W. WORDSWORTH (1770 – 1850)
A CERTAIN COLOURING OF IMAGINATION (1800)
Lo scopo principale che ho avuto scrivendo queste poesie è stato quello di scegliere
situazioni e avvenimenti presi dalla vita ordinaria e raccontarli tutti, per quanto è
possibile, utilizzando espressioni linguistiche usate davvero dall’uomo comune;
allo stesso tempo mi sono ripromesso di presentare queste stesse situazioni
colorandole, per così dire, con la mia immaginazione in modo tale da presentare
alla mente del lettore gli oggetti ordinari in modo insolito. Ma soprattutto il mio
intento è stato quello di rendere interessanti gli avvenimenti di tutti i giorni,
rintracciando in essi, fedelmente ma non forzatamente, le leggi fondamentali della
nostra natura, specialmente per quanto riguarda il modo in cui noi associamo le
idee in uno stato di eccitazione.
La vita umile e rurale è stata scelta generalmente perché, in questa condizione, le
passioni essenziali del cuore trovano un terreno più adatto alla loro maturazione, sono soggette a minori costrizioni, e parlano un linguaggio più semplice ed
enfatico; perché in questa condizione i nostri sentimenti elementari esistono in uno
stato di maggiore semplicità e di conseguenza possono essere contemplati più
accuratamente e comunicati con più forza; perché il comportamento della vita
rurale nasce da questi sentimenti elementari, e, dato il carattere di necessità delle
attività rurali, è più facilmente compreso ed è più durevole; e, finalmente, perché in
questa condizione le passioni degli uomini fanno tutt'uno con le forme stupende
e imperiture della natura.
Si è pure adottato il linguaggio di questi uomini (certo purificato da quelle che
appaiono le sue reali improprietà e da tutte le permanenti e ragionevoli cause di
avversione o di disgusto), perché proprio essi comunicano continuamente con le
cose migliori, dalle quali proviene originariamente la parte migliore della lingua, e
anche perché, a causa della loro posizione sociale e della uniformità e ristrettezza
dei loro rapporti interpersonali, soggiacendo in minor misura all'azione della
vanità sociale, essi comunicano i loro sentimenti e le loro idee con espressioni
semplici e non elaborate.
Di conseguenza, un simile linguaggio, che scaturisce da ripetute esperienze e da
regolari sensazioni, è dunque un linguaggio più stabile e ben più filosofico di quello
che i poeti di solito sostituiscono ad esso, pensando di attirare tanti più onori a sé
stessi e alla loro arte, quanto più si alienano le simpatie degli uomini e indulgono
in arbitrarie e capricciose abitudini linguistiche per fornire cibi adatti a palati
volubili e volubili appetiti che loro stessi hanno contribuito a creare. […]
Volendo ora spostare l’argomento su un terreno più generale, mi chiedo quale sia il
significato della parola poeta. Cosa fa un poeta? A chi si rivolge? Che tipo di
linguaggio ci si aspetta che usi? È un uomo che parla ad altri uomini: un uomo, è
vero, di una sensibilità più viva, di una tenerezza, entusiasmo, conoscenza della
natura umana, capacità percettiva sicuramente superiori al comune. Un uomo
soddisfatto delle sue passioni e dei suoi desideri e capace di gioire più di altri
uomini dello spirito vitale che è in lui. Un uomo felice di contemplare simili
desideri e passioni così come si manifestano nell’universo e spinto in modo naturale
a creare tali emozioni dove non le trova. A queste qualità va aggiunta la capacità
di emozionarsi più di altri uomini per cose assenti come se fossero presenti.
Ancora, il poeta è un uomo capace di evocare in sé stesso passioni che superano in
intensità quelle che normalmente sono suscitate da eventi reali, eppure
(specialmente se parliamo di espressioni affettive particolarmente piacevoli ed
gioiose) assomigliano alle passioni stimolate da eventi reali più di qualsiasi altro
sentimento, fra le tante espressioni mentali, che l’uomo abitualmente è in grado di
provare. È da queste abilità, come pure dall’esercizio, che il poeta ha acquisito
una più grande prontezza e forza nell’esprimere ciò che pensa e prova,
specialmente quei pensieri e quei sentimenti che, per scelta o per forma mentis,
vengono suscitati in lui senza un diretto stimolo esterno. […]
Ho detto che la Poesia è lo spontaneo traboccare di forti sentimenti: essa trae
origine dall' emozione rivissuta in tranquillità. L'emozione viene contemplata
finché, per una specie di reazione, la tranquillità gradualmente si dissolve e si
produce un'emozione simile a quella che prima era oggetto di contemplazione. A
questo punto essa esiste di fatto nella mente. In questo stato d’animo inizia una
buona composizione che viene poi sviluppata secondo principi analoghi. Di
qualunque genere e di qualunque grado sia, l'emozione è qualificata da vari piaceri
per varie cause, così che nel descrivere passioni di ogni genere – se la descrizione è
frutto del nostro volere - la mente sarà nel complesso in uno stato di gioia.
