Dorothy Wordsworth

References to the illnesses which plagued Dorothy Wordsworth are evident in both Thought’s on My Sick-bed (pg 293-294) and When Shall I Tread Your Garden Path? Yet, in both poems she refers to her love of nature and the outdoors to remind her of happier, healthier times…and she wishes or hopes for their return.

Speaking of her youth, she says “With busy eyes I pierced the lane I quest of known and unknown things, - The primrose a lamp on its fortress rock, The silent butterfly spreading its wings, . . .” I can visualize her eyes darting from one side of the landscape to another…looking to absorb everything possible. She knows that there are sights present that she has seen before, yet she also looks for “unknown” things, or things that perhaps she never saw before because she failed to see, or simply because they weren’t there. Either way, she views this as an exploration of sorts. Possibly referring to the brightness of the primrose, Dorothy calls it “a lamp.”

She then turns to her current condition and refers in both poems to her couch where she has rested. From 1832 when Thought’s on My Sick-bed was written until 1835 when When Shall I Tread Your Garden Path? Dorothy seems to have grown wearier of her illness and the thought of nature and gardens no longer lift her spirits.

Thoughts on Wordsworth

I found myself drawn to Wordsworth’s We Are Seven…maybe because I am one of six. After reading the brief introductory biography of Wordsworth, it was hard not to wonder if the loss of two of his children was reflected in the poem. Only after I reread the poem and the biography did I realize that the poem was written many years prior to the death of his children….making it feel somewhat prophetic.

This poem appeals to me because it is easy to read and as a narrative, it tells a story. Wordsworth immediately expresses concern that a young child’s life should be touched by death. He says, “A simple child, . . . What should it know of death?” Since his mom died when he was eight, he has intimate knowledge of what it is like to have to deal with the death of someone you love.

Wordsworth says of the girl, “Her eyes were fair . . Her beauty made me glad.” His description allowed me to visualize the conversations relayed in the poem. The questions posed to the little girl appear to be merely conversational, yet her answers enticed the writer to delve deeper. Even though the girl isn’t immediately forthcoming that two of her siblings are dead, when pushed she does responds that “Two of us in the church-yard lie . . . .” Yet still she counts them among her siblings.

This implies to me that children are remarkably resilient and again, Wordsworth knows this from his own life. It also speaks to the strength of family ties. Considering Wordsworth's apparently close relationship with his sister, I didn’t find this surprising.

A Poison Tree

After reading nearly 20 pages of William Blake, I finally came across a short poem that I felt I might actually be able to interpret. In A Poison Tree (pg 92-93) Blake talks about how oftentimes if we vent our anger to the person who caused us anger, the anger will dissipate. If we choose rather to hold our anger inside more times than not, rather than going away...our anger continues to grow. Blake uses poetic language to describe how wrath is grown using terms which we all associate with growing flowers, fruits, and vegetables. We all know that plants require water and sunlight to grow. When Blake says "watering it in fears, Night & morning with my tear" he speaks to how we allow our fears to increase the significance of the cause of our anger and how we remain upset, even to the point of tears. When he speaks of wrath being sunned "with smiles. And with soft deceitful wiles.", I interpret this to mean how we cover our anger with smiles to the offenders face, but plan our revenge in private.

But, alas as it usually happens with me and poetry...I got lost. I understand that the "apple bright" is the fruit of the angry person's wrath...and I get that when the person who was the target of the anger saw the bright shiny apple, he wanted it. At this point, the confusing part to me is why would the target of the anger and the bearer of the anger see the fruit as something to be desired? If I could get over this obstacle, I can understand how desiring the apple, the "foe" coveted it and took it....much like Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden...and, as with Adam and Eve, the foe perished.

Blake writes "In the morning glad I see." Is this supposed to infer that God was pleased that Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit? It has been my experience that the person who harbors the anger is the one who is harmed...much more so than the one against whom the anger was harbored.

Most of what I have read of Blake leaves me confused about his meaning. Fortunantly, many of the footnotes in the book along with the podcast helps in understanding. Actually, without both...I doubt I would feel that I had any real understanding of Blake's motivation. Much of his work seems to refer to other literature...which leads me to believe that his writings were not intended for the common folk of his time as many of them were uneducated.

So...I keep reading...and trying to understand...

Clarification of a Statement

"Not many of us today have the passion or stomach necessary to follow our convictions if it has severe consequences...I have to admire anyone who does that." I made (typed) this statement in our chat on Wednesday and some of you agreed with me. Almost as soon as I had sent the comment, the duplicity of my statement hit me. I am an adamant critic of anyone who would strap a bomb onto their body and proceed to blow up themselves and as many others as they can...or drive a truck full of explosives into a building full of government workers and their children and detonate the bomb. But as twisted and demented as I see these actions, generally speaking, I do believe that these people are acting on a strong conviction that their position is correct and they see themselves as making the ultimate sacrifice so that change can come. It appears that my admiration of people who act on their passion is restricted to those whose belief systems and values agree with mine. Go figure!

So...I suppose herein lies my tendency to support Burke's arguments that the path of revolution is not the most preferable path...while accepting the reality that sometimes history shows it to be preferable and important for future progress.

In reading Thomas Paine, he remarks that the revolution was not aimed at the monarch, Louis XVI, but rather at the institution of the monarchy. He goes on to say that "The King was known to be the friend of the Nation, and this circumstance was favourable to the enterprise." (p 66) My interpretation of this statement is that leaders who do well by their people, rather than ruling with an iron fist, offer the best opportunity for revolution. Interesting, eh?

Each time I study history...and I have to admit that I see this as a study of history, I am ever amazed at how we humans seem to require that the same lessons be taught over and over again. Not to diminish the progress that we have made from those long ago times, but as a good friend of mine says...we do tend to keep walking down the same roads, and falling in the same holes.

Stay safe!

Introduction

Hi everyone and thanks for visiting my blog for ENG 264. I have returned to college after 20+ years to complete a business degree. I am a senior at Mercer and need 11 more classes to complete my degree. My concentration is in accounting and I hope to eventually sit for the CPA exam.

I also work at Mercer on the Atlanta campus in the Physical Plant. I've been at Mercer for 4 years and enjoy working there very much. I have 2 children, the youngest of which (my son) was just married this past weekend. My daughter has been married for 7 years and has two young children.

I am very much looking forward to the on-line experience of this class. I've always enjoyed reading, both fiction and non-fiction, but have never considered myself very knowledgeable about literature....so in addition to picking up my literature requirement, I look forward to reading and learning about English literature.

Have a great day!