William Wordsworth.

The age of Wordsworth.

Leading poets of that period are intensely aware of each other. Commented of each others’ poetry. The concept of friendship was very important. Then- placed by free companionship iof equals. Consequences- English romantic poets wrote poems, for & about each other.

W. & Coleridge Robert Southey - lake poets (lived in the Lake district)

W. & C. supported by French Rev, grew conservative, it was unwise to pay attention to reason, resolved to withdraw from urban life to the country, seeked for beauty in the country, delight in the purity of nature. Revolutionarized the language & the subject of poetry. Religion vs society, individual vs society, nature vs civilization.

But they were in mant way opposites. W.- Silent, superiotrity. A poet- a man speaking to man.

1 part of life- growth, conflicts, creative energies. 2^nd part- a conservative, orthodox, poet-lorriet (official poet of the court)

Born in 1770. Father- an attorney. Solid & conservative middle class. Lost his parents at s very young age. 10 children with the family. Close to his sister Dororthy. An exceedingly happy childhood. 1812- nobody could understand his poetry completely, not even Coleridge, he’s not happy enough. Capacity of friendship & solitude. Studied classical & modern literature in Cambridge. Travelled to France after the French Revolution. Returned there a year after lived there for some time. An affair with a French widow, a child.

When he returned to England he was a dedicated poet. Confusion about everything. Supported financially by his friends. A friend led him a small legacy- bought a house. Met Coleridge. Complementary in many ways- W.- strong, stable. C- inspiration. Coleridge’s best work was Wordsworth. Completed each other’s unfinished poems. Result- a small volume of lyrical ballads. No other book announced so clearly a new literature departure. The sense of a new style & new spirit of poetry. Interest not in the subject but in the mood.

Married, lived in Lake District. “Poems in 2 volumes” (1807) -> most famous poems, sonnets. Lost 2 of his children, drifted apart with Coleridge. But a happy period- his fame grew. Got more conservative politically, religiously. Like abandoning ideas of his youth. Popular. Creative work finished by 1814.

“Lyrical ballads”. Deliberate experiment in style & subject. Later added an introduction – poetic manifesto. Explains principles of romanticism (didn’t have a share doctrine).

Goals in poetry:

• reformation а the language (lang. really spoken by men, poetic diction)
• tracing the psychological notes of human nature (a real human interest + a certain covering of imagination) = simple things in an unusual aspect. Democratization of the subject and the lang. of poetry.

W. took ordinary things and rendered them exotic poetic, C. took the exotic and made them believable.

Lyrical ballads- simple tales (traditional form), lyric- more personal, emotions, states of mind.

W. poems- characters live on the margins of consciousness of the society. “What do we learn from the poor?” Inspires us to feel charity, not pity. Community. We have 1 human heart. Al the creatures are one. Those who don’t wear good clothes can feel deeply.

Inversed the whole structure of the poetic hierarchy. “Lucy tales” (simple subject to poetic masterpiece)

Some thought he showed the idiocy of country life (“Idiot”, “The mad mother”). Simplicity is not the same as simple-mindness.

W.- a great interpreter of childhood. Introduced the whole new country = childhood. A child is the father of man, can teach us a lot. Unspoilt by education. “We are seven”. (the poet walking meets a peasant girl, beautiful. Talks to her in an idle manner. How many brothers & sisters?- we are seven. She’s the only daughter who lives with her mother (dead, in the sea, in the nearest town). Why seven, they are dead- no, seven. The girl never says that they’re in heaven, She doesn’t know of death. It’s just a different form if life. Childish way of perception.

Poems illustrate W’s aim making simple moments poetic. W’s poetry was ahead in time. Oinside poetry.

Characteristics:

Sincerity

Feeling

Depth of thought

Simplicity of style

The best E. poet writing about nature.

Coleridge.

Sonnet. Troubling career. 1772, Devonshire. The youngest child. Father- a priest, C. idealized him. Diff. relationship with his elder brother. Read so intensively, father burnt 2 of his favorite books. Ran away from home. Sent to Christ’s college, disliked. Hunger. Imagined himself as a Robinson Crusoe.

Community- Pentistocracy- with R. Southey. All memebers should have been married. C’s wife was not so intelligent.

Met W., they became friends. Fame is based on a small amount of works “Ancient mariner”, “Christabel” (Christable, Jeraldine = evil, refuge, “Kubla Khan”

Beautiful world where evil is already penetrated.

Opium addiction. He was great in promise, not in result.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-16