Wordsworth and Nutting

          In "Preface to Lyrical Ballads," William Wordsworth writes of Romantic Era poetry, "the manners of rural life germinate from those elementary feelings; and, from the necessary character of rural occupations, are most easily comprehended, and are more durable; and lastly, because in that condition the passions of men are incorporated with the beautiful and permanent forms of nature" (148). While the poems that we analyzed certainly seem to follow the Romantic Era's respect of nature and natural life, Nutting seems to contradict that.
          While reading the "Preface," it became apparent that Wordsworth and the poets he chose to contribute to "Lyrical Ballads" held nature in a high regard. They looked upon nature and all it's beauty and seemed almost jealous of those living rural life. He mentions the respect that he holds for those who work in nature because of their closeness to it (148). If that is the case, then Wordsworth's poetry choices for "Lyrical Ballads" makes complete sense. The poets who contributed appear to be awed by nature itself, even going so far as to make the tale of a young girl's drowning, in Lucy Gray, feel less heart-wrenching than it should by not only adding a rhyme and meter that pleases the reader, but by also implying that Lucy Gray, though she be physically dead, lives on in the nature that surrounds them as a beautiful spirit who whistles to passersby (156-57).
          Nutting does the opposite of this. It takes a situation that is relatively mild, in terms of heartbreak, and creates possibly on of the most depressing poems ever read. In Nutting, the narrator of the poem goes out on a beautiful day to collect hazelnuts and finds a grove of hazelnut trees that had, until then, been undiscovered. There he collects the hazelnuts from the trees with his nutting stick, but in doing so destroys the very trees whose beauty he adored. This poem is a great representation of the power that men have over the nature that they love so very much and rely so completely on. The narrator destroys the hazelnuts trees without a thought, only regretting his actions after seeing what he had done, a regret he holds even during his narration. Wordsworth speaks of a reverence of nature, and Nutting shows the very lack of that, but perhaps, Nutting was simply a lesson to be told. The narrator seems to be saying, "Be careful not to destroy the very nature that you hold dear." In fact, the last stanza of the poem says almost that: "Then, dearest Maiden! move along these shades / In gentleness of heart with gentle hand / Touch--for there is a Spirit in the woods." So, perhaps Wordsworth placed this poem with extreme care and a wise eye; because, rather than contradict Wordsworth's ideals and those of the Romantic Era, this poem actually reinforces them.

William Wordsworth and Lucy Gray

The Romantic Era of literature encompasses the connection of the human mind in correspondence to nature as well as the conceptual ideas of liberty and freedom. Poets such as William Wordsworth embraced these ideals: emphasizing individual freedom, the connection between humans’ imagination and the physical world, as well as the subjectivity of reality (16-19). Published in 1798, Preface to Lyrical Ballads is often considered the catalyst of the Romantic Era and outlines the beliefs of Wordsworth in regards to poetry.

                  In the outline, Wordsworth describes poetry as “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” (149). However, the “overflow” of emotions should be created from a recollection of a personal experience or imagining the reaction to a situation rather than an extreme reaction to a situation at hand. Furthermore, Wordsworth believes poetry should be written for the “common man” and pertain to a plethora of average habitual situations, which is why he ventured away from classical ideals and ignited the Romantic Era (148). These situations are presenting in unusual ways with imaginative and poetic aspects.

                  “Lucy Gray” is an exemplar depiction of the criteria set forth by Wordsworth aforementioned. Based on an actual drowning, the poem depicts the drowning of a young girl during a winter storm. Structured in quatrains with an alternating rhyme scheme, the poem has another aspect Wordsworth mentions, overbalance of happiness. By placing the poem to an even alternating iambic tetrameter and trimeter, as well as the alternating rhyme scheme, Wordsworth successfully alters the traumatic situation of the young girl falling into a creek during a storm as she is searching for the mother to seem much more peaceful.

