poem. “I wandered lonely as a cloud” A poet could not help but to be happy in such a joyful company of flowers. William stared and watched but did not realize what wealth the scene would bring him. Whenever he feels “vacant” or “pensive” the picture would flash upon “that inward eye / That is the bliss of solitude. : and his heart fills with pleasure, “and dances with the daffodils.” (Wordsworth, I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud). Wordsworth also created songs of innocence such as “Daffodils Song”. The Romantic poets, predominantly Wordsworth and Blake were spellbound by the natural world. The author used pastoral landscapes to evoke joy, to create peaceful scenes that were only darkened by the threat of urbanization and the Industrial Revolution. (William Wordsworth: Artistic Reaction to the Industrial Revolution, Fed 14, 2000)
The second and final work I am critiquing is from a book entitled, ‘The Life of William Wordsworth: A Critical Biography’ written by John Worthen. I have selected a chapter which pairs nicely with article mentioned above. The chapter features both Wordsworth and Coleridge as well. However, it is not as critical as the article, it is more biographical and informational which is to be expected in a biography. The chapter focuses on the years 1806 to 1807. It begins with the mention of the death of Wordsworth’s brother, John. According to Worthen, this deeply effected Wordsworth and he had little success with the poetry he was writing during this time. Worthen then, points to ‘Elegiac Stanzas’ which confronts his late brother’s death, displays a new sense of reality, and again redeems him as a poet. Worthen states, “The poem makes the narrator 's youthful state of ecstatic, thoughtless love for the natural world — ‘of lasting ease, / Elysian quiet, without toil or strife’ — utterly unreal, in contrast with the realities of life as he now knows them. A ‘fond delusion of my heart’ he calls that old love, ‘to be pitied’ not believed in” (328). The author implies that the death of his brother drastically changed his worldview. The bleak reality of a world without his brother led to Wordsworth becoming more mature and wise after experiencing loss. The author then shifts to discussing ‘Tintern Abbey’ and his reflections during a time of youth. I believe that the author mentions the
Throughout “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” William Wordsworth shows his relationship with nature through his choice of diction, fantastic descriptions, and shifting mood of his poem. There are also many words and phrases that Wordsworth included into his poem that shows how he feels about nature. These phrases are well written, extremely descriptive, and show how Wordsworth is influenced by the wild: “I wandered lonely as a cloud”, “When all at once I saw a crowd, a host, of golden daffodils", “Continuous as the stars that shine and twinkle on the milky way, they stretched in never-ending line along the margin of a bay: ten thousand saw I at a glance, tossing their heads in sprightly dance”, “The waves beside them danced; but they out-did the sparkling waves in glee”, “I gazed—and gazed—but little thought what wealth the show to me had brought”, and “For oft, when on my couch I lie in vacant or in pensive mood, they flash upon that inward eye [...] and then my heart with pleasure fills, and dances with the daffodils.” Another phrase, which indicates that the flowers were so beautiful that no true poet could be sad in their presence, also builds upon Wordsworth’s relationship with nature. These particular lines in “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” show how Wordsworth’s mood shifts from somber and lonely to joyous and content. The lines also show how the gorgeousness of nature sticks with
Keats also mentions Hecete who is an evil character that witches used to pray to. Here we see his poems were difinitely aimed to a higher educated class, because a poor and uneducated person couldn’t’ve understood references to sea nymphs or Hecete. In “Daffodils” Wordsworth gives a romantic and sentimental tone all the way though. It is a happy poem and it gives out a positive message; to celebrate nature.
Wordsworth sensationalizes the natural setting that he places the speaker of the poem in. The speaker sets out for a relaxing experience out in nature, but instead becomes fixated on the negative aspects of human nature. The speaker makes not of the sound of “a thousand blended notes” which have the effect of putting the speaker into a “sweet mood.” This overdose of pleasant feelings, however, are just the tip of the iceberg. More and more focused observations flood the speakers mind. Sights of “green” and “periwinkle” show how the speaker’s mind has gone into an overactive state. The speaker is overwhelmed by the setting in which they were placed, which is an intentional act on Wordsworth’s end. Wordsworth wants the intentional reader to look within themselves and experience this overwhelming state of mind in regard to the connection (or lack thereof) that they have with the
In "Daffodils", we again see all the features that make this poem fit into the tradition of Romanticism and Romantic Poetry. Wordsworth describes nature and says how beautiful it is and the beauty he sees when he looks at the daffodils. "when all at once I saw a crowd, a host of golden daffodils".
Wordsworth takes readers on a reminiscent journey in "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" reflecting upon visions of nature. The figurative language and diction used elucidate the poet's response to nature. Wordsworth uses each stanza to share his experience in nature through the image of a dance that culminates in the poet's emotional response.
William Wordsworth's "Tintern Abbey" celebrates imagination and emotion over rationality and reason, and intuition over science. It is the beginning of English Romanticism in the 1800's and Wordsworth was one of the leading poets of that era. He introduced the readers to grasp nature and fully appreciate all aspects of it. "Tintern Abbey" focuses on Wordsworth's nostalgic experience on returning to the Abbey, but pays much attention to the poem's theme of emotional beauty and nature. In this poem, the reader finds Wordsworth's intense and loving memory of natural scenes.