William Blake (1757 – 1827)
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LIFE: born in London, he worked mainly as an engraver and painter, but was also a
poet. He put the two forms of art together by illustrating his own poems.
Main literary works: two collections of poems, Songs of Innocence and Songs of
Experience: they express two different stages of life (childhood and adulthood),
which are in contrast but are also complementary (one couldn’t exist without the
other). They express two different points of view on the same subject (see The
Lamb and The tyger on the subject of creation).
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His philosophy of contrasts: both in his painting and in his poetry Blake points out
that in every aspect of human life there is a dialectical opposition of forces, that
can never be reconciled but must co-exist in eternal balance. Good and Evil, in
particular, are opposite forces but they are also complementary: they are present
in the same person or situation (see The Good and Evil Angels). Also the Songs of
Innocence and the Songs of Experience represent “the two contrary states of
human soul” (purity, joy and happiness on one hand, selfishness, cruelty, social
injustice on the other ), elements that will always be present in human existence.
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His critical attitude towards reason: reason is in contrast with spontaneity,
feeling, passion. According to him, science and reason imprison the natural flow of
energy present in human minds and bodies (see “Newton” : his posture is
unnatural while he is performing a very intellectual activity).
London (from Songs of Experience 1793)
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Regular rhyme scheme; many repetitions (key-words are often repeated).
Many references to sense impressions: “marks”(sight), “I hear”(hearing).
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Blake criticizes many aspects of his contemporary society, and many social
problems brought about by the Industrial Revolution:
A society where everything is economically exploited (“chartered” , first stanza)
and where interest and profit prevail over feelings.
Important metaphor “mind-forged manacles”, line 8 (limitation of freedom)
Criticism to some important institutions: the Church, the Government.
Even marriage and the family are threatened by an immoral society (reference to
syphilis that was transmitted from prostitutes, to men and to their wives).
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Comparison with The London Breed by Benjamin Zephaniah (2001): view of
London as a melting pot; as a new, rich mixture of cultures, races, languages,
religions, music, foods. London is not without dangers and contradictions but the
positive qualities prevail.
William Wordsworth (1770 – 1850)
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He was born in the Lake District, and graduated in Cambridge.
He went on a walking tour in France and Italy, and became a supporter of the
French Revolution. However, a few years later, he was strongly disappointed by the
period of “terror”.
He became friend with Coleridge. Together, in 1798 they published the Lyrical
Ballads, a collection of poems. In the preface to the second edition (1800) he
explained his theory of poetry: that’s why it is considered the “manifesto” of
English Romantic Poetry.
Wordsworth was made “Poet Laureate” in 1843
Main features of his poetry
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Wordsworth is usually considered “the poet of nature”, but his poems contain very little
natural description. He was more interested in the relationship between the natural world
and human consciousness. He thought that man and nature are inseparable and that there
are values in nature. It is from nature that man learns joy and love.
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Wordsworth was interested in ordinary, everyday world and in the common life of simple,
rustic people (which was full of moral values).
He used simple, everyday language, and was against poetic diction (= sophisticated
language).
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The poet is considered as a prophet, or a teacher, because he has a higher sensibility than
ordinary people, and his task is to draw attention to the ordinary things in life and show that
there are deep emotions and high moral values in them.
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It is the power of imagination that enables the poet to communicate his knowledge.
His theory of poetic creation
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In the Preface to the Lyrical Ballads Wordsworth explains the process of poetic
creation, which comes from “emotions recollected in tranquillity”:
first, the poet experiences emotions in direct contact with nature, then he
meditates on them and remembers them while he is in a state of tranquillity, in
this condition he creates a similar emotion to the one he has previously
experienced, and finally it is from this emotion that poetic creation takes place.
I wondered lonely as a cloud (1807)
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4 stanzas, regular rhyme scheme.
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This poem is not only about nature and daffodils, but also about the process of poetic
creation.
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He starts from describing the world of nature, but is particularly interested in the effects of
this world “inside” him, on his feelings.