                  Continually, there is a connection in the poem to nature. Nature and the connection it plays with human imagination is a pertinent aspect of romantic literature. Not only was the death of Lucy set in nature, but Wordsworth utilizes imagery that makes a connection to the young girl growing and compares it to a blooming flower, “The sweetest Thing that ever grew, Beside a human door!” (156). At the conclusion to the poem Wordsworth again makes a Romantic connection to nature when speaking of her ghost that “whistles in the wind” and has become an aspect of nature (157).

                  Another aspect of Romantic literature shown in “Lucy Gray” is the commonality of an accident such as the one that caused her death. Although much rarer now, a child being lost in a heavy snow storm or drowning was not nearly as uncommon in Wordsworth’s time. Thus, the common language and situations are shown in this poem as well. Lucy Gray is from a rustic country; a class of people that Wordsworth was specifically attempting to reach with his poetry. He felt that those who lived closer to nature had naturalistic feelings, and being a Romantic poet Wordsworth considered nature to be above all.

                  Thus, it is apparent that several aspects categorized by William Wordsworth in Preface to Lyrical Ballads are imminent in his Romantic poetry such as “Lucy Gray”. Utilizing an overbalancing meter and rhyme scheme, an connection to nature, common dialect, a realistic situation which he looked back on, it is clear that “Lucy Gray” is an example of Romantic poetry.

                  

The Nutting-Wordsworth, Interpretation-by Alani

The Nutting:
...
"Exulting, rich beyond the wealth of kings
I felt a sense of pain when I beheld
The silent trees and the intruding sky." (Wordsworth Pg.158, L. 50).

In class we discussed the Poem by Wordsworth called, The Nutting which is where the quote from above is taken. We discussed how the poem was about a man that regretted ruining such a beautiful place by harvesting all the hazels in the woods. We also discussed that Wordsworth did his best to be direct and concise in the way he describes his nature scenes and how we find humanity in them. One idea that I thought of was that maybe the patch of invaluable hazels could be seen as the people working themselves to the bone doing agricultural, working class work and being taken advantage of by the rich. Another is that these people's work was destroying land to make others rich, and when the man in the poem did it of his own accord, he was no better than the rich he slaved for. I think if this was what he meant then the man in the poem would be saddened that he destroyed something so resembling himself. The workers made the kings rich, just like the hazel nuts made him rich, and he ruined them for his own benefit. In class we discussed that the way we read K-12 Literature is always finding a "deeper" meaning in things and to not do that when we read this. But I can't help myself. I understand that Wordsworth wanted to write in a way everyone then could understand, but I don't believe he wrote it without there being some metaphors that people could read and easily relate to their lives and give them not just something they can relate to, but something that gives them hope.

“Lucy Gray” in Accordance to “Preface to Lyrical Ballads”

Williams Wordsworth’s poem “Lucy Gray” has a very sad subject, but is set to an upbeat rhyme scheme and meter. Readers of the poem learn the story of a little girl who got lost in a snowstorm and most likely drowned while on her way to meet her Mother in town. Lucy Gray’s parents are only able to find her footprints that disappear on a bridge and since then her rarely seen spirit, though often heard in the wind, has become a local legend. Overall, this poem fits Wordsworth’s own requirements of his ideal poems described in his “Preface to Lyrical Ballads.” The language, topic and emotions entailed, and even the rhyme scheme of this poem are in accordance to the conditions established in “Preface to Lyrical Ballads.”

Wordsworth believed that good poetry uses language of the “common man” due to the duty of the poet being one who speaks to all men, the permanence of common language, and the ease of connecting the poem to man’s natural feelings (Broadview 148). “Lucy Gray” is written in the common language rather than the traditional poetic diction. Any person who can read can easily follow along with the relatively simple diction of the poem. The last stanza of the poem is good example of the simple language used, “O’er rough and smooth she trips along, / And never looks behind; / And sings a solitary song / That whistles in the wind (Broadview 157).” The story of the poem is even more easily understood as the common man’s language is matched to a topic familiar to the common man’s life.

