ANS: As Keats listens to the song of the bird nightingale alone in the poem Ode to a Nightingale, he experiences euphoric ascent of joy to such an extreme degree that it ultimately leads to the feeling of pain at his heart. He compares his state of numbness to that being created by the administration of the legendary poison given to Socrates, Hemlock, which would set in rigor mortis in the human body.

*“Or emptied some dull …had sunk.” What is Lethe? Why does Keats invoke its image?

ANS: Lethe was the river of the lower world in the Greek mythology, which the dead had to cross in order to reach Hades or hell. Crossing this river would cause a complete loss of memory of what happened in the world. Keats invokes the image in order to convey the sense that the nightingale’s song made him oblivious of the real world.

“Tis not through envy…happiness…” Why does the poet say so?

ANS: In the poem Ode to a Nightingale Keats says that feels the pain of joy and sense of numbness not because of the jealousy of the better fate of the bird, but because of being too happy in its singing.

“That thou light-winged Dryad…in full-throated ease.” What does ‘Dryad’ mean here? Explain the situation Keats describes.

ANS: According to the Greek mythology, a Dryad was a wood nymph that inhabited a tree and kept watch over it. Just like a Dryad, the Nightingale is not visible and it is thought to be somewhere in some green grassy spot full of beach trees, the branches and leaves of which have created countless shadows. In this kind of natural setting the bird is singing the songs of summer spontaneously oblivious of the cares of the human world.

*“O for a draught…sunburnt mirth!” Explain the poet’s desires expressed in the lines.

OR, Explain the expressions “Provencal song” and “sunburnt mirth.”

ANS: in order to join the nightingale’s world of pure joy, Keats here in the poem Ode to a Nightingale fancies the help of the wine produced in Provence. The wine, stored in a cool place under the earth, would, the poet hopes, remind him of the flowers used in making it, and of the green countryside, the place of its production. He also fancies that in that he would be able to visualise the dance and the song of merry-making country people of Provence, whose skins become tanned working in the sun.

*“O for a beaker of wine…the world unseen.” What is referred to here as “the blushful Hippocrene”? why does the poet seeks the help of “a beaker full of warm South”?

ANS: In order to join the nightingale’s world of pure joy, Keats here in the poem Ode a Nightingale fancies the help of a large cup of wine produced in the warm southern region of France. He compares the red wine full of bubbles to the fountain of the Muses, created by the hoof of the winged horse, Pegasus on Mount Helicon, the dwelling-place of the Muses, and the round-shaped bubbles to the beads of a rosary. This also reminds him of the red mouth of the drinker coloured by red wine.

*Explain the expression “purple-stained mouth.”

ANS: In order to join the nightingale’s world of pure joy, Keats here in the poem Ode to a Nightingale fancies the help of a large cup of wine produced in the warm southern region. This reminds him of the mouth of the drinker, which becomes purple, that is, the colour of blue and red mixed together, by red wine.

**“Fade far away, dissolve…among the leaves hast never known.” What does the poet mean by “among the leaves”? What, according to the poet, are the things that the nightingale has never known?

“The weariness, the fever…groan.” Where do these line occur? What does the poet want to mean by this?
*“Where palsy shakes …dies.” Where are these lines quoted from? Explain the significance of the lines.

ANS: In these lines from the poem Ode to a Nightingale Keats expresses his wish to be transported to the ideal of Nature, where the nightingale lives, with the help of wine, because he thinks that in the human world everything is impermanent. Man soon in the course of time grows old and becomes afflicted with paralysis and with few grey hairs on their head creeps towards death. Again, some times young men, suffering from diseases like consumption, lose their health, become bloodless and thin as ghosts and die. (Keats might have written the line from his personal experience of the way his brother, Tom died of consumption.)

“Where but to think is…leaden-eyed despairs…” Explain.
***“Where Beauty cannot…beyond tomorrow.” Where do these lines occur? Why does the poet despair of life so much?

