Year 10 English Halfyearlies - Wordsworth Poetry

The Solitary Reaper

Repetition of being alone mentioned 5 times in first verse - solitary, single, solitary, by
herself, alone

solitary - concept of being alone different from being lonely

Be able to think and contemplate

melancholy strain - shows strong, country woman not frail

Strikes poet with the song shes singing & what shes doing; not conscience of audience

A sad, beautiful & distinctive song - her song, individuality

Shes doing work in a graceful ways, just her being one with nature, not sweating
Importance of Nature & emotions

Wordsworth using his level as poet to describe a normal scene - show to people the importance of
nature

heart - romantic thoughts as too much emphasis on the head & logic - needs emotion response

stop here, or gently pass - stop &look, its actually not something ordinary but you can learn

reaper - nostalgic, way of being in the field instead of using machines

some natural sorrow, loss, or pain, - bubble out of natural feelings & strong emotions - natural contrast to the logical world of that time

Techniques
Hyperbole

second verse

cuckoo-bird - guides travelers to oasis COMPARASION to songs of songbirds

so thrilling - her song is even better than all of nightingale, welcome notes

overflowing with the sound - exaggerated

Hyperbole gives dramatic nature of the poem

motionless and still -emphasis of same meaning

behold her - command, imperative; as if pointing

Will no one tell me what she sings? - use of Q; poet haunted by the song

Gerund - reaping ,singing - constant movement

Adverb - gently pass - dont disturb & leave it to perfection

Themes: solitary, individuality, importance of nature, elite poet & having great ideas about things

I wandered Lonely as a cloud

Moment of revelation

Wordsworth saw field of daffodils - filled him with peacefulness & gratefulness for nature

Solitude gained while he walked past the scene

Important as he was in vacant or in pensive mood - got away from mechanical & strict world to
freedom from nature

Nature has power to redeem & energies poet with joy

little thought - taken by the image

For oft - tone changes, feels empty & lost sense of purpose

wealth - non materialism, true wealth lies in nature

Contained elements from nature e.g. stars, trees, lake, waves etc

heart - humans connection to nature, emphasis on emotional response from the heart instead of
logic in head

solitude - mentioned, one of factors of romantic poetry

Poet away from noise, activity of busy industrial world and recalls nature

Reflects on himself - shows his emotions in depth using 1st person - I

Diction - words chosen to match poem

Techniques
Personification

golden daffodils fluttering and dancing in the breeze. - gives daffodils character, human
features & emphasis on its movements

sprightly dance - performing for poet, dancing & showing off

I gazed - and gazed - reinforce action of searching & being captured by the image and his
admiration for it

Punctuation - drags timing and adds effect that hes amazed

I wandered lonely as a cloud - connects author to nature & solitude

Introduce theme of nature & contrasts with all at once - fast paced & direct
Alliteration

be but - emphasis on be

dances with the daffodils - emphasis on how poet have joined with daffodils & nature as one
Soft sounding words

flutter, bliss, tossing - puts us at ease

Matches peacefulness & harmonious of moment

stars that shine and twinkle in the milky way - exaggerate beauty of imagery

She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways

Maid - idea of purity & she is outdoorsy and earth contrast to idea of girls staying indoor

A violet by a mossy stone - she visits secluded beauty - symbol of nature

Half hidden from the eye - other people go out to nature but dont notice it
Explains why he isnt drowning in sorrow (no human fears) - because Lucy has joined in spirit with
nature
She seemd a thing - not human, connect with nature, that could not feel The touch of earthly
years & can not age as death made her safe from passing of time

Solitude

untrodden - reminds of heavy footsteps, ruin & left imprint - destruction OR unspoiled nature, no
one else have been there

none to praise - turns her back on how the human world long for approval but she is self sufficient
& no need for vanity/pride

She lived unknown - sense peacefulness, calmness & doesnt mind no one knows about her

Techniques
Hyperbole

Fair - as a star - outshines all stars (uniqueness)

Lucy ceased to be - musical & lyrical (assonance) - the ceased emphasised Lucy
Syllables

slumber - slow & gentle caused by 2 syllables which drags it instead of the word sleep
Alliteration

slumber spirit seal - add to understanding of sleep to gain tranquility - a revelation to him
(realisation)

Rolld round diurnal (daily) - idea of energy of daily cycle of life continuing - like energy of
human transformed to spirit (a contemporary idea)
Punctuation

With rocks, and stones, and tees! - how important his revelation is

Accretion (accumulation) - like a list

No motion has she now, no force; She neither hears nor sees - negative repeats enforcing her
control & effortlessness of being neutral

The world is too much with us

too much - judgment on the world how its making too much demands

The world is too much with us - bold & strong statement and starts with generalization

we lay waste our powers - humans energy, resources & creativity destroyed & lost

late and soon - balance, parallel construction - a cycle takes all our time

What we have lost is more than what weve gained

Nature

glimpse - see world before human lost connection with nature

Mentions of Proteus & Triton - ancient Greek Gods more comforting than new creeds of
materialism & industrialisation - at least believed in something

Techniques
Alliteration

waste, power - emphasise point of lost of important things

howling, hours - assonance

Getting and spending - the ing makes it feel its continuous, never-ending

humans being caught up with the cycle of getting more and more things
Oxymoron

a sordid boon - the reward is spoilt if we have given our hearts away - the center of our
emotions
Poetry form

Sonnet 14 lines and iambic pentameter - but plays with the sonnet form

Spilt into two parts with - which draws attention to final paragraph reject everything before

Interrupts and start putting I - personal POV to reject world & return back to past
Metaphor

suckled - metaphor of baby, to return back time

out of tune - lack of harmony compared musical instruments with humans

bares her bosom - female bearing her bosom resembles effects of tides; vast sea: huge impact on
the world & a large aspect of nature

howling at all hours - echoes wind

Great God! - exclamation; juxtapose God and Pagan who worship idols not God; despair with
exclamation mark

Inversion of up-gathered now - emphasis on compound word; wind can unleash its power

Contrasts too much with little we see (first and third line)