WILLIAM WORDSWORTH
1770–1850, English poet who was born on April 7, 1770 at Cockermouth on the River Derwent, in the heart of the Lake District that would come to be immortalized in his poetry. One of the great English poets, he was a leader of the romantic movement in England.
He was a defining member of the English Romantic Movement. Like other romantics, Wordsworth´s personality and poetry were deeply influenced by his love of nature, especially by the sights and scenes of the Lake Country, in which he spent most of his mature life. A profoundly earnest and sincere thinker, displayed a high seriousness tempered with tenderness and a love of simplicity.
The basic aims of romanticism were various: a return to nature and to belief in the goodness of humanity; the rediscovery of the artist as a supremely individual creator; the development of nationalistic pride; and the exaltation of the senses and emotions over reason and intellect. In addition, romanticism was a philosophical revolt against rationalism.
One of his most famous poems is The Prelude, 1799.
The Prelude, his long autobiographical poem, was completed in 1805, though it was not published until after his death.
1805 Book first: Introduction—Childhood and School-time:
From THE PRELUDE, 1805
1 Oh there is blessing in this gentle breeze
2 That blows from the green fields and from the clouds
3 And from the sky: it beats against my cheek,
4 And seems half-conscious of the joy it gives.
5 O welcome Messenger! O welcome Friend!
6 A captive greets thee, coming from a house
7 Of bondage, from yon City’s walls set free,
8 A prison where he hath been long immured.
9 Now I am free, enfranchised and at large,
10 May fix my habitation where I will.
11 What dwelling shall receive me? in what Vale
12 Shall be my harbour? Underneath what grove
13 Shall I take up my home, and what sweet stream
14 Shall with its murmurs lull me to my rest?
15 The earth is all before me: with a heart
16 Joyous, nor scared at its own liberty,
17 I look about, and should the guide I chuse
18 Be nothing better than a wandering cloud,
19 I cannot miss my way.
There is one and only author in this poem. From the first line to the third one he is setting the scene. Where are we? Where is the poet? In the middle of nature, in the open, anywhere you can feel the breeze.
Here, it is important the first word “Oh” (line 1), since it is representing the states of mind of the author and his feelings, how he is feeling in these moments.
Also, it is eminent that he wants to make the poem quicker and easier for making the reading more pleasant, so he does not write down any commas “That blows from the green fields and from the clouds and from the sky” (line 2-3). In addition, in these lines the author writes words like “green fields”, “clouds”, “sky” for including us in the semantic field of the nature.
How does Nature influence us? How do we react to Nature? He is feeling tremendously well. The breeze seems so conscious of touching his cheeks. A natural phenomenon adopts human treats. He is personalizing the breeze. That breeze is our messenger.
Another exalting sentence is leading to the reader, that he makes closer to him “O welcome Messenger! O welcome Friend!” (line 5).
After that, I wish to emphasize an important referent “prison” (line 8) that is a metaphor. This word is so relevant in the poem because it refers to the City. It means the pollution, the crowd, the noise…that he disagrees and so he says that it is a prison. For this reason, he uses here words like “bondage” (line 7), “walls” (line 7), “immured” (line 8).
On the contrary, now he feels well and he expresses that feeling with strong affirmations like “Now I am free” (line 9), or with words like “enfranchised and at large” (line 9). He is talking about himself, who lived in a house writing poems, living in the open, under the sky…
In the following sentences we can see a lot of questions like “What dwelling shall receive me?” (line 11), or “in what Vale shall be my harbour?” (line 11-12), or “Underneath what grove shall I take up my home, and what sweet stream shall with its murmurs lull me to my rest?” (line 12-14).
He is saying how you feel living in a city, like in a prison. The only thing you see in a city is buildings and more buildings…Where are the trees? Where are the flowers? Where is the air? In a city, all around you is a bubble of contamination.
There is an eminent word in the poem “liberty” (line 16) that it is very important for the romantics. That is what they are looking for. Ideals after French Revolution.
We have to say a brief note about how the author has written some words like “thee” (line 6) = that means you, but in an informal way, or “hath” (line 8) = had , or “chuse” (line 17) = from the verb choose. That is spelling from the 19th Century.
And finally, which is the metaphor in the last line? “I cannot miss my way” (line 19). He will follow the Nature, the sweet breeze, that he can see. He wants to be out of the influence of the City and, observe Nature around him.
