William Wordsworth (7th April, 1770 – 23rd April, 1850)
3. Wordsworth's magnum opus is The Prelude, a semiautobiographical poem.
4.It was posthumously published and it was initially known as the poem ‘to Coleridge’
5. Wordsworth was Poet Laureate from 1843 until his death in 1850.
Anecdote for Fathers
It is a poem written by William Wordsworth and it is included in the Lyrical Ballads of 1798.
Poem :
I have a boy of five years old;
His face is fair and fresh to see;
His limbs are cast in beauty's mould,
And dearly he loves me.
One morn we strolled on our dry walk,
Our quiet home all full in view,
And held such intermitted talk
As we are wont to do.
My thoughts on former pleasures ran;
I thought of Kilve's delightful shore,
Our pleasant home when spring began,
A long, long year before.
A day it was when I could bear
Some fond regrets to entertain;
With so much happiness to spare,
I could not feel a pain.
The green earth echoed to the feet
Of lambs that bounded through the glade,
From shade to sunshine, and as fleet
From sunshine back to shade.
Birds warbled round me -- and each trace
of inward sadness had its charm;
Kilve, thought I, was a favored place,
And so is Liswyn farm.
My boy beside me tripped, so slim
And graceful in his rustic dress!
And, as we talked, I questioned him,
In very idleness.
Now tell me, had you rather be,
I said, and took him by the arm,
On Kilve's smooth shore, by the green sea,
Or here at Liswyn farm?
In careless mood he looked at me,
While still I held him by the arm,
And said, At Kilve I'd rather be
Than here at Liswyn farm.
Now, little Edward, say why so:
My little Edward, tell me why. --
I cannot tell, I do not know. --
Why, this is strange, said I;
For, here are woods, hills smooth and warm:
There surely must some reason be
Why you would change sweet Liswyn farm
For Kilve by the green sea.
At this, my boy hung down his head,
He blushed with shame, nor made reply;
And three times to the child I said,
Why, Edward, tell me why?
His head he raised -- there was in sight,
It caught his eye, he saw it plain --
Upon the house-top, glittering bright,
A broad and gilded vane.
Then did the boy his tongue unlock,
And eased his mind with this reply:
At Kilve there was no weather-cock;
And that's the reason why.
O dearest, dearest boy! my heart
For better lore would seldom yearn,
Could I but teach the hundredth part
Of what from thee I learn.
About the Poem:
1. He was an important English Romantic poet
2. He heralded Romantic age in English literature with Coleridge in 1798with the joint publication of Lyrical Ballads.3. Wordsworth's magnum opus is The Prelude, a semiautobiographical poem.
4.It was posthumously published and it was initially known as the poem ‘to Coleridge’
5. Wordsworth was Poet Laureate from 1843 until his death in 1850.
6. In his "Preface to Lyrical Ballads", which is called the "manifesto" of English Romantic criticism, Wordsworth calls his poems "experimental."
7.The year 1793 saw Wordsworth's first published poetry with the collections An Evening Walk and Descriptive Sketches. That year, he met Samuel Taylor Coleridge in Somerset.
8.One of Wordsworth's most famous poems, "Tintern Abbey", was published in the work, along with Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" in ‘Lyrical Ballads
9.The second edition, published in 1800, had only Wordsworth listed as the author,
10.This Preface to Lyrical Ballads (1802) is considered a central work of Romantic literary theory. In it, Wordsworth discusses "real language of men" and which avoids the poetic diction of much 18th-century poetry.
11. Here in Lyrical Ballads, Wordsworth gives his famous definition of poetry as "the spontaneous overflow of powerful emotions recollected in tranquility: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility."
12.A fourth and final edition of Lyrical Ballads was published in 1805.
13.After the death of Robert Southey in 1843, Wordsworth became the Poet Laureate
15.The Prelude a lengthy autobiographical poem was published posthumously by his widow Mary.
16.The Prelude had been known as ’a poem to Coleridge’ before its publication as The Prelude.
Other important works are
Poems in Two Volumes (1807)
The Excursion (1814).
It is a poem written by William Wordsworth and it is included in the Lyrical Ballads of 1798.
