In response to "Lines Written in Early Spring" by William Wordsworth.
When reading the poem I could not help but notice the continous use of the word "pleasure" and associated words like "enjoys" within the descriptions of nature. Along with its repetitiveness came a separation between the experience of "pleasure" and man. Moving from stanza to stanza you see the differences in its use. In the first stanza, when there is mention of man in first person, the "pleasant thoughts" are linked to "sad thoughts" for man. This link is caused by nature. In stanzas 3 through 5 pleasurable images are related to happenings of nature. One example is the personification of how "every flower enjoys the air it breathes" (lines 11-12). And in the descriptions of birds playing there is a feeling of pleasure. But why is it that descriptions of pleasure are separated from the image of man? Why is it that these pleasant thoughts are able to bring sad thoughts to man? I believe that there is the expression of man weeping at the sight of nature's pleasure because man has made a sad environment for himself. It is as if man cannot enjoy nature in the way that it was intened to be, which in turn only reminds us of our imperfections and unhappiness. Furthermore, the images of nature are reversed with man. We see parts of nature doing things that man would normally be expected to do. Birds are seen playing, flowers are seen enjoying the air they breathe, however, man is seen lamenting. Man is separated from this pleasure. The roles are reversed. Man is left to observe nature rather than the other way around. Man's pleasure and joy cannot be assumed as in the case of nature.
Amanda -
ReplyDeleteFeedback from the TA:
You pick out a few keywords from the poem in order to make some sound points about its larger purpose. Your ideas are clearly expressed and you do a good job of citing particular lines for your reader to refer back to. And the picture of anthropomorphized animals is a nice touch.