The Romantic era was widely focused on themes pertaining to nature and imagination, and emphasized the importance of creativity. This made it difficult for poets to create an accurate representation of the era. However, William Wordsworth was able to demonstrate the traits and themes of the Romantic era in the majority of his poems. This is especially evident in Wordsworth’s poem “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”. The poem “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”, by William Wordsworth, is and accurate representation of the Romantic era, as it demonstrates common themes including the passion for nature and imagination, as well as poetic devices such as personification and rhyme scheme to enhance the creativity and spontaneity of the poem. The poem “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” contains the themes of the appreciation of nature and the importance of imagination and memories. These themes are vitally important in the representation of the Romantic era. The poem is based on experiences of happiness found within nature and imagination. This is evident in a critique of the poem, where it states, “What prompted the poem, then, was not so much the experience of seeing the daffodils but the memory of it, recreated by the poet’s imagination at a later date” (Constantakis). This demonstrates that the poem is based off of memories of nature, which was a very important theme in the Romantic era. The poem also displays the theme of the appreciation of nature in the poem, where it states,
In a response of at least two paragraphs, provide an explanation of the steps you took to rewrite the Romantic poem you selected. Your explanation should point out at least three typically modernist qualities in your work with regard to elements such as language, style, literary elements, and themes. Here, as an example, is a brief explanation of the modernist rewrite of the first stanza of Wordsworth’s “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”:
In “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” William Wordsworth writes of a lonely day while out for a walk; until he stumbles across a bed of beautiful golden daffodils dancing in the breeze.
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
In I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, William Wordsworth uses diction and syntax as he guides us through a journey in nature that greatly impacted him. In stanza one, Wordsworth uses the phrase, “I wandered lonely as a cloud” (Wordsworth). The words wandered and lonely generally have a negative connotation, and therefore
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
Henry David Thoreau once said, “It 's not what you look at that matters, it 's what you see.” William Wordsworth, the author of the poem I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, and John Muir, author of the essay The Calypso Borealis, have proved this in their works by looking at nature and portraying it differently but beautifully in each piece. They have been able to express their relationships with nature differently through choices about format, such as if a rhyme scheme will be used; their word choice, like choosing to give something a specific name; as well as through literary devices used, including tone, mood, and irony, but, even though they made many different choices, their works are both able to make nature seem beautiful and mysterious.
In John Muir’s essay “The Calypso Borealis” he shows his love for flowers when he said “it seems so wonderful that so frail and lovely a plant has much power over human hearts.” William Wordsworth also shows his love towards nature when he wrote his poem “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud,” he shows the joy he finds in nature when he said “ten thousand saw I at a glance, tossing their heads in a sprightly dance.” Both John Muir and William Wordsworth find happiness and joy in nature, but express it in different way. Muir and Wordsworth had to go through the worst to discover the beauty of nature. Throughout both John Muir and William Wordsworth exciting adventure, they experienced two totally different aspects with nature.
“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)
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
Lord Byron, a prominent Romantic Era English poet, wrote, “There is pleasure in the pathless woods, there is rapture in the lonely shore, there is society where none intrudes, by the deep sea, and music in its roar; I love not Man the less, but Nature more.” The famous naturalist, John Muir, shows in his paper, "The Calypso Borealis", that he feels as if he's one with the flora, stating he enjoys nature’s presence more than human company. William Wordsworth views nature as his 'happy place' in his elegant poem, “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”. It inspires his poetry, and brings him out of gloomy moods. John Muir conveys his relationship with nature with naturalist observations, while William Wordsworth expresses his relationship from a romantic
The speaker refers to the night as his acquaintance. This implies that the speaker has a lot of experience with the night, but has not become friends with it. Thus, because even the night, which has been alongside the speaker in comparison to anything or anyone else, is not a companion to the speaker, the idea of loneliness is enhanced. In addition, “rain” (2) is used to symbolize the speaker’s feelings of gloom and grief, because there is continuous pouring of the rain, which is unlikely to stop. In line 3, “city light” is used to convey the emotional distance between the speaker and society. Although the speaker has walked extensively, he has not yet interacted with anyone – thus distancing himself even further from society. Moreover, the moon, in lines 11 to 12, is used as a metaphor of the speaker’s feelings. The speaker feels extremely distant from society that he feels “unearthly.” The idea of isolation and loneliness in this poem is used as the theme of the poem; and the use of the setting and metaphors underscores the idea that the speaker feels abandoned from society.
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
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.
The main aim of this paper is to analyse the theme of Tadpoles and For Heidi with Blue Hair through the images that are employed by Fleur Adcock. The main aim of the researcher is to analyse the different types of images used by the poet and how it helps the reader to understand the theme of the poems. There are seven distinct types of imagery which are catergorised as visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, tactile, kinesthetic and organic. Visual images appeal to the sense of sight. Auditory images appeal to specific sound whereas olfactory image is used to describe particular scent. Gustatory image pertains to the sense of taste whereas tactile is used to describe the sense of touch. Kinesthetic images deal with movement or action. Organic deals with creating a specific feeling or emotion within the reader. Adcock’s poems Tadpoles and For Heidi with Blue Hair are taken for analysis to analyse theme through images. In these poems Fleur Adcock has used different images in order to achieve the poetic effect.