Poetry in the Light of Revolution

Poetry in the Light of Revolution

Poetry evolves through time for the reason that people and the world are evolving along with it. For one era in particular, the Romantic era, poetry by William Wordsworth and William Blake can be compared to see the similarities that are defined by the times. For this investigation, Wordsworth’s “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” and Blake’s “A Poison Tree” are closely explored to discover how poetic elements and historical context define them as poems from the Romantic era.

Romanticism identifies Western culture from 1785 to 1830. Historically, it falls in place with the American Revolution in 1776 and the French Revolution in 1789. This age has many changes in structure such as political, economic, and social traditions. These changes all occur along with the Industrial Revolution (1). The times are changing and power is shifting. Ideology is transforming into something new with the urbanization going on in society. Emotions are at full force in the Romantic era. Poets such as Wordsworth and Blake write with passion and base it on intuition. There is a disorder and spontaneity that exists within their work. The country and nature created by God are key topics in this time period (2). There is a list of characteristics that define Romanticism, and they are reflected in Wordsworth and Blake’s poetry as well. Poetry is a key tool that can show how society transforms in ideology with respect to revolution and urbanization within the Romantic era. Comment by Stephanie Dugger: since you are using more than one source for this paper, all citations need an author or title along with the page number. Comment by Stephanie Dugger: what sort of emotions?

Wordsworth’s “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” was written between 1804 and 1807 (3). Contextually, the French Revolution occurs during this time. It also is a period of urbanization where cities are growing rapidly. Wordsworth’s poem begins by saying “I wandered lonely as a cloud / That floats on high o’er vales and hills, / When all at once I saw a crowd, / A host, of golden daffodils;” (Wordsworth 1-4). These lines create a peaceful setting in a field that is void of the bustling city life. By looking at the historical context of this poem, it becomes apparent that the focus on nature and tranquility is deliberate. Daffodils are described as a crowd which alludes to the crowd of people in the city, yet there are no people out in this field. Nature and the universe are described with vivid imagery to show the beauty of the natural world, except the images become only a memory at the end of the poem. A turn in the poem occurs when Wordsworth writes “For oft, when on my couch I lie / In vacant or in pensive mood, / They flash upon that inward eye” (Wordsworth 19-21). The subject is thrown back into reality with his daily routine. Lying on the couch is typical for one to do when bottled up inside of a house. The vacant or pensive mood hints that the subject is trying to escape thoughts that are worrying or depressing him. Memories of daffodils are used by the subject as a way to relax and distract him from his current worries. He escapes the city through his memory of the fields, if only for a few minutes. Wordsworth is striving to write about the happiness and tranquility found in nature in a time where revolution is constantly a worry and urbanization is creating a depressing sheltered lifestyle.

Blake’s “A Poison Tree” was written in 1794 and alludes to the biblical story of Adam and Eve and the “tree of knowledge and evil” (4). The poem begins by describing a scenario of anger towards a friend and enemy with the lines, “I was angry with my friend; / I told my wrath, my wrath did end. / I was angry with my foe: / I told it not, my wrath did grow.” (Blake 1-4). The poem has two sides as it describes a friend and an enemy. There are also two sides in a war, so while the story of the poem comes off as biblical, it can also be compared to a war situation. This connection is valuable in the context of history with the French Revolution occurring. The poem raises questions about what is right and wrong when it comes to conflict. The last two lines of the poem end by saying, “In the morning glad I see / My foe outstretched beneath the tree.” (Blake 15-16). The subject of the poem is glad to see his enemy dead, but the way the poem drops off allows the reader to contemplate the actions of the subject since they were left unaddressed. By allowing the reader to reflect on morality, the author has created a way for the reader to relate their thoughts to current events. Blake writes about friends, enemies, and religion to create a scenario that makes readers draw connections and address issues in daily life.

The poetic themes that define a poem in the Romantic era are comparable due to the fact that war is a common underlying issue that influences a poet to write the way that they do. To compare Wordsworth and Blake’s poems, both have strong themes of nature, divinity and death. Wordsworth’s poem talks about how great and outreaching the nature and universe is that it eludes to a greater being out there. The subject says “I gazed—and gazed—but little thought / What wealth the show to me had brought” (Wordsworth 17-18). The nature and universe brings wealth that cannot be gained through money. But at the end of the poem, all this greatness is only a memory to reflect on in order to escape the current fears and sadness. Blake’s poem is a play on the biblical story of Adam and Eve, which is a direct correlation to a greater being. There are fears, as well as a false sense of happiness in the lines “And I waterd it in fears, / Night & morning with my tears: / And I sunned it with smiles, / And with soft deceitful wiles.” (Blake 5-8). Then the story ends in death. Poets push back against war and urbanization by focusing on themes of nature and divinity. The theme of death will always be present, whether explicitly or implicitly implied, when war is occurring. Themes in poetry from the Romantic era tend to be similar as they all pull from the same events of that time. Comment by Stephanie Dugger: awkwardly worded

