IB English
January 24th, 2013
January 24th, 2013
Commentary on “To my
Sister”
In
a jovial but serious tone, the poem “To my Sister” by William Wordsworth
addresses the speaker’s “sister” (line 9, 37) and invites her to abandon “haste
(and) morning task” (line 11) in order to feel more and be in contact with
nature. The poem consists of 10 stanzas with each four verses and the rhyme
scheme is abab, which creates - together with the use of many alliteration and
assonances - a pleasant rhythmic pattern. This pattern matches the flow of
nature and life advocated by the speaker.
In the first two stanzas, the speaker describes the current atmosphere; it is the beginning of spring (Line 1: “the first mild day of March”) and plants and animals begin to re-awaken. The narrator experiences the moment with his senses and feels pleasure. In the second stanza, he invites his sister to use her senses and “feel the sun” (line 12) as well instead of rushing through tasks. In the next two stanzas, he emphasizes that there should not be “joyless forms (that) regulate / our living calendar” (line 17 - 18) such as books that he requests his sister to leave at home (line 15). The following three stanzas further underline how only feeling and living in the present moment would bring true happiness in contrast to “years of toiling reason” (line 26). In the next stanza, the speaker promises that this way of existing would bring “blessed power that rolls / above, below, above” (line 32 – 33) and that their souls would be finally “tuned to love” (line 35). The last stanza is partially repeats the fourth stanza and thereby emphasizes his want for his sister to come (line 37) and join him “for this one day” (line 39).
It can be interpreted that the speaker has experienced cosmic integrity with the nature and wants his sister, who is probably very close to him, to feel the same. He desires to celebrate the opening of spring with her with the elemental forms of nature, for example she should wear her “woodland dress” which could be a symbol for harmony with nature. The speaker intensely urges the importance of feeling, for example in line 12: “Come forth and feel the sun” and line 24: “It is the hour of feeling.” He would love to abandon human concepts and structures such as time (Lines 17 – 20: “no joyless forms shall regulate / our living calendar (...) We from to-day (...) will date the opening of the year”) and reason (Lines 25 – 26: “One moment now may give us more than years of toiling reason”). However, he declares that their hearts will make “some silent laws” but because those laws would come from the heart, they would have their lives in their own hands, which is further emphasized through the mention of the “blessed power” (line 32). Moreover, it means that these laws or the power originates from love, an idea that is repeated several times in the poem (for example line 21: “Love, now a universal birth” or line 36: “(souls) shall be tuned to love”). It becomes clear that the speaker has experienced a magical connection and an all-encompassing love through nature; for him, “each minute (is) sweeter than before” (line 2) as he encounters the nature through sight, sound, and feeling. Wordsworth uses imagery (for example line 3- 4: “The redbreast sings from the tall larch that stands beside our door”) and the concept of impericism to deliver this insight. One stanza is of particular interest here: In lines 7-8 (“To the bare trees, and mountains bare, and grass in the green field”) Wordsworth uses repetition, alliteration, and polysyndeton all at once for emphasis and describes (lines 5- 8) that there is an unidentifiable “blessing in the air” that seems like “a sense of joy.” This effects that the power of nature is strengthened, because the “sense of joy” yields to bare trees, bare mountains, and the green grass that represent pure, simple yet beautiful nature. In line 25, an interesting assonance of different o-sounds is used (“One moment now may give us more”) to make this line stand out from the others in order to show how important that one moment is for the whole life and for the spirit. It is further made clear through the personified metaphor “Our minds shall drink at every pore / the spirit of the season” (lines 27 – 28). It can be interpreted as that the minds, that are considered as the rational part of humankind, thirst for something inexplicable, namely the “spirit of the season.” The speaker wants to take it all in. This desire for fulfilment becomes more clear in line 34 (“About, below, above”) through the use of asyndeton; it effects the conclusion that the power of experiencing the present moment and nature is overwhelming and everywhere without gaps or breaks.