GUIDED ANALYSIS p. 295
Contents 1. Read the passage and identify the parts that deal with the following topics.
1. the author's objective (lines 1-9) 2. the subject of poetry (lines 9-18) 3. the language of poetry (lines 18-39)
4., the speaker's attitude towards contemporary poetry (lines 40-44) 5. the poet's qualities (lines 45-64) 6. the
definition of poetry (line 65) 7. the working of poetic imagination (lines 65-74)
2. Now read the passage more carefully and complete the following sentences about its content.
Use your own words as far as possible.
1. The author's aim was to choose events and situations from common life and to make them interesting through
"a certain colouring of imagination" .
2. The subject of poetry is low and rustic life with its elementary but durable feelings.
3. The language of poetry is that commonly used by men though purified from its defects.
4. The writer thinks contemporary poets are remote from common life; they do not share their
feelings and opinions with the other men, and express themselves arbitrarily.
5. Compared with common men, the poet has greater sensibility and enthusiasm, and a greater
knowledge of human nature.
6. Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings;
7. Poetry originates from emotion recollected in tranquillity.
3. How are man, nature and poetry interrelated according to Wordsworth?
Man and nature are closely connected; nature has permanence in itself, it inspires simple and spontaneous passions
and elementary feelings. The poet should aspire to such essentiality, free from the influence of social conventions.
4. Answer the following questions and complete the activity.
1. Is the speaker a voice outside or inside the text? He is inside the text.
2. How would you describe the vocabulary of this passage? Suggestions: complex, concrete, didactic, formal,
specific.
3. The revolutionary message of the Preface lies in the new concept of poetry. Fill in the diagram which illustrates the
process of poetic creation.
1. sensory experience 2. emotion 3. recollection in tranquillity 4. contemplation of the emotion
5. production of a kindred emotion 6. poetry (poem; successful composition)
5. Wordsworth clearly rejects neo-classical poetry.
Write a paragraph to compare the expressions the poet uses when referring to the new poetry and to the traditional
style.
Students should include the following concepts in their paragraph. NEW POETRY: common life - simplicity primary laws of nature || TRADITION: separation from common life - caprice - arbitrariness, fickle tastes
KEY WORDS:
principal object of poetry:
choose incidents and situations from common (low / rustic) life
tracing in them the primary laws of our nature
[here], incorporated with the beautiful and permanent forms of nature, the essential passions of the heart find
a better soil / are less under restraint / can attain their maturity / co-exist in a state of greater simplicity /
speak a plainer and more emphatic language / are more durable / / are less under the influence of social
vanity
[these passions] may be more accurately contemplated and more forcibly communicated
throw over them a certain colouring of imagination
ordinary things should be presented to the mind in an unusual way
language:
selection of language really used by men
they convey their feelings and notions in simple and unelaborated expressions
purified from its real defects and causes of dislike or disgust
opposition to
poets who think that they are conferring honour upon themselves and their art, in proportion as they separate
themselves from the sympathies of men
[poets who simply] furnish food for fickle tastes
the poet:
a man speaking to men
BUT endowed with
more lively sensibility / greater knowledge of human nature / more comprehensive soul / disposition to be
affected more than other men by absent things as if they were present / greater readiness and power in
expressing what he thinks and feels
definition of poetry:
spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings
description of the process of creation:
emotion recollected in tranquillity
the emotion is qualified by various pleasures
the mind will be in a state of enjoyment
emotion contemplated till a species of reaction
the tranquillity gradually disappears
an emotion kindred to that which was before the subject of contemplation is gradually produced
[the emotion] does itself actually exist in the mind
successful composition begins [and] it is carried on
I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
(1804)
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host , of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Passeggiavo solitario come una nuvola
Che fluttua alta sopra valli e colline
Quando d’improvviso vidi una moltitudine (folla),
Una schiera di giunchiglie dorate;
Vicino al lago, sotto gli alberi,
Che ondeggiavano e danzavano nel vento.
