William Wordsworth comes back from France and realises with a shock what his own country has become.
ByWilliam Wordsworth1770-1850
1802
In the Time of
King George III1760-1820
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Milton! Thou Shouldst be Living at this Hour
By William Daniell (1769-1837), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain. Source
London Bridge, painted by William Daniell in 1804.
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London Bridge in 1804, from Six Views of London by
William Daniell (1769-1837). When Wordsworth left for France, he stood on Westminster Bridge in the early morning and admired the quiet of the city: see On Westminster Bridge. When he returned, London struck him very differently. In Daniell’s panorama, we see London Bridge itself and the River Thames below it busy with traffic, and a haze of smoke hangs over the city. Prominent are the city’s churches, including St Paul’s Cathedral on the left, which Wordsworth felt had failed the country just as the armed forces and literary men such as himself had failed it.
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London Bridge, painted by William Daniell in 1804.
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By William Daniell (1769-1837), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
London Bridge in 1804, from Six Views of London by
William Daniell (1769-1837). When Wordsworth left for France, he stood on Westminster Bridge in the early morning and admired the quiet of the city: see On Westminster Bridge. When he returned, London struck him very differently. In Daniell’s panorama, we see London Bridge itself and the River Thames below it busy with traffic, and a haze of smoke hangs over the city. Prominent are the city’s churches, including St Paul’s Cathedral on the left, which Wordsworth felt had failed the country just as the armed forces and literary men such as himself had failed it.
In 1802, William Wordsworth returned from a brief trip across the Channel and was suddenly struck by the ugly noise of London. He was not singing the praises of post-revolutionary Paris, where ‘quiet desolation’ reigned. But England’s complacent wealth, her vanity and parade, were no better, for he could detect little happiness in them, and no moral fibre.
MILTON! thou should’st be living at this hour:*
England hath need of thee: she is a fen
Of stagnant waters:* altar, sword, and pen,*
Fireside,* the heroic wealth of hall and bower,*
Have forfeited their ancient English dower*
Of inward happiness. We are selfish men;
Oh! raise us up, return to us again;
And give us manners, virtue, freedom, power.
Thy soul was like a Star, and dwelt apart,
Thou hadst a voice whose sound was like the sea:*
Pure as the naked heavens, majestic, free.
So didst thou travel on life’s common way
In cheerful godliness; and yet thy heart
The lowliest duties on herself did lay.*
* John Milton (1608-1674), one of England’s finest poets. He was a diplomat and civil servant working for the Council of State, the executive power of Oliver Cromwell’s short-lived republic. A man of zeal and religious conviction, Milton thought deeply on moral, social and political questions and championed free speech against the repression of both King and Parliament. See posts tagged John Milton (4).
This is an example of metaphor. ‘England is like a stagnant fen’ is a simile, but ‘England is a stagnant fen’ is a metaphor.
* Wordsworth is saying that the Church, the armed forces and the arts had all failed the country. This trick of referring to something by one of its recognisable attributes (altar = religion, sword = the military, pen = writers) is known as metonymy, and each word is a metonym. Wordsworth uses several in this sonnet.
* ‘The fireside’ indicates the ordinary family home, which has also been affected by the general spirit of the age.
* ‘Hall and bower’ indicates the stately homes of the hereditary aristocracy (halls) and their beautiful estates and gardens (bowers). Greed and show have corrupted and diminished noble families that once set a better example to the country.
* A dower is a legacy, especially a widow’s lifetime share of her late husband’s estate. Wordsworth is saying that inner happiness ought to be the inheritance of every Englishman, but it has been given up (forfeited) for the sake of greedy materialism and mindless fashions.
* Compare Revelation 1:15: “and his voice as the sound of many waters”.
Wordsworth praises Milton’s self-discipline, high principles and courageous defence of free speech; but he also draws attention to his moderation, commending him for being able to enjoy ordinary comforts too.
Questions for Critics
1. What is the author
aiming to achieve in writing this?
2. Note any words, devices or turns of phrase that
strike you. How do they help the author communicate his
ideas more effectively?
3. What impression does this passage make on you?
How might you put that impression into words?
Based on The English Critic (1939)
by NL Clay, drawing on The New Criticism: A Lecture Delivered at
Columbia University, March 9, 1910, by J. E. Spingarn,
Professor of Comparative Literature in Columbia University,
USA.
Précis
After visiting France in 1802, William Wordsworth was struck by the thought that never in over a century had England so needed the voice of fellow poet John Milton. Here was a man who appreciated everyday happiness, but also exercised self-restraint, and perhaps could inspire families, the clergy, the military and the intelligentsia to serve noble goals again.(58 / 60 words)
After visiting France in 1802, William Wordsworth was struck by the thought that never in over a century had England so needed the voice of fellow poet John Milton. Here was a man who appreciated everyday happiness, but also exercised self-restraint, and perhaps could inspire families, the clergy, the military and the intelligentsia to serve noble goals again.
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Variations:
1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 65 words.2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 55 words.3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: although, besides, if, just, not, since, unless, whereas.
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1Free.Happy.She.
2Low.Pen.Thou.
3Do.Hour.Return.
Variations:1.include direct and indirect speech2.include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who3.use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Each of the words below has more than one possible meaning. Compose your own sentences to show what those different meanings are.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1.Lie.2.Man.3.Live.4.Cheer.5.Free.6.Like.
Show Suggestions
For each word above, choose one or more suitable
meanings from this list.
1.Make someone feel happier.2.Unrestrained, liberated.3.Dwell, exist.4.Find pleasure in, approve.5.Stretch out.6.Provide the crew for.7.A male person.8.Not recorded.9.Conditions of a golf ball.10.Similar to.11.An island in the Irish Sea.12.Charged with electricity.13.Without charge.14.Tell untruths.15.Shout hurrah!.
Many words can serve as noun or verb depending on context: see if you can prove this with the examples below. Nouns go well with words such as the/a, or his/her; verbs go well after I/you/he etc..
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
Variations:
1.if possible, use your noun in the plural, e.g. cat → cats.2.use your verb in a past form, e.g. go → went.3.use your noun in a sentence with one of these words: any, enough, fewer, less, no, some.
Make words (three letters or more) from the seven letters showing below, using any letter once only. Each letter carries a score. What is the highest-scoring word you can make?
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Related Posts
On Westminster Bridge
ByWilliam Wordsworth
On his way to war-torn France, William Wordsworth passed through London
and was overwhelmed by the quiet of the early morning.
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