I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud | Analysis

I Wandered Lonely As A fog AnalysisRomantic verse line was strongly hypnotized by feelings and the power of imagination. This inclination was mainly initiated by William Wordsworth who sought to miscellanea the face of verse line and the way his neoclassic predecessors perceived poetry. Wordsworth famously assert his revolutionary watchs in the tune-up to the second edition of the poetry hookup called the lyrical Ballads which was published in 1802. His ideas and aims mainly concerned the realms of wording and national within poetry. He rejected the neoclassical theory of poetry for its wont of both upper-class subjects and unnatural poetical diction (Abrams 213). Although romantic poetry opposed the idea of rationalizing nature or approaching it in a scientific way, Wordsworth very much respected the legality of nature and he did not seek to falsify it in his poetrys (Durrant 5). Neverthe little, he regarded the human sound judgement as a tool, capable of achieving i ndependence within the natural law however not to refute it, but certainly able to transubstantiate it. William Wordsworth thoroughly asserted his ideas on subject and language of romantic poetry in his critical testify the Preface to the Lyrical Ballads. Thus subjects and principles title in the Preface to the Lyrical Ballads were henceforth reoccurring and omnipresent in Wordsworths work. This essay aims to illustrate that his poem I Wandered lonely as a Cloud embodies the revolutionary theory of poetry asserted in the Preface to the Lyrical Ballads. Moreover, it aims to show the intertextuality between the two compositions regarding highly romantic themes like nature, the step-down of language and the function of feelings.The first thing that strikes the reader, while reading the poem I Wandered lonely as a Cloud, is the choice of nature as a dominant subject and its exact description. The fact that William Wordsworth, like so many other romantic poets, utilized nature in his poems is belike to be originated in the contempt of the white plague of both elevated subjects and language. He thoroughly condemns the fact that the language of popular poetry during his time was liberal of gaudiness 6 and exaggerated, inane 6 diction. In the 1802 Preface to the Lyrical Ballads, he thence argues that poetry should deal with materials from common life 7 in a language really use by men 7. Wordsworths revolutionary ideas stood in extend contrast to the predominant neoclassic notion that serious language should simply be applied while dealing with noble or downcast subjects (Abrams 213). Subsequently, Wordsworth strongly espoused the notion of purifying language 8 in instal to clear the joy of poetry to peck who lead a more verdant life 8 and do not understand the sublime terms used in neoclassic poetry. In light of this concept, it becomes more obvious why Wordsworth used nature as a main subject in his work, as he did in I Wandered lonely as a Cloud. The main reason is likely to be that people who lead a rural life tend to be closer to nature than the gentle transgress of the society who lives in the city. The detailed, yet simple description of the daffodils and the decorate surrounding them, in other words the immediate and direct feelings transmitted through nature, are probably better conceivable to rural people who are very much in touch with nature. It becomes therefore apparent that I Wandered lonely as a Cloud is not just a nature poem or a mere motion-picture show of landscape, but that nature functions as some sort of stimulus for a poet (Abrams 214) in order to think and experience an influx 11 of feelings.William Wordsworths idea of the unwritten nature of feelings and the pacify retrospection of such is distinctly visible passim the poem I Wandered lonely as a Cloud. In order to comprehend and grasp Wordsworths complex perceptual experiences of how feelings are to be experienced and processed, it is undenia ble to first look at some excerpts from the Preface of 1802, in which William Wordsworth asserts his view on the subject of feelings, tranquility and indeed imaginationI get to said that Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings it takes its origin from sensation recollected in tranquility the emotion is contemplated till by a species of response the tranquility gradually disappears, and an emotion, kindred to that which was before the subject of contemplation, is gradually produced, and does itself real exist in the mind. In this mood successful composition slackly begins, and in a mood similar to this it is carried out. (1)Although Wordsworth describes a real poets feelings as spontaneous and powerful, he makes it very clear that a calm recollection of the original impressions or emotions is desirable. The feelings which enter a poets work are thusly kindred to the immediate and original version of the feelings and apprizenot be regarded as errant or raw emoti ons (Sucksmith 150) anymore. Furthermore, Wordsworth describes a poet as someone who adapts an excessive function of meditation 10 and is therefore capable both of mastering the overflow of feelings and later on connecting feelings with thoughts. In a further chapter of his 1802 Preface, Wordsworth praises the state of enjoyment 50 a poet female genitals reach by experiencing poetry in this way.The theory of poetic groundwork described above becomes very overt by dividing Wordsworths poem I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud into two parts. Lines 1 to 17 clearly depict the spontaneous overflow which the speaker, a poet himself, experiences while move along the lakeside in state of loneliness and passivity (Durrant 20). However, lines 17 and 18 of the poem signal a change in the poets perception of his experience. While I gazed and gazed (line 17) describes the initial and unreflective perception (Sucksmith 151) of the daffodils, it is the remaining part of line 17 and its succeeding s tanza which indicate the meditative reflection on that perception (Sucksmith 151) by saying but little thought / What riches the show to me had brought (lines 17-18). This last stanza thus illustrates both the calm recollection of the initial experience and the poets joy while contemplating and remembering these images and feelings in tranquility. This process of calm recollection can be seen in lines 19 to 21 For oft, when on my couch I lie / In vacant or in pensive mood, / they flash upon that inward eye.The powerful state of enjoyment 50 caused by poetry and triggered by the initial and raw experience, as well as its later contemplation is, as described above, strongly accentuated in Wordsworths Preface to the Lyrical Ballads. It is also a reoccurring theme especially in the thirdly stanza of the poem I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud. The speakers elevated emotional state becomes apparent in lines 14 to 16 Out did the spark waves in glee / A poet could not be but gay, / In such a jocund company. In the last stanza, therefore in the period of recollection, the speaker still feels this joy, although it is a different kind of joy. It can be described as a more grounded, reflected and certainly less exuberant form of joy. The last three lines of the poem, lines 22 to 24, illustrate this different form of delight Which is the bliss of solitude / And then my heart with entertainment fills, / And dances with the daffodils. As has been illustrated by the comparison of excerpts of the 1802 Preface to the Lyrical Ballads concerning the processing of feelings and emotions and the single passages of the poem I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, William Wordsworths notion of poetic composition (Sucksmith 152) is highly visible and palpable in the aforementioned poem.In conclusion, I would like to stress how William Wordsworths 1807 poem I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud beautifully incorporates the many subtleties and visions concerning poetry that were asserted in the Preface t o the Lyrical Ballads. In order to fully understand I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, it is thus of great importance to spot how Wordsworth sought poets to perceive and process feelings or which language is best to use in poetry. By interpreting the poem in light of Wordsworths, at that time, revolutionary views, the strong dependence and connection of I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud to the Preface becomes evident.1401