7. Continuous as the stars that shine
8. And twinkle on the milky way,
9. They stretched in never-ending line
10.Along the margin of the bay:
11.Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
12.Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
Una vicino all’altra come le stelle che brillano
e scintillano nella via lattea,
si distendevano in una fila senza fine
lungo il limitare della baia:
con un solo sguardo ne vidi a migliaia (10mila),
che scuotevano il capo in una danza festosa.
13.The waves beside them danced; but they
14.Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
15.A poet could not but be gay,
16.In such a jocund company ;
17.I gazed – and gazed – but little thought
18.What wealth the show to me had brought:
Le onde danzavano dietro di loro; ma queste
Superavano in gaiezza le onde scintillanti:
un poeta non può che essere felice,
quando è circondato da tanta gaiezza;
guardavo – e guardavo – ma vaga era la
consapevolezza
di quanta ricchezza mi aveva regalato quello spettacolo:
19.For oft, when on my couch I lie
20.In vacant or in pensive mood,
21.They flash upon that inward eye
22.Which is the bliss of solitude;
23.And then my heart with pleasure fills,
24.And dances with the daffodils.
Perché spesso, quando mi sdraio sul divano
In quello stato d’animo in cui la mente è vuota o
quando sono pensoso,
quelle giunchiglie balenano in quell’occhio interiore
che è la gioia profonda della solitudine;
e allora il mio cuore si riempie di piacere,
e danza con le giunchiglie.
1. Read the poem and answer the following questions.
First stanza
1. What was the poet doing? He was wandering in the countryside.
What was his mood? He was in a mood of loneliness and absent-mindedness. When he says that
he "wandered lonely as a cloud" (line 1), he reminds us of those moods when we are aimless,
undirected, and not fully related to the world around us. This sense of detachment from
experience is strengthened by the description of the cloud which "floats on high" (line 2).
2. What broke this mood suddenly? This mood was suddenly broken in upon by the sight of the
daffodils which are seen as a "crowd" (line 3).
3. Where were the flowers? By the lake under the trees. Daffodils grow best in the shade and
where there is water, and so it is not by chance that the flowers are at this particular point in
space and time (lines 5-6).
Second stanza
4. What did the poet associate them with? To the very curve of the heavens (lines 7-8).
5. How many did he see? The poet says "ten thousand" (line 11).
Is that possible? No, it is the poet's imagination.
Third stanza
6. What were the surroundings like? All was in a state of dance and joy, even the waves of the
lake (line 13).
7. How did the poet feel? He also felt happy because his mind was once more active, making
order in a world which seemed disorderly and pointless so short a time before.
Why does the author say "a poet" in line 15? He speaks here of a man who, according to
Wordsworth, has "a greater organic sensibility". Only such a man can find himself in a state
of creative joy when placed in such a situation.
Fourth stanza
8. What kind of state does the poet describe? "In vacant or in pensive mood": what is described
here is the poet's capability, not only of organising experience so that it becomes coherent and
delightful, but also of recalling it at future times.
9. Is this solitude similar to the loneliness of the first stanza? This kind of solitude is very
different from the melancholy loneliness described at the beginning of the poem. In this
condition the poet finds his heart dancing with joy, a joy which revives the pleasure
participated in when he observed the dance of the daffodils in the breeze.
10. What is the result of this experience? "And then my heart with pleasure fills": the experience
is not lost, but may be recovered when wanted. When the poetic process makes the experience
available once again the daffodils "flash upon that inward eye / Which is the bliss of solitude"
(lines 21-22).
Structure and Style
1. How are the daffodils introduced in the first stanza? They are seen as a "crowd" (line 3) which
moves and dances. What do you call this device? Personification.
2. What effect is achieved by showing the daffodils as part of the universal order in the second
stanza? In these lines Wordsworth shows the daffodils as part of a universal order, as growing
where they do, just as the stars in the Milky Way are fixed in their courses, because of the
natural law which dictates their existence. In all creation man seems the only creature that is
capable of feeling not at home, of "wandering as lonely as a cloud".
3. What view of nature is conveyed by Wordsworth in the second and third stanza? Nature is joyful
and alive. It is a pantheistic view of nature.
4. How are perception and thought related in the third stanza? The poet focuses on the "show"
(line 18). The rhythm falls with a special emphasis on the "gazing" (line 17), an act in which
the poetic transformation is set to work by the visual perception but takes place
spontaneously, without full consciousness on the poet's part of what he is doing. It is only
afterwards, in recollection, that the act is understood and described. When the poet saw the
daffodils, he "little thought" what they meant to him. The thought came later, and the poem is
the record of that thought and of the intellectual delight it offers. It is imagination that
enables man to enter into and give life and significance to the world.
