English Literature
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William Wordsworth
(1770-1850)
I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high oer 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.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance
The waves beside them danced; but they
Outdid 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:
For oft when in my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my hearth with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
Analysis:
Wordsworth had nature as his religion, and that was the main theme of his work and also a characteristic of romanticism. And its also very clear on this poem.
As literary devices, we have Alliteration on the second line of the first stanza, alliteration and assonance on the fifth line of the first stanza and personification on the last line of the first stanza.
On the second stanza, we have a simile on the first line, inversion on the eleventh line and personification on the last line.
On the third stanza, we have assonance, alliteration and repetition of the word “waves” on the first line, and again repetition on the seventeenth line.
On the forth stanza, we have antithesis on the twentieth line and a metaphor on the twenty-first line. We also have alliteration on the last line.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(1772-1834)
Part II of the Rime of the Ancient Mariner
The sun now rose upon the right:
Out of the carne he,
Still hid in mist, and on the left
Went down into the sea.
And the good south wind still blew behind,
But no sweet bird did follow,
Nor any day for food or play
Came to the mariners hollo!
And I had done an hellish thing,
And it would work em woe:
For all averred, I had killed the bird
That made the breeze to blow.
Ah wretch! said they, the bird to slay
That made the breeze to blow!
Nor dim nor red, like Gods own head,
The glorious Sun uprist:
Then all averred, I had killed the bird
That brought the fog and mist.
Twas right, said they, such birds to slay,
That bring the fog and mist.
The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew,
The furrow followed free:
We were the first that ever burst
Into that silent sea.
Down dropt the breeze, the sails dropt down,
Twas sad as sad could be;
And we did speak only to break
The silence of the sea!
All in a hot and copper sky,
The bloody Sun, at noon,
Right up above the mast did stand,
No bigger than the Moon.
Day after day, day after day,
We stuck, nor breath nor motion;
As idle as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean.
Water, water, every where,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, every where,
Nor any drop to drink.
Analysis:
Coleridge prefers to write on the supernatural subjects, that is also a characteristic of romanticism, and in this poem he deals with supernatural punishment and penance.
On the first stanza, we have alliteration and assonance.
On the second stanza, we have alliteration on the first and second lines and assonance on the third.
On the third stanza, we have assonance on the second line, alliteration on the second and third lines, an assonance on the fourth line and an alliteration on the fifth line.
On the fifth stanza, we have alliteration on the second line.
On the sixth stanza, we have repetition on the second line, we have antithesis on the last two lines.
On the seventh