Surprised
by joy — impatient as the Wind
I
turned to share the transport — Oh! with whom
But
Thee, deep buried in the silent tomb,
That
spot which no vicissitude can find?
Love, faithful love, recalled thee
to my mind — 5
But
how could I forget thee? Through what power,
Even
for the least division of an hour,
Have
I been so beguiled as to be blind
To
my most grievous loss?--That thought's return
Was the worst pang
that sorrow ever bore, 10
Save
one, one only, when I stood forlorn,
Knowing
my heart's best treasure was no more;
That
neither present time, nor years unborn
Could
to my sight that heavenly face restore.
1. Setting the poem.
The poem above presented
belongs to a collection of poems named Miscellanous Sonnets; one of the
many poetical productions written by the English author William Wordsworth
(1770-1850). This complete literary work was started in 1812 and would be later
published; in 1815. As a result, we observe a period of three years which is
worthy of remark due to several and relevant biographical data. For example, as
mentioned by John Williams in the book William Wordsworth. A literary life:
Wordsworth had good reason to characterize middle age as a time dominated by
domestic cares and engrossed by business[1].
Thus, it is essential to realize both facts. On the one hand (domestic
cares), we must have into account the double and tragic loss the Wordsworth
family suffered: Catherine and Thomas died within a year. Obviously, this
became a painful familiar shock.
On the
other hand (business), some financial problems together with the critics to his
work Poems in two volumes did rapidly make the writer fall into a
depression and dark situation.
Another
way of looking at this question is paying attention to the relation between
this collection of sonnets and the rest of his whole work. From my personal
point of view, there are better and content-richer poems of his such as I
wandered lonely as a cloud or the ones presented in Lyrical Ballads.
What is more, I agree Helen Darbishire comments about Wordsworth’s most
brilliant epoch: from 1798 to 1808. This would hardly be an exaggeration since
we know he was a young revolutionary poet, believing in a new world. In
addition, he married Mary Hutchinson and had five children. Indeed, Lyrical
Ballads-one of his most famous volumes of poems- brought him and S. T.
Coleridge an excellent reputation: with this work they introduced Romantic
literature in
2. Wordsworth’s background.
Before we go into a deep analysis of the poem, I think there
are some additional points about the author we might bear in mind so as to
understand his Works. One of these points is his admiration for the French
Revolution principles: liberté, égalité et fraternité[2]. In fact, Helen Darbishire maintains this
statement by commenting that he was carried away by the abstract ideals of
liberty and equality and by the doctrine of the perfectibility of man[3].
To illustrate the truth of this, I have decided to include here a pair of lines
I read:
France standing on the top of Golden hours
And human being
nature seeming born again.[4]
Therefore, as I see it, we are
dealing with a revolutionary poet who is in love with nature and is enlightened
with human being principles. These Wordsworthrian perspectives focus on
everyday life and try to find a possible interconnection between nature and the
individual. As a result, it is evident
that he will provide his poetry with these extraordinary visions of the world
he is experiencing. One instance is
enough to show his manner of contemplating nature[5]
in order relate it to our actions, behaviors and etcetera:
Is there not
An art, a music, and a stream of words
That shalt be life, the acknowledged voice of life?
This quotation [6]
belongs to The Recluse, work published in 1085. I found it interesting
to mention because of his philosophical content. Wordsworth is demonstrating
his concern about life sense. Even the title is already giving the reader a
kind of clue to think about. This particular alienation of poetry and
philosophy is a strong and sensible combination to manifest our feelings and
postures towards a certain aspect. Personally, the following image is a great
picture denoting this philosophical thought towards life we just talk about. As
we already know, it is named Wanderer above the sea fog, by C. David
Friedrich: http://www.museum-replicas.com/images/productimages/small/friedrich-above%20the%20fog.jpg
However, this is a specific aspect I would like to study in a
more deeply way later; in the following interpretations of the poem.
3. Analysis of the poem.
It is now time to analyze
and discuss the main themes which can be found in the poetical text. But we
should first turn our attention to the person Wordsworth is referring to in his
poem: Catherine[7], his
youngest daughter who died in 1812 when she was only 3 years old.
One
of the key issues arise in the fragment is the notion of time. After reading
the poem more than twice, we should ask ourselves the following question: what
does the concept of time represent for the author? The answer is located in
these lines:
Surprised by joy — impatient as the Wind
I turned to share the
transport —
(Lines 1, 2)
Have I been so beguiled as
to be blind
To my most grievous loss?--That
thought's return
(Lines 7, 8).
