Wordsworth- Book Third

With nature as his closest companion thus far, Book Third introduces us into a whole new part of Wordsworth’s life. Although we have seen into the abstract thinking he has used to describe his earlier years, Book Third provides a totally different outlook. We find Wordsworth during his attendance at St. John’s College (Cambridge), with a new found desire to interact with the world—and people—around him. From this, he begins to describe things in a much more concrete sense, telling of the different types of people he sees and where he is going. A dramatic change from what has been seen up until this point, these exact descriptions allow the reader to connect on a personal level, almost as if they are there walking around with him. At this point, it is easy to begin noting that human interactions will be a key influence on Wordsworth while he is in Cambridge.

Once it has been established where he is, Wordsworth’s more abstract descriptions become intertwined with the concrete ones and slowly become the dominant style. This unique mix allows the reader to feel the transition he is experiencing by heading to Cambridge. With the writing style being primarily abstract until this move, a quick shift to concrete gives the reader the feeling of the dramatic change. However, he slowly begins to become comfortable with his surroundings and notices more than just the visual aspects. He goes deeper within himself to find the higher meaning of what is going on around him. This feature of switching styles gives off the type of feeling that could be attributed to moving off to college.

While the first two books have been about nature, this book involves a deeper relationship—with people. It is in this new found relationship with humans that Wordsworth is able to acknowledge that people are the source of happiness also. He is finally able to see that nature can be comforting, but people are better company. For example, when he mentions the friends he has already made in his short time there, Wordsworth says “some friends I had, acquaintances who there seemed friends, poor simple schoolboys, now hung round with honour and importance: in a world of welcome faces”. This portion of the poem allows the reader to get a feel for the importance people will have on his writing style. It is easy to assume from this early on in the poem that he is excited about this new idea of being with people and how it can provoke emotions and ideas he did not realize he had. Had Book Third in its entirety be more about imagery, rather than interactions, it would have not given the reader to opportunity to understand exactly how this new place in his life if affecting his deepest feelings. His entire college experience seemed to be more educational that it was intentionally meant to be. It seems as if it provided a new place to Wordsworth to go with his writing and a different outlook and the world—seeing nature more as just nature, and the complexities that are associated with each person he meet during his years at St. John’s College.

Emanuela Kucik on Book Third

William Wordsworth, Book Third

In Book Third of “The Prelude,” William Wordsworth discusses his experience at St. John’s College in Cambridge. Prior to this Book, we had only seen glimpses of Wordsworth as a child, 17 at the oldest, and had heard much of the influence that nature had on his developing mind. However, this Book goes beyond nature and gives us a glimpse of the effects of education and human interaction on Wordsworth’s mind. Although nature is still a prominent figure in this Book, human interaction has one of the larger roles in influencing Wordsworth’s mind. This influence is strongest perhaps in lines 233-236, “yet could I only cleave to solitude / in lonesome places – if a throng was near / that way I leaned by nature, for my heart / was social and loved idleness and joy” (Wordsworth 232-236). In these lines, Wordsworth expresses his newfound desire for human companionship, a desire seldom found in his younger days, the days during which his favorite companion was nature. In the footnote at the bottom of the page, it is noted that Wordsworth wrote a letter in 1794 in which he claimed that he was beginning to strongly desire to be in towns and cities for although nature was good company, it was not always good enough.
In order to make these key lines in Book Third so effective, Wordsworth uses the formal feature of organic imagery to make the words come alive. Organic imagery depicts an internal sensation which, in these lines, is Wordsworth’s newfound desire to be around people. In the first two lines, “yet could I only cleave to solitude / in lonesome places,” we can visualize Wordsworth’s internal struggle that only allows him to be content in his own company when he is the only one around. Through the imagery, we can truly feel Wordsworth’s switch from a being of solitude to a being who no longer desires solitude unless he is already alone.
The aforementioned organic imagery continues throughout the rest of the lines, “…if a throng was near / that way I leaned by nature, for my heart / was social and loved idleness and joy.” The organic imagery in these lines makes it easy to visualize Wordsworth’s internal desire to be around people. The word “leaned,” lends itself well to imagery, for we can almost see Wordsworth literally leaning towards crowds due to his strong wish to be around them.
The organic imagery within these lines makes palpable Wordsworth’s desire to be around people. Throughout “The Prelude,” we have grown accustomed to Wordsworth’s desire to be alone with nature, so his switch is a drastic one. Furthermore, without the use of the organic imagery, we would not be truly able to feel Wordsworth’s internal desires. If the passage possessed only visual or auditory imagery, it would not be as poignant because we would only be envisioning or hearing what Wordsworth was saying, not truly feeling it. Thus, the inclusion of organic imagery allows us to see what a strong influence being in college and constantly being surrounded by people had on the mind of Wordsworth, a mind that apparently was not influenced solely by nature.

Introducing... THE PRELUDOMETER!!!!

Link to the excel file with data and charts.

