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-first published separately and later as a revolutional collection -contrast between them is very distinct, obvious, sharp, contrast in atmosphere, tone, rhythm, irony -poems that occur in one collection have the same pairs in the other (the name is the same) -depicted as positive and negative -the point was to combine the text and the image -innocent pastoral world of childhood against an adult world of corruption
Songs of Innocence
-fragile, pastoral setting, Blake is showing the world seen by the eyes of the children, protagonists are children who are left and are not aware that are being exploited -poems: Introduction, The Lamb, The Chimney Sweeper, The Little Black Boy, The Infant Joy
The Lamb
-the lamb is the central symbol of this collection -the lamb is the embodiment of innocence -the poem consists of 2 stanzas, the first one is question and the second one answer -the speaker is a child who asks lamb about its origin, how it came into being, how it acquired its particular manner of feeding, its clothing of wool, its tender voice -in the second stanza the lamb answers that it was made by one who calls himself a lamb, one who resembles both the child and the lamb -there is a link between the child and the lamb, they are both weak, tender, soft -tone: joyous, peaceful -the innocence and goodness of the lamb is emphasized when compare to the tyger who lives in a dark and gloomy atmosphere, who is dangerous, whereas the lamb is meek and mild -the nature embraces the lamb as if it is the part of it
-So if all do their duty, they need not fear harm irony, it is not their duty, they experience nothing but harm
Song of Experience
-dark setting, protagonists understand how world works -symbol of this collection is tiger (stands for power) -poems: Introduction, The Tyger, The Chimney Sweeper
-in the first stanza there is state of immortality of love -a slumber is related to sweet dreams from Strange fits of passion, it is the state of sleep, peace, time when we had no human fears -here is poets grief best described, he is not afraid of death -calls her a thing, she seems to be immortal -the space between the stanzas refers to transition of Lucy from life to death -in the second stanza there is contrast, she is dead, she is now part of nature not just a human thing
Wordsworth and Coleridge, Lyrical Ballads: Composition, Title, Publication, Critical Reception
Lyrical Ballads is the collection of poems written by William Wordsworth and Samuel Coleridge, although Wordsworth has much more poems. The first edition was published in 1798 and it marks the true beginning of romanticism in England. Wordsworth published an Advertisement, where he wanted to explain what the purpose of this work was. The reactions were hostile, many people said that it is simplified. The second edition was published 1800, with the Preface, which is a kind of manifesto about the nature of poetry. He tried to clarify his ideas, his aspects and thoughts were much clearer. Focus of the entire collection was primarily strong emotion (wrote about common people, incidents, events). His poems are partly mimetic (describing nature in too many details). He wrote about events he witnessed, things he saw (Tintern Abbey). The aim is to keep us aware, to open our eyes, provide comfort, pleasure, excitement. Wordsworth supposed to write about ordinary themes from life giving them look extraordinary and unusual, whereas Coleridge supposed to write about supernatural and exotic giving
them look ordinary. Wordsworth understands human nature, the one who are poor, unemployed and feels sympathy towards them. He was criticized for being too simple. He wrote in simple language because he wanted ordinary people to understand it. He used language of lower and middle classes, language which is very close to the language of prose. He used a very few figures of speech. Characters are common people from ordinary life, sometimes he discussed the relationship between an individual and the society. His task was to represent everyday things in an interesting way, for example Thorn, he sees it with different eyes. The initial reactions to this work were negative, many people thought it was written by a single author, it lacked unity. All of the poems are lyrical.
he was closed in lonely rooms of cities and towns, he meditated, nature brings him comfort and relief. He addresses nature as a friend, life savior, the guardian of my heart and soul of all my moral being. He says that nature healed his broken, tired spirit, which suffered in the city. Something in his spirit made him understand the whole world in a different way. After meditations, he was capable of surviving another day in dirty city. His spirit witnessed the fact that we are all connected, created to live in a harmony with nature. Spirits of all things are connected and they live all together in harmony with nature. His meditations had started when he was very young. From his early age hes been accustomed to the state of consciousness. He had brief periods of ecstasy, insight In childhood, perception and joy are simultaneous an appetite, enjoyment of nature is animalistic, innocent since he was more a part of nature than her observer. More mature, Wordsworth came to Tintern Abbey and this visit changes perception and awoke emotions in him, passion An adult man sees things more clearly and in a rational way, he is not too aware of the pain and sadness all around him. He is not sorry for his childhood has passed, and he known that the world of spirit will always be there to comfort him. His childhood still inspires him, since it is not lost but exist in his spirit and in his sister. In Dorothy, he recognizes his old fire, amazement and innocence. He is now involved in more mature things in life, hes becoming more intelligent and sees nature in the light of his experience and intelligence.