In conclusion, Wordsworth speaks out with this poem how enriching it is if one just lets go of the duties and the rush of the imprisoned mind and instead experiences the moment. It is a concept of feeling and sensing instead of figuring things out logically; the senses and the soul against the mind. Although addressing the sister personally and with urge, this poem becomes an appeal to everybody as the theme of feeling discussed in the poem makes the reader identify with it just as if he or she would be addressed as well.
In the first two stanzas, the speaker describes the current atmosphere; it is the beginning of spring (Line 1: “the first mild day of March”) and plants and animals begin to re-awaken. The narrator experiences the moment with his senses and feels pleasure. In the second stanza, he invites his sister to use her senses and “feel the sun” (line 12) as well instead of rushing through tasks. In the next two stanzas, he emphasizes that there should not be “joyless forms (that) regulate / our living calendar” (line 17 - 18) such as books that he requests his sister to leave at home (line 15). The following three stanzas further underline how only feeling and living in the present moment would bring true happiness in contrast to “years of toiling reason” (line 26). In the next stanza, the speaker promises that this way of existing would bring “blessed power that rolls / above, below, above” (line 32 – 33) and that their souls would be finally “tuned to love” (line 35). The last stanza is partially repeats the fourth stanza and thereby emphasizes his want for his sister to come (line 37) and join him “for this one day” (line 39).
It can be interpreted that the speaker has experienced cosmic integrity with the nature and wants his sister, who is probably very close to him, to feel the same. He desires to celebrate the opening of spring with her with the elemental forms of nature, for example she should wear her “woodland dress” which could be a symbol for harmony with nature. The speaker intensely urges the importance of feeling, for example in line 12: “Come forth and feel the sun” and line 24: “It is the hour of feeling.” He would love to abandon human concepts and structures such as time (Lines 17 – 20: “no joyless forms shall regulate / our living calendar (...) We from to-day (...) will date the opening of the year”) and reason (Lines 25 – 26: “One moment now may give us more than years of toiling reason”). However, he declares that their hearts will make “some silent laws” but because those laws would come from the heart, they would have their lives in their own hands, which is further emphasized through the mention of the “blessed power” (line 32). Moreover, it means that these laws or the power originates from love, an idea that is repeated several times in the poem (for example line 21: “Love, now a universal birth” or line 36: “(souls) shall be tuned to love”). It becomes clear that the speaker has experienced a magical connection and an all-encompassing love through nature; for him, “each minute (is) sweeter than before” (line 2) as he encounters the nature through sight, sound, and feeling. Wordsworth uses imagery (for example line 3- 4: “The redbreast sings from the tall larch that stands beside our door”) and the concept of impericism to deliver this insight. One stanza is of particular interest here: In lines 7-8 (“To the bare trees, and mountains bare, and grass in the green field”) Wordsworth uses repetition, alliteration, and polysyndeton all at once for emphasis and describes (lines 5- 8) that there is an unidentifiable “blessing in the air” that seems like “a sense of joy.” This effects that the power of nature is strengthened, because the “sense of joy” yields to bare trees, bare mountains, and the green grass that represent pure, simple yet beautiful nature. In line 25, an interesting assonance of different o-sounds is used (“One moment now may give us more”) to make this line stand out from the others in order to show how important that one moment is for the whole life and for the spirit. It is further made clear through the personified metaphor “Our minds shall drink at every pore / the spirit of the season” (lines 27 – 28). It can be interpreted as that the minds, that are considered as the rational part of humankind, thirst for something inexplicable, namely the “spirit of the season.” The speaker wants to take it all in. This desire for fulfilment becomes more clear in line 34 (“About, below, above”) through the use of asyndeton; it effects the conclusion that the power of experiencing the present moment and nature is overwhelming and everywhere without gaps or breaks.
In conclusion, Wordsworth speaks out with this poem how enriching it is if one just lets go of the duties and the rush of the imprisoned mind and instead experiences the moment. It is a concept of feeling and sensing instead of figuring things out logically; the senses and the soul against the mind. Although addressing the sister personally and with urge, this poem becomes an appeal to everybody as the theme of feeling discussed in the poem makes the reader identify with it just as if he or she would be addressed as well.
Thanks... I am in sixth grade and it helped me a lot in my exams
ReplyDelete