5. Lines 19-24 provide an exception to the use of the past tense which characterises the whole
poem. State what tense appears in these lines and what its function is. The shift to the present
tense underlines that the poet is recollecting the scene in a state of tranquillity and that he can
do it whenever he wants.
6. Bearing in mind what Wordsworth said in his Preface to Lyrical Ballads about the process of
poetic composition, explain how it applies to this poem. Students should point out that
Wordsworth developed the subject matter and the figure of the poet he had stated in the
Preface. It could be worth revising the concept of 'recollection in tranquillity'.
"MY HEART LEAPS UP" (1802)
(Lit & Lab p. 296)
1. My heart leaps up when I behold
2. A rainbow in the sky:
3. So was it when my life began;
4. So is it now I am a man;
5. So be it when I shall grow old,
6. Or let me die!
7. The Child is father of the Man;
8. And I could wish my days to be
9. Bound each to each by natural piety.
Contents
1. Read the poem and answer the following questions.
1. Is the poet referring to his personal experience? If yes, what is it? Yes, he is. He is describing
how he feels when he sees a rainbow (lines 1-2).
2. What particular emotion is he describing? Joy (line 1).
3. What sense is involved in the experience? Sight (line 1).
4. What three stages in man's life does Wordsworth present? Childhood, maturity and old age
(lines 3-5).
5. Which stage seems to be the most important to him? Childhood (line 7).
6. What represents the element of continuity in man's life? The love for and the contact with
nature (lines 8-9).
Structure and Style
2. The poem contains a famous paradox, or apparent contradiction. Write it down.
The Child is father of the Man.
The function of this device is:
a) to surprise and shock the reader
b) to arouse the reader's curiosity about a deeper meaning
c) to state a universal truth, though departing from an individual experience.
The two terms of the paradox are written with capital letters. Can you think of a reason why?
Because they refer to two stages of man's life and to their corresponding states of mind:
innocence and experience.
3. Focus on the theme of the poem. Complete the phrases by using the words below.
The child is able to establish a perfect communion with nature, which fades away when he grows
up. However, the happy moments of childhood can be evoked through the joy man feels when he
is admiring a natural element. Thanks to memory and meditation man can revive those past
experiences.
4. The last two lines help us understand Wordsworth's feeling towards Nature. How would you
describe his attitude?
a) He regards it as a source of delight.
b) He worships it as a source of joy and self-development.
c) He loves it for the exciting experiences it offers.
5. Though short, this poem contains several Romantic elements. Identify them and write a
paragraph. If you have studied William Blake's view of childhood and experience,. also try to
explain the link between the paradox in line 7 and Blake's vision of the ages of man.
Suggestion: The most important romantic elements of this poem are: the importance given to
the perception of a natural object, the power of memory and imagination, the theme of
childhood and the use of a simple language.
INTIMATIONS OF IMMORTALITY
FROM RECOLLECTIONS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD
Epigraph:
The Child is Father of the Man;
And I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
V
Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:
The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star,
Hath had elsewhere its setting,
And cometh from afar:
Not in entire forgetfulness,
And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come
From God, who is our home:
Heaven lies about us in our infancy!
Shades of the prison-house begin to close
Upon the growing Boy,
But He beholds the light, and whence it flows,
He sees it in his joy;
The Youth, who daily farther from the east
Must travel, still is Nature's Priest,
And by the vision splendid
Is on his way attended;
At length the Man perceives it die away,
And fade into the light of common day.
GOD: heavenly state / visionary faculty → IMAGINATION
we start travelling
away from God
“who is our home”
↓
BIRTH / INFANCY→ ▫ “forgetting”
▫ “not entire forgetfulness”
we are still very close to God / memory
is still very strong: we can perceive
“heaven” in the natural world around us;
there is a perfect communion with nature
▫ “not utter nakedness”
▫ “trailing clouds of glory”
GROWING BOY → ▫ “shades of the prison house”
▫ “but he beholds the light”
YOUTH → ▫ “farther from the east”
but admiration and response to
nature are inferior to what they
were before
through nature the adult can
remember his heavenly state and
rediscover God: that is why the
adult is the child’s heir
Man is the farthest from God and so
he can no longer perceive “heaven”
around him Man can only live in
the “lethargy of custom”
earthly
life
farther from God
▫ “still “NATURE’S PRIEST”
↓
↓
divine aspect of nature
▫ still attended on his way by the light
MAN → ▫ light dies away
▫ light fades “into the light of
common day”