OR, Explain the significance of the lines in the context of the nightingale’s song? Why are the words ‘Beauty’ and ‘Love’ capitalized at the beginning of the letters?

ANS: In these lines from the poem Ode to a Nightingale Keats expresses his wish to be transported to the ideal of Nature, where the nightingale lives, with the help of wine, because he thinks that in the human world everything is impermanent and subject to decay and death. For instance, physical beauty does not last long and soon loses its brightness. In the same way love is also short-lived. As soon as the thirst for somebody is over, the person seeks some body else for new love. (The words are written in capital letters at the beginning of the words because the poet personified those.)

**“Away! Away! … viewless wings of Poesy.” Explain the expression “viewless wings of Poesy.

OR, What does the poet mean when he intends to “flee/ Not charioted by Bacchus…Poesy”?

ANS: In the poem Ode to a Nightingale Keats suddenly rejects the idea of joining the nightingale’s world of pure joy with the help of wine or by riding the chariot of Bacchus, the Greek god of wine, which, according to the Greek mythology, was driven by leopards. He intends to join the bird with the help of his poetic imagination, which is ‘wingless’ in the sense that it is invisible. (And he finds that he is already in the world of the nightingale.)

***“…tender is the night…winding mossy ways.” Explain the natural atmosphere described by Keats.

ANS: As the poet John Keats listens to the song of the bird, he becomes conscious of the immediate environment. He finds the night calm, and he presupposes that the moon might be over the head and shining brightly surrounded by the fairy-like stars. As it is shaded by the branches and leaves of the trees, the moonlight cannot enter the place he is seated in, barring occasionally when the breeze moves the leaves of the trees, and it falls on the paths overgrown with moss.

*Explain the expression “embalmed darkness”.

ANS: The place, where the poet is listening to the song of the nightingale is dark, because it is shaded by the thick braches and leaves of the trees. That is why, he cannot see the flowers or blossoms, but he can feel their presence from the sweet smells emitting from around him. In this way, the darkness of the place has become “embalmed” or sweet smelling.

“The coming musk-rose, full of dewy wine…on summer eves.” Explain.
“Darkling I listen…” Where do you find the expression? What does the poet mean by that?
**“…for many a time…become a sod.” Explain. (Any question from these lines.)

ANS. While listening to the song of the nightingale Keats becomes intoxicated with pure joy, and his agony of life gets transformed into ecstasy. At this moment he recalls that many a time he has longed for death and given to it many names in his poems. If he were to die at all, he thinks that it is the most appropriate moment for that. But even after his death when his body will be one with the earth, the bird will continue its song, which will be a funeral song for his death.

*“Thou wast not born for death…emperor and clown.” Explain the context in which the poet utters these lines.

ANS: While listening to the song of the nightingale, Keats becomes conscious not only of the sorrows and sufferings of the human world, but also of his own death. This leads him to contrast this world with that of the bird, which or whose song has remained the same from the ancient down to the modern times and appealed in the same way to all, irrespective of classes, from the beggar to the emperor.

***“Perhaps the self same song…sad heart of Ruth, when sick for home.” Who was Ruth? Why does the poet refer to her in the poem?

ANS: In the Old Testament Ruth has been described as a Moabite married to a Jew, whose death forced her to migrate to Bethelhem with her mother-in-law. She had to work there as a gleaner in the fields of a wealthy person, Boaz, whom she married later on. Keats imagines that the bird might have sung in the way to Ruth and soothed her soul when she was suffering from homesickness as it is singing now to him.

***“Charm’d magic casements…in fairy lands forlorn.” Explain the situation imagined by the poet. What does the poet mean by the expression “Charmed magic casements”?

Or, Explain the grammatical structure of the lines.