The Prelude, 1805 Book II

In lines 341-371, the perspective of Wordsworth's speaker chronicles his own experience with some being that he encountered in his youth. He speaks in the first person, but he cannot attest to an actual physical experience. He writes, “I forgot/That I had bodily eyes, and what I saw/Appear’d like something in myself, a dream,/A prospect in my mind” (368-371). Whatever happened to the speaker it took place outside of the realm of his physical being and consciousness. This experience was so surreal that he struggled to articulate it, noting that, to some, this page is blank. In writing that, the speaker means that readers who have not shared this experience cannot possibly understand what Wordsworth is describing. Since the experience was metaphysical, it is impossible to express it in physical, comprehensive terms.
The speaker’s imagery is abstract, emotional, and metaphysical. He experiences grandeur, tumult, tranquility, delight, strength, happiness, passion, solitude, and holy calm. These are all subjective experiences; that which delights one man may bore another. So the speaker expresses a series of feelings, almost a stream of consciousness of the soul, which really cannot be translated for any other human being. The only way to understand the speaker’s perspective is to share his experience. So the speaker refers to his “Friend,” who, although they haven’t spoken in years, was affected in the same way at this time, and can empathize perfectly with his experience (352-358).
The inspiration for the speaker’s discussion is some encounter with the sublime. The speaker struggles to describe his interaction with the “universal power” (343). This power exists outside of himself – “to me came strengthen’d with a superadded soul, a virtue not its own” (347), and within himself – “a prospect in my mind” (371). And it would seem that the power is made complete in the speaker. “To me came strengthen’d a superadded soul,/A virtue not its own” would seem to indicate that the power reaches its fulfillment once it is made manifest in a man’s experience. All of the grandeur, tumult, tranquility, fitness, delight, and the essences of this being cannot exist outside of some physical manifestation. So while the speaker cannot possibly express his experience in literal terms, the “universal power” is equally constricted because it requires a man’s life to fully express itself. This concept of a power so lofty that man cannot comprehend it is, by definition, the sublime. The speaker’s experience is both outside himself, and within himself to give him a glimpse of something greater than himself. It’s pretty trippy.

Book Second 1805..Lines 285-320

After reading the sections of Book Second over and over trying to determine Wordsworth’s true connection between the love and nature and growth in a person, lines 284 through 320 began to explain. In the beginning of this book, Wordsworth makes it clear that the as a child many develop a love for nature. It somehow has an internal impact on the development of children into adolescents and then into adults. Lines 284 through 288 mention the happiness of youth and anticipating the knowledge that one desires. According to Wordsworth, this knowledge is brought through seasons and its changing qualities. Basically the love for nature that a child develops makes the child able to adapt to whatever changes they are crossed with in life. It teaches them lessons that they often take heed to.

Lines 294 through 298: “Hence, life, and changes, and beauty, solitude More active even than ‘best society’, Society made sweet as solitude By silent inobtrusive sympathies, And gentle agitations of the mind….”. Wordsworth’s interpretation of this is that sometimes maturity is best to on ones own or through nature. To me his remark about solitude being more active than the best society, or loneliness being more efficient in raising someone, seems reasonable because with society everyone has their different opinions on what is correct and what isn’t. People constantly want you to conform to their lifestyles and the way that their life is ran leaving no open space for you to establish your own qualities and characteristics. Regardless of if the society was made sweet where a person wasn’t overpowered by politics and beliefs, people learn through observation, and if a person isn’t being pressured into doing something, most of the time they are looking at the actions of a person and being influenced. So allowing nature to develop a person into the person they want to be is a better way to age.

An interesting article condining the memorization of verse

in the New York Times this weekend. Check it out.

Wordsworth's The Prelude (1805) Book Second

Wordsworth's The Prelude is a reflection of of the psychological journey he has taken throughout his life. He argues that nature, and our observations of it help shape our schemas, which are the molds we form in our mind, and we categorize new information according to how it fits these molds. Book Second of The Prelude focuses mainly on Wordsworth's childhood. 

The section from lines 232 to 258 discusses how an infant first makes an emotional connection with his mother, and how this connection leads the baby's mind to start making observations about the world around him, "forming parts into wholes." Wordsworth says that "such feelings pass into his torpid life/ Like an awakening breeze, and hence his mind... eager to combine/ In one appearance all the elements/ And parts of the same object, else detached/ And loath to coalesce." In Wordsworth's opinion, the mind does not begin to form ideas and concepts until one experience an emotional connection with another human being. Emotions are what link ideas together in our mind. Without emotions we have all sorts of ideas floating around in our heads, but none of them are complete. Our emotions take all of these bits and pieces and organize them, and link them together.

Wordsworth also talks about the passing of the seasons and the importance of this transition on how a young person gains knowledge. He begins to discuss this affect starting on line 284. He explains that children have a love of nature, and this makes them more sensitive to the changes that occur, and with these changes brings an opportunity to gain more knowledge. These changes, and the observations made about them, permanently influence the child's mind. 

- Sarabeth Hogshire