Children going missing and dying were common enough in Wordsworth’s time that most of his readers would have heard of some child who had met a similar fate. Of course, this type of event would be traumatic and induce a whirlwind of emotions for any person to witness. Wordsworth also thought that good poetry must be about common life and written as a “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” that are composed after careful consideration (Broadview 148-153). This poem fits part of this requirement, as the topic is fairly familiar to his readers and the story certainly would be extremely emotional for anyone who experienced such a thing. However, the structure and wording of the poem is unexpectedly cheerful and does not overwhelm the reader with emotions. This is due to Wordsworth’s own loophole he wrote in his preface.

According to Wordsworth, if the poem is about a painful or too emotional subject matter, the good poet will compensate with the “pleasure” of meter and rhyme. Thus, Wordsworth chose to counteract the painfully sad little girl’s death with the happier feelings given when reading in verse. Lines 29-32 are incredibly awful if the reader stops to think of the meaning of the little girl getting lost in a snowstorm and never reaching her destination, but the sing-song quality makes this stanza relatively innocent: “The storm came on before its time, / She wander’d up and down, / And many a hill did Lucy climb: / But never reach’d the Town” (Broadview 157). Rhyming “time” with “climb” and “down” with “Town” along with the tempo set by Wordsworth’s meter is remindful of those joyful-sounding, though actually quite dark, nursery rhymes like “Ring around the Rosie” and “Rock-A-By Baby.” The structure of the poem does not allow the reader to be crushed in the sadness of the situation, as Wordsworth intended.

Although “Lucy Gray” does not fit most of Wordsworth’s teeming emotional prose as in most of his poems, this poem does fit all that he requires for good poetry outlined in his “Preface to Lyrical Ballads.” This poem is written in the common man’s language, about an emotional common man’s experience, and in verse to keep the sad topic from overcoming the reader.

Mysticism in Wordsworth's 'Nutting'

Wordsworth’s Preface to Lyrical Ballads elaborates on William Wordsworth’s perception of poetry: what poetry is, what poets are like, and what makes poetry engaging. Wordsworth suggests, "Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility." By being such a delicate outpouring, he says that poets are more capable of creating and feeling emotion – they can imagine how it must feel to be happy or sad or angry without any form of stimuli outside their own mind. Thirdly, Wordsworth says that the mundane should become mystical through poetry. As discussed in class, the poem Lucy Gray is cast in a particularly regular, comfortable meter and tone, despite the poem’s contents. By portraying such a despairing situation as though it is common, Wordsworth changes the feeling of the story through just the writing. Lastly, Wordsworth states that poetry is succeeded by valuing emotion over tranquility. True passion is achieved with emotion, not comfort.

Nutting tells the brief story of a young speaker on a short excursion to harvest hazelnuts. In short, the speaker leaves with a crook to find a well-hidden, unmolested grove, where he sits for a time before breaking limbs to harvest the nuts. What is so fascinating about this poem when taken in context with Wordsworth’s Preface is the magnificent aura granted to the trees, rocks, moss and flowers that surround the speaker before he violates them. “Perhaps it was a bower beneath whose leaves / The violets of five seasons re-appear / And fade, unseen by any human eye; / Where fairy water-breaks do murmur on / For ever;” it reads, as the speaker admires the scenery to great lengths. Elements of mysticism and magic are added as the speaker talks of fairies and spirits in the trees during and concluding the poem.  Further, the act of the harvest is written as though it were some grand trespass against nature, suggesting that the very common act of picking tree nuts is to be despaired over. In class we discussed Lucy Gray, a poem about a young girl who dies in a snowstorm, written in a very matter-of-fact and concise manner. In contrast, Nutting describes something very boring, likely tedious, as a grand adventurous sin against nature. Wordsworth’s Preface touches on both of these facets, and it seems to be fairly well represented within this poem. Where Lucy Gray seems to be a very measured and boxed-in manner of writing, Nutting is cautionary, emotional, and at time uncomfortable (intentionally). 

