Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge

The Romantic Movement in England

Little Lamb who made thee           Dost thou know who made thee  Gave thee life & bid thee feed.  By the stream & o'er the mead; Gave thee clothing of delight, Softest clothing wooly bright; Gave thee such a tender voice, Making all the vales rejoice!           Little Lamb who made thee           Dost thou know who made thee  * Narrator is voice of a child who is asking the

lamb questions about its creation.

Blake’s “The Lamb”

Little Lamb I'll tell thee,          Little Lamb I'll tell thee! He is called by thy name, For he calls himself a Lamb:  He is meek & he is mild,  He became a little child:  I a child & thou a lamb,  We are called by his name.          Little Lamb God bless thee.           Little Lamb God bless thee. * The child narrator answers his questions &

bestows a blessing on the lamb.

“The Lamb”

Tone/Mood: Innocent, Serene

Naivite: * Child Narrator * Child Speaks to Animal * A Riddle * Simplicity

Rhetorical Question: A question asked in order to make a point without expectance of an answer.

“The Lamb”

Symbolism: The poem contains “Christian Symbolism” The Lamb = Christ The Child = Innocence Simplicity of Faith

However, the poem doesn’t provide a complete picture. While it is easy for us to understand the idea that “God is good, and so he creates good,” this does not account for the evil in the world. The child, in his/her innocence, likely has not needed to contemplate “the bigger picture” yet.

Thus, this is from Blake’s Songs of Innocence

“The Lamb”

Innocence:The Lambs

Experience: The Tygers

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright In the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye Could frame thy fearful symmetry? 

Narrator asks a question, wondering who/what could have created such a fearsome creature as this tiger.

Blake’s “The Tyger”

In what distant deeps or skies.Burnt the fire of thine eyes? On what wings dare he aspire? What the hand, dare seize the fire? 

The speaker associates the tiger with “fire,” perhaps symbolic of the Christian notion of “hell.” The speaker wonders about the creator of this animal.

“The Tyger”

And what shoulder, & what art, Could twist the sinews of thy heart? And when thy heart began to beat, What dread hand? & what dread feet? 

What the hammer? what the chain,In what furnace was thy brain? What the anvil? what dread grasp, Dare its deadly terrors clasp! 

*The speaker imagines the creator to be a craftsman– a dark craftsman with the courage to continue this monstrous invention. He wonders about the tools it took to construct such a beast. The making of the beast is labor intensive and intentional– its creation is no accident.

“The Tyger”

When the stars threw down their spearsAnd water’d heaven with their tears: Did he smile his work to see? Did he who made the Lamb make thee? 

The speaker wonders if the same creator who made the Lamb, made the Tyger? In other words, does “God” create both good and evil? With this simple question, Blake challenges us to rethink common Christian perceptions about God.

“The Tyger”

Blake’s poem assumes the idea that nature, like art, reflects its creator.

This alludes to the idea in Christianity that God created man “in his image.”

It challenges us to think about what kind of creator is capable of designing and creating such a terrifying beast.

The tiger becomes a metaphor for violence and horror in our modern world.

It asks us to ponder the timeless question of how an “all-loving, all-knowing” God could create such horror or allow it to exist in our world.

“The Tyger”

Blake explores the idea of “beauty and horror” existing side by side in the world (the lamb & the tiger) but also existing side by side within the same entity (the tiger is both beautiful and horrific).

Blake explores the idea of the intentional creation of evil, of it being part of some “grand design.” If we attribute this world to a creator, then we should not remain naïve (like the narrator in the lamb) to that creator’s scope or magnitude.

“The Tyger”

I wander thro’ each charter’d street, Near where the charter’d Thames does flow. And mark in every face I meet Marks of weakness, marks of woe. 

In every cry of every Man, In every Infants cry of fear, In every voice: in every ban, The mind-forg’d manacles I hear 

How the Chimney-sweepers cry Every black’ning Church appalls, And the hapless Soldiers sigh Runs in blood down Palace walls 

But most thro’ midnight streets I hear How the youthful Harlots curse Blasts the new-born Infants tear And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse 

Blake’s “London”

The poem is a series of observations made by the narrator on a stroll through the London streets.

The tone/mood is woeful, sad, depressing, unsettling…

Peoples’ faces are “mark[ed] of woe” (4). The cries of the people and blood of the soldier

can be perceived as a chastisement to both church and government (monarchy), which are failing the people.

The prostitutes are yet another symbol of corruption; their “cursing” affects the youth and their existence strains the institution of marriage.

“London”

Unlike “The Lamb” and “The Tyger,” the focus here is not a “natural” corruptive power, but man-made ones.

