Monthly Archives: March 2019

William Wordsworth was a poet with quite a few notable works but one in particular that peaked my interest was the poem “We Are Seven” in which he details a meeting he had with a little girl he met in a cottage. Essentialy he asks this girl how many brothers and sisters she has and she says seven despite two of her siblings having passed away. They almost have a debate about it, with Wordsworth saying she has five siblings since two of them passed away but the little girl insisted, that it did not matter they were still her siblings and she had seven siblings. The reason this was interesting for me was firstly because Wordsworth chose to entertain the conversation. It shows to me that he was genuinly curious about what this little girl had to say, where as most adults would hear something like that and dismiss it Wordsworth decided to explore her thinking. Even though he doesn’t really understand her line of thinking, he tried to. Another reason this was interesting was because you can see a similar kind of thinking in a lot of people today and even in the past. Maybe not exactly the same thinking but what I’m talking about is people who keep good friends closer than most of their own family. Some may say those people aren’t your real family but to them they are and this is something I agree with. It is said that blood is thicker than water and while this is literally true it is not always figurativly true. You don’t get to choose your family and sometimes people are born into a situation where their family members are toxic people, but if they can find truly good friends who are good people that they relate to and can count on, then why would they not consider them family? Although the text is not making this direct correlation, that little girl is saying that even though her siblings may be dead they are still around and they are still family. She goes outside to play and even eat supper by the tree they are buried near and she sings to them. Despite them not being alive, they are still there with her just like despite someone not being family they are still there with you.

William Wordsworth

After reading several of William Wordsworth’s work,  I was able to see how he creates and implies a unity between man and nature in his work. For example, in “I wandered as lonely as a cloud”, Wordsworth was able to create a mental image and capture the essence of how nature makes someone feel. In the poem, the poet is wandering and describes himself as “lonely as a cloud” and soon discovers a field of daffodils by a lake. This is a memory that he is fond of and it seems to comforts him when he is feeling lonely or restless. While reading this poem, I felt a strange sense of nostalgia and after pondering for a while of what this reminded me of, it made me realize that I once had the same sight and feelings as the poet had. It took me back to the time I went to Ecuador, all to a specific moment. I had the same emotions described in the poem when I was standing near a Volcano sight in Ecuador, Tungurahua. While in Ecuador I felt a sense of connection between the valley breeze as I stood on a hill near the site of Tunguragua taking pictures of the landscape. As I was taking these photos, I remember noticing a river at the bottom of a steep hill. There lied a vast garden of daisies and other flowers. It was misty and cool and relaxed me as I forgot about the city back at home. Wordsworth’s poem took me back to this memory and took me back to feeling the same emotions I felt when I there and the similarities are odd and refreshing in a way. Specifically, the lines “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” seemed to describe the exact place I was in. I personally found that when I was standing alone on this hill, with such a vast sight watching the water in the river flow, I was able to truly feel a sense of peace, calmness, relaxation and I was able to truly clear my mind. The poet towards the end says that he is able to look back at this memory when he is feeling lonely, sad or overall in a pensive mood and thus be able to bring pleasure back to his heart. This gave me the idea that I can now look back at this memory and momentarily bring back the sense on tranquility.