William Wordsworth once defined poetry as being “a spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings recollected in tranquility.” In his poem, “Ode: Imitations of Immortality,” Wordsworth expresses his powerful feelings about the natural world and his struggle to understand why humanity has failed to recognize the value of nature. He is saddened by the fact that time has stripped away much of natures glory, depriving him of the wild spontaneity he once exhibited as a youth. Wordsworth uses the symbolism of the child to represent the state of being closer to the glory of nature. From childhood to adulthood, Wordsworth reflects on the impermanent nature of time as the chaotic and creative forces that influence the human existential condition. In the third stanza, the speaker introduces the theme of time to the reader through the motif of the drum. The speaker is melancholy as he states, “While the young lambs bound as to the tabors sound, to me alone came a thought of grief.” The tabor refers to a drum, which shows that the speaker of the poem is connecting the young lamb to the pulse of time. This represents the struggle of man versus time as the imagery creates an odd sense of duality. The young lamb leaping to the beat of time provides a sense of comfort through the innocence of the springtime youth, but the image also foreshadows the inevitable changing of the seasons and the coming of age. The theme of time continues as the speaker mentions a “timely utterance” in the sound of
While both poets Muir and Wordsworth wrote about the happy feelings that they have towards nature the beautiful outdoors or what some people may say Mother Nature, some of which the feelings are the same and some that are different as they speak of the different plants.
The different groups of people within the poem represent the different stages of life. At the beginning of the poem it talks about a young boy and his dog and swimmers. Several lines down it talks about “young lovers” and then families.
The second stanza tells about a “glorious lamp of heaven”, the sun, running a race from sunup to sundown (Herrick 385). In the third stanza it talks about when people are youthful they think they have all the time to accomplish their goals but “times still succeed the former”, which simply means time
The imagery described in stanza 3 appears to revisit the stages of the speaker’s life. The school where the children are at recess symbolizes her childhood. “Fields of Gazing Grain” in line 11 implies a ripe harvest; perhaps the middle stages of her life when she was most productive. In the final line of the third quatrain, the “Setting Sun” is not only a reflection of the end of a day but also the end of speaker’s life. Perhaps it is the chilling thought of death that brings a revelation to the narrator about the thin, sheer garment she is
In “The Lamb” by William Blake, you will see that, if analyzed closely, the lamb is a personal symbol which signifies God himself. The innocence of a child is like that of a lamb, and serves as a model for humans to follow. In the first stanza, the speaker is the child who is also the teacher. The child asks the lamb who gave him life and all his needs, along with a voice so "tender”. Then, the child declares that he will tell the lamb who their creator is. The creator shares the same name as the lamb, which is a reference to Jesus Christ. The end of the poem is giving way to a blessing which, gives an expression of the child’s adoration at the connection the lamb makes in child,
In stanza six, we see the end of visiting hour, and the persona’s loss of control as he is overran with emotion. The phrase, “black figure in her white cave” creates an image of an intruder in her sanctuary. The black and white contrast suggests he is a shadow of his former self and also that he is trying to detach himself. The phrase, “clumsily rises” gives connotations of his state as he is physically affected by his feeling of loss. Furthermore, “swimming waves of a bell” is a metaphor which has connotations of water. This is used to illustrate that he is drowning in the realisation that she is dying. Finally, “fruitless fruits” is an oxymoron used to reinforce that there is no hope or going back, for her.
In the beginning of the poem we see the line “Time that is moved by little fidget wheels” conveying the meaning he was taken before his time. This refers to the chronological and systematic time of humanity in which is measured by minutes and hours, shown on clocks that are symbolised by bells. This concept of time is far more powerful with the use of personification as emphasised by the capitalisation.