People aren’t presented in the poem, they are only alluded to in the wake of destruction: The cries of the chimney sweep, the blood of the soldier, the harlot…

Perhaps regular people, like governments and churches, also add to the destruction of society.

The self-imposed oppression by people and institutions “mind-forg’d manacles” (8) (chains)are more powerful than material chains could ever be.

“London”

The poem ends: But most thro’ midnight streets I hear 

How the youthful Harlots curse Blasts the new-born Infants tear And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse 

Here, symbols of beauty and love (newborns, marriage) are juxtaposed with symbols of destruction and death (cursing, venereal disease, plague, hearse).

Symbol, “London”

--------A SIMPLE Child, That lightly draws its breath, And feels its life in every limb, What should it know of death?

I met a little cottage Girl: She was eight years old, she said; Her hair was thick with many a curl That clustered round her head.

She had a rustic, woodland air, And she was wildly clad: 10 Her eyes were fair, and very fair; --Her beauty made me glad.

"Sisters and brothers, little Maid, How many may you be?" "How many? Seven in all," she said And wondering looked at me.

Characters: An adult speaker and a little cottage girl. Setting: Rustic, pastoral Premise: The adult speaker posits a question to the little girl

about how many siblings she has. A discussion ensues as the little girl includes her dead siblings in the number, but this perplexes the speaker.

Like Blake’s “Tyger” and “Lamb,” here Wordsworth also clarifies the line between “innocence” and “experience.”

Wordsworth’s “We are Seven”

Wordsworth wrote: “I have only to add that in the spring of 1841 I revisited Goodrich Castle, not having seen that part of the Wye since I met the little Girl there in 1793. It would have given me greater pleasure to have found in the neighbouring hamlet traces of one who had interested me so much; but it was impossible, as unfortunately I did not even know her name.”

Inspired during his travels in England in 1793. He said that it was the solitude of nature that led him to question the nature of “experience.” Meeting the little girl gave him the idea for the poem.

“We are Seven”: Inspiration

Wordsworth said about the poem that it captures: "the perplexity and obscurity which in childhood attend our notion of death, or rather our utter inability to admit that notion".

The child views death differently. She interacts with her deceased siblings:

"Their graves are green, they may be seen," The little Maid replied, "Twelve steps or more from my mother's door, And they are side by side. /40 "My stockings there I often knit, My kerchief there I hem; And there upon the ground I sit, And sing a song to them. /"And often after sunset, Sir, When it is light and fair, I take my little porringer, And eat my supper there.”

“We are Seven”

The little girl “ tells him that how her sister Jane died because of sickness. After her death, she and her brother John used to play around her grave. During the winter, her brother John also dies and he is now resting next to her sister Jane.”

However, despite her insistence that they are still her siblings even in death, he tries to convince her that this is not possible. He eventually gives up.

“We are Seven”

The poem explores the different ways children (the innocent) and adults (the experienced) view death.

The child views death simply and accepts her siblings, treating a discussion of them in the same way she would had they been alive.

The child is protected from the pain of death by her innocence.

She accepts death, while grown-ups have a harder time doing so.

“We are Seven”

The poem is a sonnet (14 lines, iambic pentameter); Wordsworth is famous for them.

THE world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers: Little we see in Nature that is ours; We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon! The Sea that bares her bosom to the moon; The winds that will be howling at all hours, And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers; For this, for everything, we are out of tune; It moves us not.--Great God! I'd rather be A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn; 10 So might I, standing on this pleasant lea, Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn; Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea; Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.

Wordsworth’s “The World is Too Much With Us”

Themes/Commentary: The world is too preoccupied with material goods. We have lost touch with spirituality and nature. The reference to Paganism solidifies the theme.

Pagan gods were representations of the power of nature: Poseidon and his sea; Zeus and his lightening; Demeter and his harvest; etc.

This is a bold statement for the time in Christian England. Wordsworth implies that Paganism allowed people to be more connected to nature, and therefore be more spiritual.

Perfect representation of Wordsworth’s theme of “communion with nature” and a chastisement of England being too far from that ideal.

“The World…”

Was written under the influence of opium. He awakened from a "dream vision" with someone knocking at the door.

The 1st stanza is incantatory and describes an exotic, mysterious land of measureless caverns and sunless sea.

The 2nd continues the description of the "holy and enchanted place" where the "mighty fountain" and "sacred river" begin. There is a shadow of a pleasure dome that floats on waves and disappears. A vision of a damsel appears singing a haunting melody-- the speaker can't remember it, and this frustrates him.

While he can't recreate the song or pleasure dome, he creates the poem, thus becoming a master poet. 

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Coleridge’s “Kubla Khan”