ANS: As an immortal bird, Keats thinks in the poem Ode to a Nightingale, the nightingale must have sung and soothed the soul of the beautiful maidens, who have been made captive by some wizard or monster in the castle just on the cliff overlooking a dangerous sea in a far-off fairy land.The word ‘Charm’d’ is a verb here and its object is ‘magic casements’, which stands for the beautiful maidens standing in front of the ‘casements’ or windows and listening to the song of the nightingale.

**” Forlorn! The word is like a bell…sole self.” Where do the lines occur? What is the context of the exclamations?

ANS: Towards the end of the poem Ode to a Nightingale Keats suddenly comes to realize that the bird’s song aroused his imagination and transported to its world of pure joy and made him forget about the harsh realities of the world. Now he wakes up from his daydreaming and sadly finds himself alone in the world full of “weariness, fever and fret.”

**”Adieu! The fancy cannot cheat…deceiving elf.” Why is fancy called “deceiving elf”?

ANS: Towards the end of the poem Ode to a Nightingale Keats suddenly comes to realize that it was his imagination that transported him to the nightingale’s world of pure joy. But soon its power gets over and the poet is forced to come back to the world of harsh realities. This is why he compares imagination to a fairy, who transforms the world only for a short while.

**” Was it a vision…sleep?” Explain the significance of the lines here.

Or, How does Keats close the poem?

ANS: Towards the end of the poem Ode to a Nightingale Keats suddenly comes to realize that the bird’s song aroused his imagination and transported him to its world of pure joy and made him forget about the harsh realities of the world. Now he wakes up from his daydreaming and sadly finds himself alone in the world full of “weariness, fever and fret.” That is why he wonders whether all this was happening in his sleep or in conscious state of mind.

Note for Students on Christabel Part 1

Posted on: March 22, 2020 by: Admin Comments: Leave a comment

By TTM

Q1. Discuss Christabel as ‘tale of terror’.

OR (2), Discuss Coleridge’s treatment of the supernatural elements in Christabel.

OR (3), Discuss how Coleridge’s treatment of medievalism within the Romantic framework.

OR (4), Christabel has been called an allegory of Good and Evil. Do you agree? Give reasons for your answer.

OR (5), Crtical Appreciation.

It has been suggested, for instance, by Charles Tomlinson that Christabel belongs to the genre of “tale of terror”, a convention most renounced in the 18^th century novels of Horace Walpole and others. The genre was a European phenomenon, in which a story on the plane of fantasy was handled to study mind’s reactions to profound social changes, and these changes were represented through symbols and figures that evoked the sensation of terror. The terror was often dealt with philosophical significance. But in Christabel the pattern of ideas embodied especially in the conflict between Good and Evil is not traditional and the conclusion of the poem is typically Coleridgian. That is to say, the Coleridge’s treatment of supernaturalism is not simply for the sake of terror and mystery: he has employed his subtle sense of psychology and morality of Christian theology within the medieval framework of the story to take the poem to a life-like conclusion so as to arouse “willing suspension of disbelief”. (In fact, in Coleridge’s hands medievalism reaches its new height. For Q no.3 only)

From the very beginning the reader is transported to the world of Gothic castles, barons, knights, enchantress, distressed damsels and the medieval rituals, ordeals and superstitions. In the first symbolical passage of the poem we have the sense of ominous detail, an anticipation of the evil that is to come:

“The thin grey cloud is spread on high

It covers but not hides the sky.”

Again,

“The moon is behind and at the full

Yet it looks both small and dull.”

In this type of condition every thing hangs in a state of precarious uncertainty and of incipient disease. The cloud has threatened the sky, but the sky still shows through and to counterpart this, the moon has reached its most fruitful phase, yet remains without the bright appearance of a full moon. Even before Geraldine’s appearance, it is forecast that in this type of world the evil will prevail over good,

“ ’Tis the month before the month of May

And the Spring comes slowly up this way.”

Similarly the night is cold, and the moonbeam, where it falls, illuminates a further sense of death and decay, “the toothless mastiff bitch.”

