Presentation and Analysis of two poems – ‘I wandered lonely as a cloud’ by William Wordsworth and ‘Sailing’ by the writer of this essay – Reflections on the nature, tradition and reception of poetry as formed upon the readings of William Wordsworth’s ‘Preface to the Second Edition of Lyrical Ballads’ and T.S. Elliot’s ‘Tradition and the Individual Talent’ - Comparison and contrast of the two poems of the essay in terms of the extent to which the preceding one has imposed its effect on the most recent one
[The author’s name]
Abstract
This paper will present you with an analysis of two poems. The first poem was written in a year between 1804 and 1807, which is about 210 years ago. It is the poem ‘I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud’ written by William Wordsworth. The second poem is a poem of nowadays’ present and reality and has been inspired by the reflections created on the readings of two essays presenting their writer’s thoughts and beliefs on what poetry really is. It is the poem ‘Sailing’ which was written by the writer of this essay personally and has been brought up as a result of the attendance of the class’ lectures and studies on poetry. The nature of poetry as well as the issue of tradition and the extent to which tradition can be regarded to exist in the field of poetry and affect future creations is an issue which has been always generating great concern within the borders of the literary community. This essay will present you with the personal, individual thoughts generated by the reading of two essays which have been widely acknowledged as holding a great share in literary and poetic criticism. The first essay is the ‘Preface to
the Second Edition of Lyrical Ballads’ written by William Wordsworh and the second one is ‘Tradition and the Individual Talent’ written by T.S. Elliot. Each one of these essays presents its readers with the poet’s personal point of view on what poetry is, what tradition in poetry seems to mean and what the power which gives birth to poetry is. Whereas William Wordsworth seems to highlight the importance and significance nature has in people’s ways of choosing to express themselves, T.S. Elliot appears to represent a total different movement and attitude towards what poetry stands for. According to William Wordsworth nature shows people the way to help them and look into their souls, to accept their feelings, to become familiarized with their emotions, to accept them and feel ready to share them with their readers who through the reading of the poets’ verses, they end up becoming witnesses of the poets’ feelings. William Wordsworth seems to believe that poetry is just a vehicle used by people for their being transferred to their lost tranquility. On the contrary T.S. Eliot, seems to hold a totally contradictory and different idea on what poetry is meant to be and how it is supposed to function. According to T.S. Elliot, a poet ought not to express himself through his poetry. A poet is the person who creates poetry out of nothing. No emotions, no memories, no sentimental feedback ought to be according to Elliot the power leading to writing poetry. Poetry is to be cold expression, which actually stands for it being the unfolding of one’s levels of personality. But as Elliot highlights it is important for a poet to have experienced the personal trip and / or voyage of his own self-discovery. If a poet has not managed to reject and get rid of his own personality, then no poetry can be written. Because only if someone has managed to escape his body, his soul, his mind, his feelings and become an external, cold observer of what is going on next him, can real poetry be produced. Regardless of which power both artists seem to consider as the most dominating one in writing poetry, one thing appears to be of common acceptance by both. They both seem to accept even without clarifying it, or naming it, that there has always been a kind of effect on most recent poets by their preceding ones. Poets will be affected either way, by following or rejecting previous kinds and trends and movements of poetry and will fall into the path of creating their own poetic theory. The essay will present the theory developed by both William Wordsworth and T.S. Elliot and will present you with the analysis of poem chosen upon the criteria of personal preference. It will present the second, personal poem in terms of how it has been affected by the first poem and it will focus on answering the arising questions born upon the presentation and comparison of both poems.
Key words: emotion, tradition, historical context
Presentation and Analysis of two poems – ‘I wandered lonely as a cloud’ by William Wordsworth and ‘Sailing’ by the writer of this essay – Reflections on the nature, tradition and reception of poetry as formed upon the readings of William Wordsworth’s ‘Preface to the Second Edition of Lyrical Ballads’ and T.S. Elliot’s ‘Tradition and the Individual Talent’ - Comparison and contrast of the two poems of the essay in terms of the extent to which the preceding one has imposed its effect on the most recent one
William Wordsworth is considered to be a representative of the romantic poets since he has used his poetry as a means to remind people and his readers of the influence which nature can have upon them.
Generally speaking it could be argued that his poems are born upon the effect that nature has on him. Wordsworth believed that people lost their innocence and tranquility upon the moment of their birth, when they suddenly found themselves trapped in the worrying, stressing environment of earth.