Poem :
I have a boy of five years old;
His face is fair and fresh to see;
His limbs are cast in beauty's mould,
And dearly he loves me.
One morn we strolled on our dry walk,
Our quiet home all full in view,
And held such intermitted talk
As we are wont to do.
My thoughts on former pleasures ran;
I thought of Kilve's delightful shore,
Our pleasant home when spring began,
A long, long year before.
A day it was when I could bear
Some fond regrets to entertain;
With so much happiness to spare,
I could not feel a pain.
The green earth echoed to the feet
Of lambs that bounded through the glade,
From shade to sunshine, and as fleet
From sunshine back to shade.
Birds warbled round me -- and each trace
of inward sadness had its charm;
Kilve, thought I, was a favored place,
And so is Liswyn farm.
My boy beside me tripped, so slim
And graceful in his rustic dress!
And, as we talked, I questioned him,
In very idleness.
Now tell me, had you rather be,
I said, and took him by the arm,
On Kilve's smooth shore, by the green sea,
Or here at Liswyn farm?
In careless mood he looked at me,
While still I held him by the arm,
And said, At Kilve I'd rather be
Than here at Liswyn farm.
Now, little Edward, say why so:
My little Edward, tell me why. --
I cannot tell, I do not know. --
Why, this is strange, said I;
For, here are woods, hills smooth and warm:
There surely must some reason be
Why you would change sweet Liswyn farm
For Kilve by the green sea.
At this, my boy hung down his head,
He blushed with shame, nor made reply;
And three times to the child I said,
Why, Edward, tell me why?
His head he raised -- there was in sight,
It caught his eye, he saw it plain --
Upon the house-top, glittering bright,
A broad and gilded vane.
Then did the boy his tongue unlock,
And eased his mind with this reply:
At Kilve there was no weather-cock;
And that's the reason why.
O dearest, dearest boy! my heart
For better lore would seldom yearn,
Could I but teach the hundredth part
Of what from thee I learn.
About the Poem:
The poem is a description of a conversation between a father and son.
It is narrated by the father.
Boy’s name is Edward.
it is a criticism of the adult need for reason and a celebration of childhood.
The poem signifies the importance of learning even from the perspective of a child.
It is about the conflict between father and son regarding the place they want to live.
Father with his five year old son moves to Liswyn from Kilve.
Father asks his son if he likes his new place, but son replies that he does not.
Son could not tell the accurate reason because he is not in a position to express his feelings.
But father is persistent in asking why does his son dislike his new place. (Liswyn).
Son replies that he dislikes the weather-cock on top of their house in Liswyn farm, it is a the flash of the first idea which comes through the mind of the child which may not the right reason but it is given as reply to the persistent questioning by father.
Suddenly father understands that he is forcing the boy to adjust himself to the new place and to accept his( father’s) views.
Father realizes that he should nurture boy’s sense of freedom and creativity.
Boy displays maturity beyond his years by giving that answer which says that there was no weather cock at Kilve therefore he likes Kilve better.
Father asks his son five times if he likes his new place.
Meanings
Weather-cock = the wooden cock displayed on top of a house to show the direction of the wind.
Limbs = hands and legs
Mould = shape
Stroll = morning walk
Intermitted = frequent (antonyms : continuous, regular)
Delightful = pleasurable, savor ( antonyms : poor, sad, reluctance, sour ),
Shore = beach
Slim = lean (Antonym : Plump, huge)
Rustic = village like ( Antonyms : Urbane, civil)
Idleness = free time
Kilve = boy’s first place
Liswyn farm = boy’s second place
Woods = forest
Strange = different, cannot easily be understood ( Antonym : familiar, common)
Blush = feel ashamed, feel embarrassed ( Antonym : dignified, venerable, decorous )
Glittering = dazzling, flashing, impressive, splendid (Antonyms : Pale, dark, murky, gloomy, sinister)
Gilded = painted in gold color
Vane = the flat part of a metal sheet.
Lore : wisdom, tradition, custom ( Antonyms : unusual, atypical, strange)
Yearn : desire, long, crave ( Antonyms : dislike, abhor, detest, loath)
The poem has the rhyme scheme of ab ab ab ab ( last words of the stanza : old, see-mould me : like wise)
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