Here, if we understand what the writer is
trying to transmit us, we realize he is blaming himself for leaving behind his
daughter’s death. In lines 1-2, he refers to his forgetfulness as a result of
his joy. In other words, he has been caught by joy; it is an unexpected fact.
Saying it ordinarily, he disputes how he can remain indifferent to this loss
(“have I been so beguiled as to be blind”); not to realize what is happening.
Wordsworth asserts this point of swerve by “impatient as the wind- I turned to
transport”. From my perspective, the author is justifying himself by the wish
of getting out the reality; to escape from it. We must see that the most
important is not to escape from the thought, but from the experience of having
lost a child.
What
is more, the poet tackles the question by constant references to the
absoluteness of time:
Even for the least division of
an hour,
(Line
7).
That neither present time,
nor years unborn
(Line
13).
So, the thematic axis of the sonnet is time
and how it influences on us. In this case, Wordsworth shares his bitterness
with the reader by putting special emphasis on the present and the future (as
bolded above). It may be asserted, however, that his little daughter is also an
important unity
of meaning projected in his work:
she represents the “main frame” upon the poem has been built. Catherine is
evoked in the final lines of the poem:
Knowing my heart's best
treasure was no more;
That neither present time, nor
years unborn
Could to my sight that
heavenly face restore.
(Lines 12, 13&14).
As
we can appreciate by the bolded expressions, the poet is describing his
daughter nearly as an angel. The clever combination the author creates gives
rise to an image of an innocent child (heavenly face) whose life has been a
tragic loss since she was Wordsworth heart’s best treasure.
On the other hand, I propose to consider
now the gaudy and passionate system the poet serves himself to structure a so
feeling-involved piece of poetry. The kind of adjectives and verbs he uses have
been carefully chosen in order to transmit an extreme sensation of spiritual
emptiness and melancholy. Several examples are the following:
beguiled and blind
(Line
8)
grievous
(Line 9)
worst pang; sorrow
(Line
10)
forlorn
(Line 11)
The most sensible conclusion we can come to
in this first part of the analysis is that Wordsworth feels miserable and
regret. He is deeply embittered and shows it by means of a self-reproach
sonnet.
Now,
I wish to focus our attention on a prosodic analysis of the poem. By it, we are
going to study the structure of the poem, its rhyme, its versification, some
essential stylistic resources and the symbolism of certain words.
The
poem is structured in just two stanzas: the fist one containing four lines, i.e.,
a quartet; meanwhile the second stanza presents a more complex structure of ten
lines. Each line has four and five feet; therefore, we talk about tetrameter
(four feet) and pentameter (five feet) schemes.
About the rhythm, the same pattern is not always present: we find one
unstressed syllable which is followed by a stressed one (in other words, iambic
foot) and a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed one (what generally is
identified as trochaic foot). To illustrate
the truth of this we must analyse some lines of the poem:
‘Knowing my ‘heart's best
‘treasure ‘was no ‘more;
That ‘neither present ‘time,
nor ‘years un’born
‘Could to my ‘sight that’
heavenly ‘face ‘restore.
In
this passage we see how lines 1 and 3 have five feet meanwhile line 2 has four
feet. The first and the third lines are trochaic pentameters (notice the
stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable) whereas the second line
is a iambic pentameter (one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed
syllable).
It
is also at this point necessary to comment on the rhyme patron expressed
through the passage. Its scheme is:
Surprised
by joy — impatient as the Wind A
I
turned to share the transport — Oh! with whom B
But
Thee, deep buried in the silent tomb, B
That
spot which no vicissitude can find? A
Love,
faithful love, recalled thee to my mind — A
But
how could I forget thee? Through what power, C
Even
for the least division of an hour, C
Have I been so beguiled as to be blind A
To
my most grievous loss?--That thought's return B
Was
the worst pang that sorrow ever bore, D
Save
one, one only, when I stood forlorn, B
Knowing
my heart's best treasure was no more; D
That
neither present time, nor years unborn B
Could
to my sight that heavenly face restore. D
After
reading the poem many times, the curious thing about it is that we must read
some final words of the lines in a different way so as to make them rhyme with
the anterior ones. In terms of poetry, this is known as spelling rhyme[8].
In addition, we notice the presence of masculine rhyme in the vast majority of
lines; i.e. a stress in the final syllables of the words. One of the passages I
have decided to show this particular “rhyme mechanism” is the following:
To my most grievous loss?--That
thought's return
Was the worst pang that sorrow
ever bore,
Save one, one only, when I
stood forlorn,
Knowing my heart's best
treasure was no more;
That neither present time, nor
years unborn
Could to my sight that heavenly
face restore.
