Expostulation and Reply

In this poem, Wordsworth is asked why he sits on an old stone dreaming his time away. Wordsworth begins to reply, "The eye it cannot chuse but see,/ We cannot bid the ear be still;/ Our bodies feel, where'er they be,/ Against, or with our will." Here he tells Matthew of the senses that are stimulated while being surrounded by nature (whether one would like them to or not). Nature is something you can see, hear, touch, smell and taste. The imagination is stimulated by actual sensations happening to your body, and that is what Wordsworth is trying to explain to Matthew. Matthew believes knowledge through reading is more valuable. He might not understand until the end that when one's imagination is stimulated through text, no actual stimulants affect your body, except ones you could only imagine. What Wordsworth makes clear to the reader is that both the presence of nature and knowledge through text are both forms of dreaming, but the actual sensual stimulations received by nature cannot be reproduced in text. Therefore, dreaming in nature is more valuable.

Let's test Wordsworth's philosophy.

First, read this poem slowly and imagine what all five of your senses would be like if you were experiencing this for yourself.

The Snow

Second, go outside, close your eyes, take a deep breath and take time to think about anything for a minute. Which one is more stimulating to the sense? Which did you gain more from mentally?

We Are Seven

"And there upon the ground I sit - I sit and sing to them." Here the little cottage girl sings to her brother and her sister as they sadly lay in their graves. For her to sit and sing to them in the church-yard illustrates a strong sense of hope and never-ending love of family. It is obvious to the reader that the little girl believes that all of her brothers and sisters are all still together in spirit, no matter where they are (physically or spiritually). Her attitude towards the questions asked of her remains positive and hopeful. Hopeful, because she believes her family of seven will all be reunited once again whether it be during their lifetimes on Earth or in Heaven. I believe the pessimism of the man asking her all of the questions only strengthens her beliefs in the unity of her family. The man is misguided in the eyes of the little girl. "But they are dead; those two are dead! Their spirits are in Heaven!" There is an agreement on where their spirits have gone to, but what the man does not understand, and the little girl does, is that their spirits still have a presence inside of her and she will one day be reunited with them. The unity and bond will forever remain. The supposed innocence of the little girl is not to suggest her being naive, her innocence shows the grown man a new way to look at something he may have overlooked in his life. A great connection to the hopefulness and optimism in this poem is also found in one of my favorite country songs by Steve Wariner.

Click the link and then the play button on the first search result.

Holes in the Floor of Heaven

Goody Blake and Harry Gill - A True Story

"The cold, cold moon above her head, Thus on her knees did Goody pray, Young Harry heard what she had said, And icy-cold he turned away." In this quote we see a sort of coldness of Harry Gill. Not simply the obvious physical cold read throughout the whole poem, but a coldness of heart. Once Harry catches Goody Blake trespassing and stealing, she prays to Heaven and Harry turns away. I don't believe that Harry is a compassionate man, especially if he waited long days to catch his trespasser. On the other hand, Goody seemed somewhat warmer at heart. The cold that chatters the teeth of Harry Gill never leaves his body. The word cold is used in a sense of cold-heartedness and lacking God. I think he realizes at the end of the poem when he finally does catch Goody Blake that it simply was not worth it. The cold days were synonymic to the cold that was in his heart, and Harry would now never know the feeling of that warmth. Now unfortunately he realizes how "useless" the matter was, and for his actions it seems he will never be warm. This poem expresses the idea of knowing what is important in life and what is not, and how to deal different situations. Harry had made a bad decision and will regret it. Maybe he needed more of God in his life to keep him warm.

Photo from: http://www.jimmorlock.com/winter_farm_2.jpg

The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere

In "The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere", the Marinere encounters many troubles, but some good luck too. After the Marinere admitted to shooting the Albatross with his crossbow, the crew is very angry. Then they realize the Albatross was not responsible for the wind behind their sails (but for the fog), and they praise the Marinere. But when the ship sails into the evils of the sea the crew then hangs the dead Albatross around the Marinere's neck, he is blamed once again. "Instead of the Cross the Albatross About my neck was hung". I see the dead Albatross as a symbol of the wrong-doing ("evils") of the Marinere and the devil that resides in him. Not only is it clearly stated as an antonym to the Cross (his exclusion from Christ), the Marinere and the crew encounter evils (Death, Life-in-Death, slimy sea creatures) on their continued voyage. In addition, "I look'd to Heaven, and try'd to pray; but or even a prayer had gusht, A wicked whisper came and made My heart as dry as dust". The Marinere tried to pray to Heaven but was unable to, and during the seven days and seven nights his cursed crew lay dead around him he was not able to die, be saved and go to Heaven. I feel the Albatross was what was holding him back from his prayer and salvation. When he had unknowingly blessed the sea creatures, he found himself able to pray again and the Albatross had fallen off his neck. It was apparent in many different stanzas that the Albatross was the cause of the Marinere's unrest.

Halfway through reading this poem I searched some images to help give me a mental picture while reading, the above image is one of a few I found.

Photo taken from: http://www.martinezbeavers.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/albatross.jpg