Tintern Abbey and Preface to Lyrical Ballads

 In the Preface to Lyrical Ballads Wordsworth discussed his main ideals about poetry. He felt that poetry should be about everyday life and the truths and emotions that can come from those common experiences.

One of the things he says his poetry should contain common language to better convey the very ordinariness of the events he is transcribing. In Tintern Abbey he does this pretty well with straight forward language. It would be almost prose like if it weren’t in iambic pentameter. It is written in blank verse. The lack of rhyming helps it to better sound natural and conversational, as though the speaker really is just talking to himself or chatting with his sister.

The topic of this poem is of the River Wye, the trip he is taking there, and the memories of the trip he has taken before. This is a very normal topic for a poem, it almost seems like something casually brought up in conversation, when telling someone what you did this weekend, or something of that sort. Still the way he tells it is amazing. The amount of detail he says he remembers is staggering and definitely helps support his claim from the preface that a poet is a simply a man who feels more when experiencing life.

In theme with poets feeling more than regular men his response to aging, and the effects of changing and maturing are rather lovely. The way people change is perhaps one of the main themes.

Lines 84-96 above definitely goes along the lines of aging and growing through life experiences. He is traveling with his sister who is still enjoying nature in a youthful way. Perhaps her presence is the opportunity he really needs to fully appreciate the difference in how he look at the world between then and now. He looks and sees “the still, sad music of humanity.”(ln.92) The way everything connects and Gods presence. In youth the sights and feelings of nature were more like a thing of “appetite” (ln 81) something here, quenched, then gone, not thought of again until the feeling rises upon you again.

Despite the way the young look at nature, Wordsworth says the memory is more than worth having. It helps one get through days “amid the din of towns and cities” (ln26-27) It can raise your spirits or help you to be kind. He hopes his sister can take these memories of their current trip the way he does and that she will be able to stand against the cruelties of the world with these memories to fall back on when she is sad. When he dies, he hopes she will remember the trip they took together to Tintern Abbey.

 He mentions eyes a lot, five times I believe. As the barrier between the river wye and his mind and memories, I suppose they are significant. In line 24 he says the sight is not as a landscape is to a blind man’s eyes. Which I think means that it is more than mere description of trees and hills and mountains. As he continues this stanza with how the memory of the view can comfort him when he is unhappy perhaps the sight is something far more spiritual. Despite the title have the words Tintern Abbey in it an abbey is never actually mentioned in the poem. Perhaps nature itself is his abbey?

The next mention of eyes is in line 48. He is describing how the sight of nature can calm a restless spirit. “In body, and become a living soul: / While with an eye made quiet by the power / Of harmony, and the deep power of joy.” (ln. 47-48) In this I think the most literal translation would be that the sight of the river is enough to hold a gaze. Instead of frantically looking about he is staring transfixed upon the river. Another way to look at it is that the body itself is held still, the spirit is held and calmed.

Overall the poems definitely holds to the claims and ideals made in the preface. It has a commonplace topic, uses conversational tone and words, and shows a reaction to an overflow of emotion the poet must have felt at remembering the scene.

Welcome & Introduction

"Romping Through the Waste Land" is the work of the Spring 2016 Survey of Later British Literature at California State University, Chico. This semester, we're using Blogger as a platform for sharing our class's exploration of British Literature with a wider community. Whether you're a fellow Chico State student, a friend or family member, or just someone who stumbled on this blog by accident, you are welcome to read along with us and chime in on the combox.

We're going to start our semester-long conversation about British literature with a discussion of Wordsworth's "Preface to Lyrical Ballads." Pull up a chair, pour a cup of tea or coffee*, and join the discussion!

* Must provide own beverage.