Concetti Chiave
- Wordsworth perceives nature's beauty through the senses, evoking emotions linked to memory.
- Childhood is crucial for Wordsworth as children have vivid perceptions and imaginative experiences.
- Poetry arises from recollecting emotions in tranquility, leading to pure poetic expression.
- Memory re-creates and purifies emotions into a poetic form, generating a "kindred" emotion.
- Memory is central to Wordsworth's moral and mental growth, infusing life and power into his poetry.
Indice
William Wordsworth – education and acquaintances
William Wordsworth was born on 7th of April 1770 in Cockermouth where he had to face lots of troubles. Both his parents, for example, died respectively in 1774 and 1793 and, as a result he become an orphan. Nevertheless, he reached to comfort himself appreciating the beauty of the nature of the Lake District.
He studied firstly in the most important grammar school in Hawkshead and secondly, in 1787, at St. John's College in Cambridge. He was not really passionate about studying there but his poetic vein was clear because in the same year he wrote a sonnet that was published in the European Review.
In the summer of 1790 he and one of his schoolmates went to France to experience the France revolution lead by their curiosity and a certain republican belief.
Here he fell in love with Annette Vallon so that in December 1792 their first daughter was born. He could not spend much time with here because the worsening political situation in France forced him to return to England but during the Peace of Amiens they met again and some agreement were made about financial contributions for her maintenance.
These years were spent in London where Wordsworth became close to the publisher Joseph Johnson, who published Descriptive Sketches and An Evening Walk, and his group of radical intellectuals like William Blake, Mary Wollstonecraft and William Godwin (they will be the parents of Mary Shelley).
In 1797, near Bristol, Wordsworth met for the first time S. T. Coleridge with whom he wrote in 1798 the collection of poems called Lyrical Ballads, one of the foundational literary works of Romanticism.
William Wordsworth – the value of the senses
For the English romantic poet, William Wordsworth, through the senses or through a perception, it is possible to perceive the beauty of the nature that in a second time, in a calmier situation from a physical and a spiritual point of view, will become an emotion. As a matter of fact, the memory has a crucial role in this process, because only with its use he is able to come into contact with the Nature and what he had truly felt.
For this reason, Wordsworth considers childhood the most important phase in the man’s life, as children’s perceptions are more vivid and more imaginative than the adult’s ones, and his experiences remain imprinted in his memory.
In fact, to communicate to the others similar emotions to those felt by the poet, Wordsworth follows the recollection of an emotion in tranquillity, that give origin to a pure poetry. And just through this re-creative power of memory, the emotion is reproduced and purified in a poetic form, so that a second emotion, "kindred" to the first one, is generated.
He describes this process in the following sequence: object > poet > sensory experience > emotion > memory =(equal to) recollection in tranquility > ‘kindred’ emotion > poem > reader > emotion. Then memory is the major force in the process of growth of Wordsworth’s moral and mental view, and also because give to his poetry its life and power.
Domande da interrogazione
- Quali furono le principali influenze educative e sociali di William Wordsworth?
- Come influenzò la Rivoluzione Francese la vita di Wordsworth?
- Qual è il ruolo della memoria nella poesia di Wordsworth?
- Perché Wordsworth considera l'infanzia una fase cruciale nella vita di un uomo?
- Qual è il processo descritto da Wordsworth per trasformare un'esperienza sensoriale in poesia?
Wordsworth studiò alla grammar school di Hawkshead e al St. John's College di Cambridge. A Londra, si avvicinò a intellettuali radicali come William Blake e Mary Wollstonecraft, influenzando la sua carriera poetica.
Durante un viaggio in Francia nel 1790, Wordsworth fu attratto dalla Rivoluzione Francese e si innamorò di Annette Vallon, con cui ebbe una figlia. Tuttavia, dovette tornare in Inghilterra a causa della situazione politica.
La memoria è fondamentale per Wordsworth, poiché permette di rivivere le emozioni percepite attraverso i sensi e trasformarle in poesia pura, generando una seconda emozione "affine" alla prima.
Wordsworth ritiene l'infanzia importante perché le percezioni dei bambini sono più vivide e immaginative, e le esperienze vissute rimangono impresse nella memoria, influenzando la crescita morale e mentale.
Wordsworth descrive il processo come: oggetto > poeta > esperienza sensoriale > emozione > memoria = ricordo in tranquillità > emozione "affine" > poesia > lettore > emozione, con la memoria come forza principale.
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