and asks a question where is glory? There is a symbol of Pansy, a flower of thought which describes a loss of joy. In the fifth stanza he says for our soul our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting and uses metaphor our lifes star for a sun. He says that there are stages in the process of growing up and with every stage we are more distant from Heaven. First small children retain some memory of paradise, which glorifies their experience on earth, but youths begin to lose it, and adults entirely forget it. In the 6th stanza, Earth is personified, he speaks about it as a maternal figure which has a duty to make us forget the glorious past we experienced in Heaven, so it offers us some pleasures, but these pleasures of earth cant compensate joys of Heaven. The 7th stanza is allusion to monologue in Shakespeares As you like it. At the age of 6, boys and girls see the plan of their life set before them by their family and society. It consists of a wedding or a festival, a mourning or a funeral, business, love, obligations.. He says that our lives are made of acting, imitating. For him it is a tragedy to see a childs unity of nature being replaced by acting game and imitations in which the child pretends to be an adult before he actually is. In the 8 th stanza, poet addresses the child, and rhetorically asks him why, when he was access to the glories of Heaven, he still hurries toward an adult life without even realizing the fact what an adulthood carries. In the 9th, 10th and 11th stanzas, poet manages to reconcile the emotions and questions he has explored throughout the poem. The 9th stanza is the most important part of an Ode, he goes back in the memories of his childhood and remembers the enjoyment of being one with nature. He wants to say that we can always look back, anything we have can never be taken away completely, because it will forever be held in our memory. In the 10th stanza he tells about the change of perception. The speaker wants to find strength in what remains behind and to develop a mature philosophic mind which enables him to see nature with the same eyes when he was a child. In the final stanza, the poet says that this mind enables him to love nature and natural beauty, and says that even a simplest flower blowing in the wind can raise in him thoughts that do often lie to deep for tears.
sadness robs him of his power of imagination. His imagination is imprisoned by his thoughts. In the 7th stanza he tries to escape the viper thoughts (his thoughts are poisonous) and turn to the storm. He addresses the wind, which reminds him on army and child. Last stanza Although it is now midnight he has no intention of going to sleep. He wishes for a sleep to visit his Lady and wishes her good night and cheerful morning. He tells her Dear Lady, friend devoutest of my choice, from where we can see that she is his best friend, intimate friend.
more. In the last stanza he says that the cloud is a daughter, which emphasizes that the cloud is she. The poet sums up the Clouds life cycle. The cloud is constantly changing, but it never dies, it is powerful and no matter who tries to destroy it, it will reappear.
To a Skylark Shelley
Poem consists of 21 stanzas written in hexameter (Alexandrine rhyme) with the rhyme scheme ababb. A skylark is a bird of day-light which symbolizes freedom without constraints. The poet addresses the skylark, calling it blithe Spirit and says that its song comes from Heaven. Poet says that the birds are unpremeditated, they are natural and spontaneous, dont plan their song unlike human. In the 2nd stanza he says that the bird is flying higher and higher and that it is singing a song. He finds the bird perfect, because it is free and sings. It is a muse which brings joy and happiness to the creative world. As the bird flies higher and higher, the poet loses the sight of the bird but he can still hear its song: thy shrill delight. The Earth and air are united in the song, the song filled them with its melody (6th stanza). Heaven overflows with moonbeams when the moon shines out behind a lonely cloud. In the 7 th stanza he says that the bird is unique, he evokes its glory and excellence, no one knows what the skylark is. He says that the bird is like a poet hidden in the light of thought, able to make the world experience sympathy with hopes and fears. He compares it with other things: like a lonely maiden in a palace tower who uses her song to soothe love-laden soul, like a glow-worm golden in a dell of dew, like a rose embowered in its own green leaves The skylarks song surprises all that ever was joyous, and clear and fresh, thy music doth surpass. Calling the skylark the sprite or bird, he asks him to tell him its the sweet thoughts. All music seems lacking when compared to this song of a skylark. The birdsong is perfect, which makes the bird perfect as well. In the 15th stanza he asks several rhetorical questions, he is desperate to find out the inspiration of those things. Pain and languor never came near the skylark, it is an ideal poet who knows only for eternal love, it loves but will never know of loves pain and sadness. The bird is inspired by song, knows nothing but pain, the poet is inspired by pain. He is calling the bird scorner of the ground, he says that its music is better than all music and poetry. He is asking the bird to teach him half the gladness, to make harmonious poem that the world will listen just as he is listening to the bird. In this poem, the poet makes a contrast between birds perfection of art and imperfection of human life, and he wants to find out how to achieve that ideal that the bird has.