(Lines
9, 10, 11, 12, 13&14).
Ultimately,
we must indicate the number of syllables contained in the two verses structuring
the text. There is a little irregularity among the different lines: they have
9, 10 and 11syllables.
The
other aspect I wanted to comment is the use of the stylistic resources in the
passage; resources which-I strongly believe- deserve special consideration. To
be exact, I have identified seven specific resources: a) Anaphora; b) Enjambment; c) Epithets; d)
Onomatopoeia; e) Oxymoron;
f) Special
vocabulary. Let’s explain and set them in the poem.
First
of all, we got the anaphora which is
the repetition of a single or various words at the beginning of a sentence or a
line. They are located on lines three and five:
But Thee, deep buried in the silent tomb,
But how could I forget thee!- Through what power
In this case, this particular link leads to think about the mental
introspection process the poet is carrying out. These lines seem to be a result
of his meditations.
Secondly,
the enjambment; that takes place when the verbal pause does not coincide with
the syntactic pause but continues in the following line. Several of them are
found on lines 1-2 and 8-9:
Surprised by
joy — impatient as the Wind(*))
I turned to
share the transport — Oh! with whom
To my most
grievous loss?--That thought's return (*)
Was the worst
pang that sorrow ever bore,
In
third place, we find epithets: simple adjectives accompanying the noun. Here,
on the contrary, they do not seem so simple since they are depicting certain
psychological connotations. For instance: “surprised, impatient”
(line 1); “beguiled and blind” (line 8) or “forlorn” (line 11).
Fourthly,
there is an original and specific system which is used so certain sounds are
imitated by words. In other words, it is onomatopoeia. As I perceive it, a
singular sound is found through the whole text, but generously in the first
stanza:
Surprised by joy — impatient as the
Wind
I turned to share
the transport — Oh! with whom
But Thee, deep buried in the silent
tomb,
That spot which no vicissitude
can find?
The
singular sound I wanted to remark is the s. If we read the poem carefully we
notice this kind of “sss” sound that evokes in our minds the sound of the wind.
Therefore, an atmosphere of calm and at the same time of forgetfulness (initial
idea already commented) created. As result, Wordsworth is inviting the reader
to share that same sensation by listening to wind, by experiencing it as well.
Similarly,
we got an uncommon
figure which is oxymoron. It consists of the union of two words that have
opposite meanings and whose combination gives rise to a new sense. For example,
on line 10, the author is writing:
Love, faithful love
recalled thee to my mind.
This
alienation of words does not really create a new sense but it makes us think
about the reliability of love. Wordsworth asserts “faithful love” when he has
forgotten the death of Catherine. This statement sounds paradoxical and that is
exactly what I was looking for here: a contradiction. Can –really- be love an
abstract faithful aspect of our lives?
Now,
I would like to emphasize the use of words forming different meaning fields.
Three groups can be appreciated:
۩Words related to death: “deep
buried” and
“silent tomb” on line 3. The nicest technique used is the use of
adjectives. The poet is giving more strength to words by “filling up” their
meanings with epithets.
۩ Words related to life: “vicissitude” (line 4) and “heart”
(line12). In a way, this pair of words entails a sort of dynamic metaphorical
meaning. The first one carries a sense of movement, of progress in life; where
as for its part, “heart” lets us deduce the motor impulsion generating that
progress.
۩ Words
related to nature:
“wind” on line 2 and “vicissitude” on line 4. Unexpectedly, this
poem is not very rich in nature’s influence as in many other romantic works
such as Darkness[9],
by Lord Byron. Nonetheless, it does not mean it is not a worthy poem, of course.
To
put an end to this stylistic commentary, I have decided to talk about the
symbolical meaning of just one element used in the poem: wind; one of the four
vital units composing our world. (Earth, wind, fire, water).
