William Wordsworth an Imaginative and Passionate Master of Poetry.docx

William Wordsworth an Imaginative and Passionate Master of Poetry.docx

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WilliamWordsworthanImaginativeandPassionateMasterofPoetry

WilliamWordsworth,anImaginativeandPassionateMasterofPoetry

　　Abstract:

WilliamWordsworth,astheleadingfigureoftheEnglishRomanticMovementinpoetry,hasmadegreatcontributioninpoetictheory.Hispoeticbeliefsandachievementshavealwaysbeenthefocusofliterarystudies.Inthispaper,hismostrepresentativepoem“IWanderedLonelyasaCloud”iscloselyexaminedtodemonstratehowWordsworthapplieshispoeticprinciplestohisowncreations,especiallyhowWordsworthrealizethefusionofrealityandstrongemotioninthispoembyusinghisgreatimagination.

KeyWords:

WilliamWordsworth,IWanderedLonelyasaCloud,poeticprinciples,language,imagination

WilliamWordsworthistheleadingfigureoftheEnglishromanticpoetry,thefocalvoiceoftheromanticperiod.Themostimportantcontributionhehasmadeisinthefieldofpoetictheory.Hethinksthat“allgoodpoetryisthespontaneousoverflowofpowerfulfeeling”,andpoetryoriginatesfrom“emotionrecollectedintranquility”.HispoeticprinciplesarewellillustratedintheprefacetoLyricalBallads（Wordsworth,）:

“Theprincipalobject,then,whichIproposedtomyselfinthesepoemswastochooseincidentsandsituationsfromcommonlife,andtorelateordescribethem,throughout,asfaraspossible,inaselectionoflanguagereallyusedbymen;and,atthesametime,tothrowoverthemacertaincoloringofimagination,wherebyordinarythingsshouldbepresentedtothemindinanunusualway;and,further,andaboveall,tomaketheseincidentsandsituationsinterestingbytracinginthem,trulythoughnotostentatiously,theprimarylawsofournature:

chiefly,asfarasregardsthemannerinwhichweassociateideasinastateofexcitement.”

Here,wecanseethatWordsworthactuallysetstheprinciplesforpoeticwritinginthreeaspects:

a）therawmaterial—thescenesandeventsofeverydaylife;b）thelanguage—speechofordinarypeople;andc）thecreationprocess—usingimaginationtorealizethefusionofthedescriptionofthescenesoreventswithexpressionofinwardstateofmind.TheseprincipleshelptocrumblethetheoreticalfoundationsoftheclassicalschoolofEnglishpoetry,rejectingtheemphasisontheformandanintellectualapproachthatdrainedpoeticwritingofstrongemotion,andalsoinspireanewgenerationofpoets.Therefore,theprefacetoLyricalBalladsisregardedasthemanifestationoftheEnglishRomanticMovementinpoetry,andWordsworththefatherofEnglishmodernpoetry.

Wordsworth,forthekeenloveofnatureexpressedinhispoems,isalsolabeledasa“worshipperofnature”bymanycritics.Hecanpenetratetotheheartofthingsandgivethereadertheverylifeofnature.“IWanderedLonelyasaCloud”isoneofhismasterpiecesonnature,whichcantakeustothecoreofhispoeticbeliefs.ItisalsooneofthemostanthologizedpoemsinEnglishliterature.Thus,inthefollowing,IwillexaminethepoemindetailbyreferencetoWordsworth’spoeticprinciples.

First,let’slookatthesubjectmatterofthispoem.“IWanderedLonelyasaCloud”isbasedonrecollectionsoftheUllswaterscenedescribedbyDorothyWordsworth,WilliamWordsworth’ssister,inApril1802.Atthattime,Dorothy,Williamandtheirfriendswentforawalkalongtheriver.Thentheysawafewdaffodilsclosetothewaterside,whentheywentalongthereweremoreandmore,andatlast,theysawalongbeltofdaffodilsalongtheshore,“theylookedsogay,everglancing,everchanging.Therewashereandtherealittleknot,andafewstragglersafewyardshigherup;buttheyweresofewasnottodisturbthesimplicity,unityandlifeofthatonebusyhighway”.（Bloom,）Theywereallintoxicatedatthisscene.Thenwhenreturninghome,Dorothyrecordedthissceneinherjournal,whileWordsworthrecollectedthesamesceneintranquilityandwrotethispoemafulltwoyearsafterwards.Therefore,itisclearthattherawmatterofthispoemisjustalargebedofwilddaffodilsbesidealake,agitatedbyastrong,coldspringwind.AnditistheverythingWordsworthisinterested,averycommonplacesceneinhumanlife,

