William Wordsworth (1770-1850), the most prominent of all the English Romantic poets, has written countless lyrics on ordinary subjects which are expressive of his love and reverence for Nature. Two of the most popular ones are: "The Solitary Reaper" and "Daffodils."
A "reaper" is an ordinary person and no one would consider her as an appropriate subject for poetry. But Wordsworth through this simple and beautiful lyric has revealed and highlighted the poetic qualities of such an ordinary person:
Whate’er the theme, the Maiden sang
As if her song could have no ending;
I saw her singing at her work,
And o’er the sickle bending;--
Similarly, the beauty of Nature is expressed in these lines:
A voice so thrilling ne’er was heard
In spring-time from the Cuckoo-bird,
Breaking the silence of the seas
Among the farthest Hebrides.
Daffodils are very common and plain flowers which are found all over the English countryside and unlike the rose would not be considered as a subject for poetry. But Wordsworth through his poem "Daffodils" has created one of the most popularly anthologized poems ever. The following lines express his love of Nature:
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed--and gazed--but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought
No comments:
Post a Comment