What
really grabbed my attention about its use is the interpretation Wordsworth is
establishing:
Surprised by joy — impatient
as the Wind
I turned to share the transport
— Oh! with whom
(First
stanza of the poem)
In these lines, the author draws on a
metaphorical sense to identify himself (impatient as the wind). In addition, he
is giving a human psychological characteristic to a natural element. However, I
want to raise some objections about this combination: why the wind? Why not any
other concept such as time? Of course we- as students of Romanticism- know
Romantic literature and the importance given to nature. But, is there any
hidden meaning beyond the simple concept of wind? My personal opinion of this
argument agrees so, even though I am perfectly aware that probably Wordsworth
did not have the intention to focus on it that way. Nonetheless, this is just
an interpretation and, returning to it, I wish to point out its basis as a
simple symbolical meaning found in a dictionary titled Diccionario de los
símbolos.[10] In
words of Jean Chevalier, the wind element represents-in some cultures- our
breath; our spirit and, thus, our soul. As a result, we get a more suitable
perception: LIFE; although wind is also seen as a mediator of our moral
principles. Not so far from this possible meaning, Wordsworth alludes this
sense in a self-identification system:
Wordsworth-His forgetfulness-Wind
Easily,
this scheme is read like this: Wordsworth and his forgetfulness (which carries
tender feelings towards little Catherine) are represented by wind- “who” always
runs away and is full of strength and purity. Wordsworth seeks for getting away
as the wind and escape from death. Readers must take into consideration that
the author suffered the loss of two of his children within the same year.
Consequently, it is obvious the poet wishes to avoid this death remain inside
him. To a better comprehension I, afterwards, add an illustration available on http://homepage.mac.com/aanino/iblog/C956716344/E20060612232356/Media/wildisthewind.jpg If we pay attention to the foreground, we
notice how the leaves of the tree are slightly dragged by the wind; fact that
justifies our initial sense of escaping.
⊁Some personal
observations about the poet and today
1. The poem seen from a today’s focalization.
About the “role” of this poem nowadays, we could just
highlight the concept of death. Death –in our society- is still one of the
greatest fears and mysteries. As a consequence, we only live in an extremely
materialistic world; a world which is fixed on ideas such as expensive cars, luxury
country houses and well-paid jobs (among many others). The more we get in life,
the better. It seems to me that we should aspire to everything before we die.
No one knows if tomorrow will come. In fact, there is a Spanish proverb saying:
“La
vida son cuatro días”.
This piece of advice carries a strong meaning
connoting the idea of “hurry up; do not waste your time in life”.
The most sensible conclusion I can work out from this
short paragraph is that Romanticism is not our most influence nowadays
(unfortunately). People do not pay attention neither appreciate to what is
there; in front of them. As I see it, they prefer ignorance to real life; which
is in a certain way much better. To enjoy from life; to discover all those
little pleasures and secrets such as nature or love is the secret of life; our
sense and our destiny.
5.
Bibliography.
◍ Chevalier, Jean& Gheerbrant, Alain. Diccionario de los símbolos.
Ediciones Herder. Barcelona. 1999.
◍ Circlot
Eduardo, Juan. Diccionario de símbolos.
Ediciones Siruela. Barcelona. 1958.
◍ Darbishire, Helen. The Poet Wordsworth.
◍ Durant,
Geoffrey. Wordsworth and the great
system: a study of Wordsworth’s poetic universe.
◍ Durant,
Geoffret. William Wordsworth.
◍ Hobsbaum,
Philip. William Wordsworth. Selected
poetry and prose. Routledge English texts. 1989.
◍ Hutchinson,
Thomas. Wordsworth complete poetical
works.
◍ Solà
Ferre, Jesús. Montaigne,
un antídoto contra el dogmatismo.
◍ Williams,
John. William Wordsworth. A literary life.
6.
Webgraphy.
◍http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberté,_Égalité,_Fraternité (accessed 17th November, 2007)
◍ http://www.bookscumbria.com/shop/images/products/941.jpg
(accessed 19th November, 2007)
◍ http://www.bookscumbria.com/shop/images/products/596.jpg
(accessed 19th November, 2007)
◍ http://www.wordsworthclassics.com/cov/poet/1840225351.jpg (accessed 19th November, 2007)
◍ http://www.wordspy.com/waw/Wordsworth-William.asp
(accessed 20th November, 2007).
◍ http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Wordsworth
(accessed 20th November, 2007)
◍ http://www.scribblingrivalry.com/rsvp_rhyme.htm
(accessed 26th November, 2007).
◍ http://rpo.library.utoronto.ca/display_rpo/poetterm.cfm
(accessed 24th November, 2007).
◍ http://www.artofeurope.com/byron/byr7.htm
(accessed 25th, November, 2007).
◍http://homepage.mac.com/aanino/iblog/C956716344/E20060612232356/Media/wildisthewind.jpg
(accessed 27th November, 2007).
◍ http://www.larazon.es/noticias/noti_cab31267.htm
(Accessed 27th November, 2007).
◍ http://joellebarn.ifrance.com/montaignemichel.htm
(Accessed 27th November, 2007).
◍ http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/0/6/0/10609/10609-h/el041.png (Accessed 27th November, 2007).
◍ http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caspar_David_Friedrich
(Accessed 27th November, 2007).