In the 4th canto, focus is on the poet and his feelings. He says if he were a dead leaf, a cloud or a wave, then he wouldnt have to pray to the wind and evoke its power. He calls the wind O Uncontrollable. He wants wind to affect him, to change him, to see his strength and power. He remembers being one with the wind and he wants that again. The 5th canto is like a Shelleys prayer to the West Wind. He wants to be an instrument wind controls, to drive his thoughts throughout universe. Poet needs a spirit, and a spirit needs a poet (the same relationship as the poet and a prophet). He says that his thoughts are dead which leads to the lack of inspiration. After his death, the wind should blow his thoughts and words among people and then, they become a trumpet of a prophecy. The wind symbolizes revolution, it is as a revolutional spirit. He transform the wind into a metaphor for his own art of imagination and inspiration. Spring symbolizes liberty, rebirth and possible returning of inspiration.
To Autumn Keats
To Autumn is perhaps Keatss most famous and beloved work. It was written in Winchester on 19 September 1819 and fist published in 1820. It is the final work in a group of poems known as Keatss 1819 odes. It has 3 stanzas, each of eleven lines that describe the tastes, sights and sound of autumn. The poet doesnt use elaborated language, therefore it is easy to understand. Like many of Keatss 1819 odes, the structure of the poem is that of an odal hymn. It is written in a threeline stanza structure with a variable rhyme scheme. Each stanza is eleven lines long and each is metered in a relatively precise iambic pentameter. The rhyme follows a pattern of starting with a Shakespearean ABAB pattern which is followed by CDEDCCE. It differs from his other odes with use of 11 line stanzas instead of 10 and with a couplet placed before the concluding line of each stanza. Although the rhyme scheme varies the poem has a smooth flowing rhythm. The prevailing mood is peace and contentment. The year is winding down, the fruit trees and vegetables have matured and ripened, the fields have been harvested The tone of the poem is soft, mellow and wistful, diction is slow as poet describes the autumn with its calm, gentle and lovely description. Compared to Ode to Nightingale, there is contrasted opinion about the process of passage of life and its passage. In Ode to Nightingale he is sad because everything in this life passes, while in To Autumn he learned to accept the beauty of autumn, he accepts mortality and says that we should not be afraid of death. The poet may be seen as a passage of time presented in a cycling of seasons. This cycling of seasons may also represent human life and getting older. As a poet expresses his love of this beautiful season, it may implicit that we should also find something good in every stage of our life. Autumn has its own music, as well as every year of our lives has its own beauty. In the first stanza predominate tactile sensations (bend, swell, plump). The author opens it addressing autumn describing its intimacy with the sun. First stanza describes a moment in early autumn preceding harvest. The theme is ripeness, growth now is reaching its climax beneath the maturing sun, as the strain of the weighty fruit bends the apple trees and loads the vines. The cells of the beehives are already brimming over. The second stanza presents autumn as four figures completing harvest tasks. It reverses the image of the first stanza and describes the process of harvesting. It helps the reader to imagine the poems pastoral idyll. We find stillness where we except process. Now autumn is conceived as a reaper or harvester. The poppies may suggest the presence of Ceres, the Roman goddess of corn and harvests. The movements begin in the second part of the stanza, and this pastoral vision suggests hard human labour of harvesting, its success depends on nature. The end approached within the final moment of the song and death is slowly approaching alongside of the end of the year. Author tells Autumn not to wonder where songs of spring have gone, but instead listen to her own music. We should enjoy in every stage of our life. The personified figure of autumn is replaced
by concrete image of life. Like full grown lambs, the swallow is reminder of the inevitable return of spring and renewal. When autumn harvest is over, fields will be bare, the swaths with their twined flowers cut down, the skies empty Spring will come again, the fields will grow again and the bird song will return.
In the 5th stanza, he cant see the flowers in the glade, but can guess them in embalmed darkness. In the 6th stanza he listens in the dark to the nightingale saying that he has often been half in love with death and calling the Death with soft names. He wants to die more than ever, he is witnessing the perfection of the nightingales song. He says that when he dies, the nightingale will keep singing, but he will have ears in vain because he wont be able to hear him. In the 7th stanza he tells nightingale that it is immortal, that it is not born to die. His song is immortal and represents the symbol of perfection of art. His song was heard by a widow from a Bible (Ruth). In the last stanza, as the nightingale flies farther away from him, he laments that his imagination has failed him and that he doesnt know if its music was a vision of a waking dream, whether he himself is awake or asleep. Imagination has failed him, it can help him only permanently.