He seems to have been carrying great belief in human soul’s need for simplicity, for finding peace and quiet, for being attracted to genuine, simple concepts and joys. William Wordsworth gave the struggle all his life to manage to talk to everybody through his poetry and this is the reason why he rejected all complex ways of expression or words.
He wrote most of his poems upon the effect a specific image of nature had on him. In the poem ‘I wandered lonely as a cloud’ he remembers a specific image of the Lake District where on April 15 in 1802 he came upon some great daffodils which lay in front of him as a huge hug opening its arms to embrace him.
William remembers this hug of the daffodils spreading in front of him. He remembers this and it is this memory that comforts him, makes him feel better, takes away his pain, his feeling tired or disappointed, in times he experiences sentimental difficulties.
He says that the daffodils ‘flash upon the inward eye / Which is the bliss of solitude’. So the first effect of this memory of his is the cure of his loneliness. The image of the daffodils takes away his feeling lonely.
The speaker of the poem who is probably the poet himself is like a cloud ‘I wandered lonely as a cloud / That floats on high’ and the personification goes on with the daffodils ‘tossing their heads’ in ‘a crowd, a host’.
It is through this personification that Wordsworth makes his point even stronger. Man and nature are really two entities united in one. Neither of them can exist separately and the harmonic co-existence of both is their common destiny.
Presentation and Analysis of two poems – ‘I wandered lonely as a cloud’ by William Wordsworth and ‘Sailing’ by the writer of this essay – Reflections on the nature, tradition and reception of poetry as formed upon the readings of William Wordsworth’s ‘Preface to the Second Edition of Lyrical Ballads’ and T.S. Elliot’s ‘Tradition and the Individual Talent’ - Comparison and contrast of the two poems of the essay in terms of the extent to which the preceding one has imposed its effect on the most recent one
‘Sailing’
‘Sailing’ is a poem which follows the path opened by the tradition of the poem of William Wordsworth. Here, memory holds its own significant role in curing a wounded heart of one man in love. No sign or clue of the woman who he has fallen in love is given, but it is obvious that the speaker of the poem, most possible a male, is sailing in the sea of the eyes of his beloved.
He remembers that first time when he had first seen that woman. He remembers the first time he had fallen into the sea of her eyes. And now when most probable the speaker finds himself deprived of this woman for a reason the reader is not told, what happens? Loneliness, pain of loss, pain of absence is beaten through this memory, the memory of their first meeting.
Nature is alive in this poem as well. Romanticism is the main mentality of this poem. All characteristics of this woman whose memory alleviates the speaker’s internal pain are given and described in comparison with characteristics of nature.
All the verbs used to depict the speaker’s feelings are verbs which are closely bonded to natural beauty like smell, drink, taste. The speaker feels, tastes his beloved and it is like he tastes nature and its beneficial offer to him.
Presentation and Analysis of two poems – ‘I wandered lonely as a cloud’ by William Wordsworth and ‘Sailing’ by the writer of this essay – Reflections on the nature, tradition and reception of poetry as formed upon the readings of William Wordsworth’s ‘Preface to the Second Edition of Lyrical Ballads’ and T.S. Elliot’s ‘Tradition and the Individual Talent’ - Comparison and contrast of the two poems of the essay in terms of the extent to which the preceding one has imposed its effect on the most recent one
Comparison of both poems and Reflections upon them
‘Sailing’ follows the tradition of ‘I Wandered lonely as a Cloud’ since it emphasizes on the effect that nature has on the speaker. The beauty and magnitude of nature is the only magnitude to which the beauty of his beloved can be compared. So my poem extends the tradition of the primary poem chosen to be presented.
Historical context is seen under an exclusively personal point of view since it works through the personal memory of a specific for the speaker of each poet moment.
In both poems, the reader shares the liveliness and therapeutic power of the speaker’s power. And both poems are born out of the outburst of the poet’s emotions.
‘Sailing’
Earth goes round the sun
Earth goes round itself
Hung on the earth
I go round the sun myself
I go round the sun
And then I go back in time
I go back to that moment
The moment when I first sailed in your eyes’ sea
I go back to that moment and I breathe
My lungs fill with your breath
My soul tastes your presence
My mind feels your smell
I go back and I listen to your body’s melody
I drink the cocktail of your traits
I admire the shape of your eyebrows
And I dive in the beauty of your standing next to me
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.
References
Elliot, T.S.(1919), ‘Tradition and the Individual Talent’, The Sacred Wood , retrieved from http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/a_f/eliot/tradition.htm
Wordsworth, William, (1802), Preface to Lyrical Ballads, retrieved from http://www.english.upenn.edu/~jenglish/Courses/Spring2001/040/preface1802.html