William Wordsworth existed in a time when society and its functions were beginning to rapidly pick up. The poem that he 'Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey, on Revisiting the Banks of the Wye', gave him a chance to reflect upon his quick paced life by taking a moment to slow down and absorb the beauty of nature that allows one to 'see into the life of things'; (line 49). Wordsworth's 'Tintern Abbey'; takes you on a series of emotional states by trying to sway 'readers and himself, that the loss of innocence and intensity over time is compensated by an accumulation of knowledge and insight.'; Wordsworth accomplishes to prove that although time was lost along with his innocence, he
This part of the poem signifies the strong imagery use by Engle giving the reader a feeling of being put into a moment of fear and petrifying moment which is about to happen. The author places herself in the poem by saying that she has actually touched a bullet, seen a vulture and made music by shaking the jawbone of a mule which is a paradox between herself and the children in the city. Engle placed herself in the poem since she has faced during her childhood which showed her experiences, being harsh, reasonable shaped her tough mindset through the comprehension of death.
The poem at first comes off as a simple poem about spring and winter, but there are many hidden meanings as well. As well as the fear of the end of the world.
Wordsworth’s famous and simple poem, “I wandered lonely as a cloud,” expresses the Romantic Age’s appreciation for the beauty and truth that can be found in a setting as ordinary as a field of daffodils. With this final stanza, Wordsworth writes of the mind’s ability to carry those memories of nature’s beauty into any setting, whether city or country. His belief in the power of the imagination and the effect it can have on nature, and vice a versa, is evident in most of his work. This
In the third stanza a box is introduced. It can be assumed that this box is a coffin. The box is being lifted into the ground and the "Boots of Lead" "creaking" across the poets soul symbolize the mourners walking on the fresh grave. The "tolling" of space mimics the church bell that is introduced in the following stanza.
Wordsworth’s Lyrical Ballads were published in 1789, with no preface as an “advertisement.” Another Lyrical Ballads, this time with two volumes, a preface, and no poetic diction, was published in 1800. In 1802, another Lyrical Ballads was published with two volumes and a preface. Wordsworth’s Elegiac Stanzas are an internalization of epic. Nature, memory and imagination all play a huge role in the poem, as does imagination’s relationship with knowledge. Wordsworth talks about imagination as an absolute ideal, although that is dangerous because it divorces us from the rest of the world.
“In Tintern Abbey, Wordsworth fears the loss of his genial spirit and seems to be worried about his poetic ability. Similarly, Coleridge, in Dejection, admits that his poetic originality is at stake” (Magnuson 15). In the forth stanza, Wordsworth writes, “Nor perchance / If I were not thus taught, should I the more / Suffer my genial spirits to decay” (113-115). Likewise, Coleridge, in the third stanza, writes, “My genial spirits fail” (39). Actually, both Coleridge and Wordsworth admit that they have been facing problems with nature. In the beginning of the third stanza, one can feel the sad tone of Wordsworth’s poem. The poet tells us how he lost part of his feelings toward nature. His ideas become “dim” and “faint.” He writes, “And now with gleams of half extinguished thought, / With many recognitions dim and faint, / And somewhat of a sad perplexity” (59-61). He cannot feel nature the same way he used to do as a child. Describing the way he was as a child, the poet says, “I cannot paint / What I was then” (76-77). Similarly, Coleridge asserts that he used to view nature differently as a child. In the beginning of the sixth stanza, he says, “There was a time when, though my path was rough, / This joy within me dallied with distress, / And all misfortunes were but the stuff”
Lines 79-84 represent loss and decay and are another set of themes in this poem. These lines show that his poem itself is a memory; memories can never contain the original content of an experience as it did the first time. Wordsworth's intense emotional pain is displayed throughout these lines. A particular line is: "That time is past/And all its aching joys are no more". The poet clearly tells his reader's that he is extremely upset at the fact that he no longer feels that joys he has felt before, and even though he hears in nature the still, sad music of humanity, he still prefers memory and the sense of nature over intellect and actuality. Wordsworth senses his mortality and realizes that nature ("their colours and their forms...") can not renew his pleasant spirits as much as he wants them to. "Tintern Abbey" also presents the poet to an exploration of identity and self understanding; Wordsworth is in conflict with the natural landscape that is painted in front of him and his mental landscape, two major different forces, and he is trying to find an equal path to both forces so that he can find his self or his destiny. Another explanation of these lines could be that Wordsworth comprehends the way nature functions --the death and renewal of all things and that nature will one day also play a part on him. He is accepting that one day that, like his memories, he will fade and pass