Choose 3 poems by William Wordsworth where the poet expresses great happiness and admiration and seems to be in the grip of a powerful emotion .Refer closely to the language used in the poems , Consider the emotion, language and the situation in each poem
During his life William Wordsworth wrote some brilliant poetry which is now famous throughout the civilised world. In some of his poems he was clearly in a state of amazement when he wrote them. I have decided to focus on three of his poems.
The first poem that I have decided to focus is on is a poem that Wordsworth wrote on Westminster bridge, whilst looking over the city. In the poem is early morning so the poem has a tranquil theme to it. The poem is also a sonnet which means it has a length and therefore will affect the poem. The poem starts off by describing London in the line “Earth has not anything to show more fair” Wordsworth is in high praise of the tranquillity and the peacefulness of London in the morning as he had previously been involved in the Napoleonic War. Wordsworth then says “This city now doth, like a garment wear”, he does this to personify London as if it is an animal which is sleeping.
Wordsworth then brings contrast into the by first mentioning the “ships, towers, domes and theatres” and then mentioning the fields. This contrast reminds Wordsworth of his country up bringing.
Through out the poem Wordsworth personifies the cities rivers houses and even sun, by using phrases such as “the very houses seem asleep” and “all that mighty heart is lying still”
Wordsworth also uses many rhyming couplets to emphasise his points and help the reader digest his words.
The second poem that I have decided to focus on is a poem called “I wondered lonely as a cloud”. This poem was written when Wordsworth was in a carriage and he drove past a lake with daffodils surrounding it.
The poem starts with the same line that is in the title. This line makes you think that the poem may be depressing as Wordsworth uses a simile which is often thought upon to be dull and uninteresting.
Wordsworth personifies the daffodils that he sees be referring them to be in a crowd as well as saying that they were “Fluttering and dancing in the breeze”.
He also tries to glorify the sight of the daffodils by using alliteration in the sentence “Beside the lake , beneath the trees”.
I think that Wordsworth was in a state of amazement of the beauty of the nature surrounding him. I think this because when he describes the stars he uses onematerpiers such as twinkle and shine to show his admiration for nature . It is clear that Wordsworth is greatly enjoying the view that lies in front of him so much so that he says that when he is in a vacant or pensive mood he thinks of the daffodils and his heart is filled with pleasure.The poem is laid out so that the first and third verses have the same rhyming scheme as well as the same amount of syllables on each line. This rhyming scheme is ababcc.
The third poem that I have decided to choose is an extract from the prelude which is a poetical autobiography of Wordsworth’s life. In this extract Wordsworth is recalling a time when he was a child ice skating on a frozen lake. The poem opens by setting the scene the line that Wordsworth uses is “And in the frosty season when the sun is set “.
The poem then mentions how Wordsworth was having such a good time that he did not answer his parents calls to come inside. He continues to say how it was a “time of rapture” indicating that he was greatly enjoying himself.another reason why I believe that Wordsworth is enjoying himself is because he describes himself when he moves across the ice as being proud and exulting, he also uses two onamatapiers ; hiss’d and polish’d to help describe his joy.
He then goes on to describe the games that they played on the ice, this also helps us understand that this was a joyful time for Wordsworth as he mentions how his games were imitative of a hunt and as children enjoy mimicking their elders this would have been fun for Wordsworth and his peers.
The poem then focuses on the surroundings and describes the leafless trees and the distant hills. This help add a nostalgic feeling to the poem which is slightly surreal. On the final two lines the poem slows down as Wordsworth describes the sun as setting.
