A common man marvels at uncommon things. A wise man marvels at the commonplace. CONFUCIUS

Friday 22 May 2009

Thy Solitary Walk

Sadly (for me if no one else!) I'm at the end of my 7-part blog-sequence on Wordsworth; I feel I've said all I wanted to say about his poetry for now. Just a few final quotations, which restate some of Wordsworth's ideas and beliefs 'in a nutshell'...

Stephen Gill and Duncan Wu, in their introduction to William Wordsworth's Selected Poetry published by Oxford World's Classics, say that in Wordsworth's philosophical verse ...the universe is not mechanical and dead, but alive and vitally connected with the human mind; awakened consciousness leads to an awakened moral sense and must lead to communion with the divine. In the profoundest sense, love of nature leads to love of Man and awareness of God.

This comes from the famous Ode: 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!

And, in conclusion, this is taken from the last section of Lines Written A Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey - addressed to Dorothy, Wordsworth's beloved sister and walking companion:

Therefore let the moon/Shine on thee in thy solitary walk;/And let the misty mountain winds be free/To blow against thee; and in after years,/When these wild ecstasies shall be matured/Into a sober pleasure, when thy mind/Shall be a mansion for all lovely forms,/Thy memory be as a dwelling-place/For all sweet sounds and harmonies; Oh! then,/If solitude, or fear, or pain, or grief,/Should be thy portion, with what healing thoughts/Of tender joy wilt thou remember me,/And these my exhortations!

7 comments:

gleaner said...

I just had to have another look at your previous posts on Wordsworth...I wasn't aware of the 7 part blog sequence, partly because I am new to his poetry and so take it in small doses. Quite incidentally, I posted on my blog the only poem of his I know (Intimations on Immortality)and really love. Will now add the Tintern Abbey poem as a second favourite.

Raph G. Neckmann said...

I have particularly enjoyed your Wordsworth blog-sequence, SW - it's really enriched my life.

am said...

Wonderful lines to his sister, Dorothy. Good to read Wordsworth again!

JIM said...

I last read those lines at school many years ago. What a difference a lifetime makes to appreciate this verse.

Much thanks. Will read on

Grizz………… said...

I am reading those posting of yours I missed will away…and sadly for me, too, began with this one. I have enjoyed your Wordsworth postings immensely. Your insights and selections of quotes and verses has been excellent and has sent me back into Wordsworth more than once during this past month or so. I have to thank you for that—and do.

Now, after Wordsworth, who?

Dave King said...

I shall have to go back and look at the rest. This is good.

Jeannette StG said...

i so agree with the intro to Wordsworth poetry! I do not know much about English poetry since I'm Dutch (and living in Los Angeles), but I do know marmite - salty, but one of our friends loves it and eats it all the time on his sandwich!