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The poet walking alone in the countryside is compared to a cloud (higher position).
Importance of sense perceptions.
The daffodils are personalized. They first appear in a chaotic state (first stanza), but then are
part of a universal order (second stanza).
The daffodils and the natural landscape around them communicate joy to the poet.
Last stanza: shift of time: later, in the tranquillity of his house, his heart fills with pleasure and
his state of solitude becomes positive (“emotions recollected in tranquillity”, the necessary
condition for poetic creation).
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Comparison Wordsworth - Leopardi
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See handout: comparison between “Canto notturno…” and “My heart leaps up”:
Both Leopardi and Wordsworth personify natural elements (the moon, the rainbow), they
both give importance to youth (age of hope and illusions), and they both talk about the
stages of human life.
BUT:
To Leopardi nature is indifferent to human suffering; life is just a sequence of painful
moments, and parents have to console their children, adult life is painful.
To Wordsworth nature is what accompanies and supports us throughout our whole life,
giving us joy and relief.
“The child is father of the man”: children have deeper feelings than adults and have
something to teach them, they are a guide to man because they’re closer to nature.
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“My heart leaps up”: intense emotion (the sublime!)
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Leopardi and the feeling of the sublime: see page 187 “L’infinito”: attraction and fear for
what is infinite and he can’t see but only imagine. But he likes losing his mind in this
impossible thought of infinity.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772 – 1834)
Life:
He was born in Devon in 1772; he studied in Cambridge but never graduated.
He had great enthousiasm for the ideals of the French Revolution.
He was a great idealist: together with his friend Robert Southey he wanted to found an ideal
society called Pantisocracy , based on equal rights, where private property was abolished.
He settled in Somerset and became friend with Wordsworth; here he changed his ideas about the
French Revolution, and turned more conservative.
He had an unhappy marriage with Sarah Fricker. He suffered from rheumatisms and took opium
to relieve his pain, but became addicted to it with time (opium was also the cause of some of
his poetic visions).
Besides writing poems, he held a series of lectures on poetry and drama, and was one of the first
literary critics on Shakespeare.
His most important works are:
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, a poem included in the Lyrical Ballads;
Kubla Khan, a visionary poem, written in a dream;
Biographia Literaria: a collection of essays, philosophical reflections and autobiography.
Features of his poetry
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Importance of imagination, considered as the real poetic power.
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His view of nature was different from Wordsworth. While to Wordsworth nature
was a moral guide, a source of inspiration and happiness, to Coleridge nature was
a reflection of the perfect “world of ideas” (neoplatonic view). So, he believed that
natural images carried “abstract meanings”, and that there was a presence of the
ideal into the real.
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The poetry by Wordsworth and Coleridge had different tasks:
Wordsworth represented everyday life and its values, using a simple language.
On the contrary, Coleridge wrote about extraordinary events in a credible way,
making them familiar and realistic, but using archaic language (revival of the
medieval Ballad). So in his poetry realistic and supernatural events coexist.
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1798)
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For the plot see book (page 179) and handout.
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Mysterious, dream-like atmosphere: mixture of realistic and supernatural events; fear in
front of intense natural phenomena, like extreme weather conditions (the sublime!).
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It’s a ballad: archaic language, large use of sound effects, internal rhymes, alliterations,
onomatopeia, personifications, theme of the voyage, supernatural events, mixture of
narration and dialogue.
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The reason why the Mariner kills the Albatross remains a mystery: it’s an act against
nature and it probably represents the eternal conflict between man and nature. Man
always tries to overcome its limits, going against natural laws.
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There are two possible readings of The Rime:
A religious reading: man commits a sin against God; he then expiates it (by suffering)
and finally reaches salvation. The turning point is in part 4, when he blesses the water
snakes (he accepts even the worst aspect of nature).
An artistic reading: the mariner represents the poet who looks for truth and knowledge
in his everyday life. He goes through a painful experience, but is finally saved by the
power of imagination (turning point in part 4, when he is able to see the beauty even in
the water snakes).
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