The tones in Wordsworth and Blake’s poems are different, but at the same time they hold similarities. In “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud,” there are somber tones mixed with joyful and aw-induced feelings. Somber tones are seen in the first stanza when the subject says, “I wandered lonely as a cloud” and again in the last stanza “For oft, when on my couch I lie / In vacant or in pensive mood” (Wordsworth 1, 19-20). Joyful tones are seen when the vivid nature is described, such as the lines “The waves beside them danced; but they / Out-did the sparkling waves in glee: / A poet could not but be gay, / In such a jocund company:” (Wordsworth 13-16). The joyful tones are only temporary and fleeting, as they are replaced at the end with somber tones again. For Blake’s “A Poison Tree,” the tone is full of anger, fear, anxiety, and a false sense of happiness and content. The multitude of tones and feelings can be seen alone in the second stanza that says, “And I watered it in fears, / Night and morning with my tears; / And I sunned it with smiles, / And with soft deceitful wiles.” (Blake 5-9). Both of the poems from Wordsworth and Blake have an underlying darkness and sadness covered with a thin layer of temporary happiness. The subjects in these poems are trying so hard to cover up the darkness, sadness, and death with a happy façade. In a time of war the fight for peace, light, and happiness is a difficult and almost a pointless effort, but there remains the slightest of hope that helps the people push forward for a brighter future.

Rhyme and meter are very apparent in Wordsworth and Blake’s poems. Wordsworth’s poem consists of four stanzas with an ababcc rhyme scheme. With the meter being in iambic tetrameter, the poem has a flow to it that pushes the reader along, but not too fast. The reader wanders along with Wordsworth appreciating the beauty of nature: “A host, of golden daffodils; / Beside the lake, beneath the trees, / Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.” (Wordsworth 4-6). But the rhyme and meter does not allow the poem to stop in the middle. It pushes the reader to the end of the poem where the daffodils are but only a memory.

Blake’s poem consists of four stanzas as well, but with an aabb rhyme scheme. There is iambic tetrameter in this poem, but there are also sporadic lines of trochee, which is the opposite of iambic tetrameter. For example, “I was angry with my friend” is a trochee, and “I told my wrath, my wrath did end.” is iambic pentameter (Blake 1-2). The changes in meter affects how some lines are read in terms of speed and emphasis. It helps create the changes in mood and tone. The flow of the poem is direct and carries the reader along through different emotions and days and nights until the reader is at the end of the poem and the enemy is killed. The reader is left to contemplate these results in his or her own thoughts. At the same time, the opposites in meter is another way to draw attention to the opposites of friends and enemies. For both poems, the flow of the poems push the reader forward but in a slow manner. Rhyme and meter determine the path of the journey in the thoughts and reflections of the reader. The poet creates this element of the poem on purpose. In relation to the context of the time, this can be an interpretation of the feelings people go through in a time of war. Time cannot stop for anyone and before you know it, happiness becomes a memory as darkness and death come to replace it.

The Romantic themes can be specifically defined in the poems of Wordsworth and Blake. Both poems have themes from the Romantic era as they talk about nature and death, which is a strong image of this time. They also contain poetic elements that seem to create a feeling of spontaneity when meter and tones start switching around. The disorder of these elements are characteristic of the Romantic era. The feelings in these poems are very strong and do not lack passion. Feelings are at full force and imagery intensifies this experience. All the elements involved in Wordsworth and Blake’s poems are characteristic of the Romantic era even though the subjects of the poems are different. The experiences of the subjects of the poems are similar as the feelings provoked are alike in many ways. When war and change is happening around the time of these poems being written, the authors will have emotional reactions and their experiences will be weaved into the poetry that they create. Common themes emerge from different eras when poets attempt to address issues through writing poetry.

Common themes of nature, divinity and death start to emerge as one reads multiple poems from the Romantic era. One will become immersed in the emotions and issues for this time in history. It will create a better understanding to see how people developed in cities and how they reacted to the revolutions. The similarities and differences can be compared of any poem to see how united the feelings and experiences were of this time. The lifestyle and experiences of any author should be taken into account when trying to fully understand a poem because the soul and very being of an author is formed by what they encounter in the world around them. Everyone is born into this world with original sin, but one only become aware of this when exposed to the sins of others. People are shaped by their surroundings and react in their own ways to different events, but there will always be similarities as everyone is connected by being a human. The connections in humanity during the Romantic era are defined through poetry the second a poet writes down his or her feelings into a very distinct documentation and interpretation of the world around them.

Sources:

(1) “Romanticism.” Romanticism. Web. 20 Apr. 2015.

http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/cs6/rom.html.

(2) “Romantic Art Style (c.1770-1920).” Romanticism: Definition, Characteristics, History.

Web. 20 Apr. 2015.

(3) Wordsworth, William. “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation.

Web. 20 Apr. 2015.

(4) “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 20 Apr.

2015.

(5) Blake, William. “A Poison Tree.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 20 Apr. 2015. Comment by Stephanie Dugger: check MLA formatting for works cited entries

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

By: William Wordsworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o’er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

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:

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:

I gazed—and gazed—but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

A Poison Tree

By: William Blake

I was angry with my friend;

I told my wrath, my wrath did end.

I was angry with my foe:

I told it not, my wrath did grow.

And I waterd it in fears,

Night & morning with my tears:

And I sunned it with smiles,

And with soft deceitful wiles.

And it grew both day and night.

Till it bore an apple bright.

And my foe beheld it shine,

And he knew that it was mine.

And into my garden stole,

When the night had veild the pole;

In the morning glad I see;

My foe outstretched beneath the tree.

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