Thenwecometothelanguageofthispoem.Exceptforafewliteraryorpoeticwords（“vales”,“jocund”,and“oft”）,thepoemiswrittenthroughoutinplainlanguageemployedbyordinarypeopleintheirdailylife,thusmakeshispoemeasytounderstand.Thisisalsoinaccordancewithhisownpoeticbeliefs—tobringhislanguageneartothereallanguageofmen.ButonepointshouldbepointedoutthatwhatWordsworthmeansbystatingthatspeechofordinarypeopleispreferredinpoeticwritingisnotthatwritingapoemistocopywordbywordthewordsutteredbytheordinarypeople.Ithink,Wordsworth’sstatementismadejustinviewoflexicalchoice.Asweallknow,eachtypeofpoetry,whetheritisasonnet,orablankverse,oranodeisrestrictedinformtoacertaindegree.Inaddition,agoodpoetryattributesalottothehighqualityinitslinguisticaspect,includingnotmerelylexicalchoice,butalsophoneticchoice,rhetoricdevicesemployed,choiceofsentencestructure,etc.,whichexertagreatinfluenceontheinformationconveyanceandthemeterofapoem.Actually,Wordsworthhassuggestedthispointintheabovequotedpassagebysaying“aselectionoflanguagereallyusedbymen”.Inotherwords,thelanguageisselectednotonlyfromthespeechofordinarypeople,butalsotofittheinformationconveyanceandmetricalarrangementofthepoem.Thenlet’sseehowWordsworthfulfillsthisrequirementinthispoem.

Thispoemiswrittenbasicallyiniambictetrameter.Anditisdividedintofourstanzaswiththerhymeschemeas:

ababccforeachstanza.Tobemorespecific,ineachstanza,therearethreerhymingcouplets:

thefirstlineandthethirdline,thesecondlineandthefourthline,andthelasttwolines,thusmakingthepoemgoessmoothly,harmoniouslyandrhythmically.Inotherwords,thepoemacquiresaestheticvalueinprosody.Besidesthis,inphonologicallevel,thereareotherfeaturescontributingtheexcellenceofthispoem,suchasthearrangementofthestress,andthephoneticchoice.Asabove-mentioned,thepoemisbasicallywritteniniambictetrameter.However,iftheauthorisconsistentthroughoutthepoeminusingthispattern,itmaymakethepoemsounddullandsolemn,thusnotinkeepingwiththeintentionoftheauthortodescribethebriskdancingofthedaffodils.Forthisreason,theauthormakessomeadjustmentsincertainplaces.Forexample,inthelastlineofthefirststanza（“Flutteringanddancinginthebreeze”）,thereareonlythreestressedsyllables:

/t/,/si/and/bri:

/.Andsuchadjustmentinrespectofthestressskillfullyconveysthechangeinthepoet’sstateofmind:

justwhenthepoetwanderedasacloudsolitarily,abedofdaffodilscameintohisview,makehimenlivenedandexhilarated.Anotherexamplecomesfromthelastlineofthesecondstanza（“Tossingtheirheadsinsprightlydance”）,here,thefirstfootturnstobeatrochee.Andthisvariationreinforcesthemovementexpressedbytheverb,“toss”,delineatesvividlythescenethatthedaffodilsraisetheirheadsgailyinthebreeze,thusmakesthewholesentencemoreexpressive,andatthesametime,conveystheuncontrolledpassionoftheauthoratthatmoment.Inaddition,inthispoem,theauthormakesgreateffortsinthephoneticchoice.Forexample,amongthestressedsyllables,inthefirststanza,therearealotoflongvowelsanddiphthongs,thusmakingthetempoofthepoemslowdown;whileinthesecondstanza,theshortvowelsassumeadominantpositioninthedistributionofvowels,thusspeedingupthepaceofthepoem.Thischange,obviously,isinaccordancewiththechangeinthetoneofthepoem.Inthefirststanza,thepoetwanderedlonelyasacloudoverthevalesandhills,andcameacrosssuddenlyahostofdaffodils,sothemovementisslowlyandaimlessly,andthebasictoneofthisstanzaiscarelessness,orevenlethargy.Thusthetemposhouldbeslow.However,inthesecondstanza,thepoetfocusesonthedescriptionofthesprightlydancingdaffodilsinthewind,thebasictoneisbrisknessandrapture,sothetemponowshouldbequickened.Therefore,itisclearthatbothmetricarrangementandphoneticchoiceareimportantfortheexpressionoftheauthor’spersonalfeelinginthepoem.

Actually,thereareanotherimportantfactorplayinganindispensableroleininformationconveyanceinpoetry,namely,thesyntacticstructure.Forexample,thesecondlineofstanzaonebeginswith“whenallatonce”,theadverbialclauseofaverylongsentencerunningoninthefourlines.Inthisway,theshiftintheauthor’sattentionisclearlyexpressed,andatthesametime,thefollowingdescriptiononthedaffodilsismadecompact,thuscanmakeastrongimpressiononthereader.Inthesecondstanza,theadverbial（“Continuousasthestarsthatshine/Andtwinkleonthemilkyway”）ofthemainclause“theystretched”isalsoputatthebeginning.Thepurposehereisjusttohighlighttheabundanceandbeautyofdaffodils,whichisthecentraltaskofthisstanza.Certainly,inmostcases,therhymepatternofthewholepoemmayalsoinfluencethepoet’schoiceofsentencestructure.

　　Then,wecometothepunctuationmarksofthispoem.Theyalsocontributetothesuccessofthepoem.Hereisanexample.Inthefifthlineofthethirdstanza（“Igazed–andgazed–butlittlethought”）,twodashesinthislinenaturallyslowdownthetempo.Facingthesebeautifuldaffodils,thepoetisintoxicatedandcannothelplingeringhiseyesonthem,andsimultaneously,heseemstobelostinthought,ponderingoverthetruem