In this type of a strange medieval world Christabel is seen alone under a huge oak tree to pray for her betrothed night. It is important for Coleridge to establish the loneliness and vulnerability of Christabel, as she is defenceless with a mother dead, with a father sick and with a lover far away. Her state is intensified by its juxtaposition with the fine image of “the one red leaf, the last of its clan.” In this condition Christabel finds the lady Geraldine, who, according to her own story was abducted and then abandoned. Her appearance – white neck, blue-veined unsandled feet, robe of silken white, the dazzling jewels in her hair—betrays the impression that the lady is not of this world. Christabel takes her to castle, but as if in a nightmare their feet “strove to be and were not fast.”

Coleridge conveys Geraldine’s character of a fatal woman with an accumulation of startling touches. She cannot cross the iron-gate unassisted, nor join Christabel’s prayer. With Christabel the first disquiet occurs when Geraldine and she entered the castle and passed the mastiff bitch. The bitch “did not awake/ Yet angry moan she did make.” The next stroke is more direct—as they pass the half extinguished fire, there issues from it a sudden tongue of fire. On seeing the lady’s eyes Christabel becomes mesmerised:

“And nothing else saw she thereby.”

Slowly and surely when Christabel is going to be captured, her inmost soul anticipates the necessity of protection from evil. She wishes,

“Oh! Mother dear! Thou wert near!”

It is Geraldine’s real strife at the sudden appearance of Christabel’s mother’s spirit. Geraldine burst out in tirade against its presence:

“Off, woman off! this hour is mine.”

Coleridge gives the situation an added uncertainty by withdrawing from the reader Geraldine’s exact intention, but he makes it clear that she is possessed by some evil target. When she bows under the lamp, rolls her eyes, produces a hissing sound and unrobes herself revealing her bosom and half her side, the poet exclaims,

“O shield her! shield sweet Christabel.”

Surely Christabel sees something horrible there as it was in the original version:

“Hideous, deformed and pale of hue.”

When Geraldine takes her in her arm, there is a frightening piece of thought control. In close contact with the demon woman Christabel dreams awful dreams. What she dreams of is not told, but the effects of the dreams are seen in the expression of her face.

“The Conclusion to Part I” describes the state of Christabel during and after the trance imposed upon her by Geraldine. During the trance she has been removed from all reassuring experiences, to a point, where the movement of her blood has almost ceased. But the final account is of a reassurance subsequently:

“…the blood so free

Comes back and tingles in her feet.”

The final conjecture, the “vision sweet”, suggests that final link with the Good is assertive in itself in the depth of our consciousness. The section ends with the declaration of faith that,

“The saints will aid if men call

For the blue sky bends over all.”

The fact that human beings naturally see the blue sky bending over them, despite the fact that it does nothing of the sort—was for Coleridge a supreme example of the benevolent operations of the divine power of Nature. And finally with this understanding Coleridge concludes the part one of Christabel.

Open Resources on Coleridge’s Christabel Part 1

Posted on: March 22, 2020 by: Admin Comments: Leave a comment

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Open Resources on William Wordsworth’s Tintern Abbey

Posted on: March 22, 2020 by: Admin Comments: Leave a comment

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Note for Students on Tintern Abbey

Posted on: March 22, 2020 by: Admin Comments: Leave a comment

By TTM

Q: Discuss how Tintern Abbey illustrates three stages of Wordsworth’s development of poetic imagination.

Or, Discuss how TA records Wordsworth’s changing attitudes to Nature.

Or, Discuss Wordsworth’s philosophy of Nature as expounded in TA.

Or, Discuss how TA illustrates Wordsworth’s belief in the educative power of Nature.

Or, Critical Appreciation.

Generally speaking, Wordsworth’s TA has been seen in relation to many an aspect of his poetic career. First of all, it is said to be a historical record of the different stages of the growth of his poetic imagination, and that is why some view it as a miniature epic that anticipates his epical endeavour with The Prelude, in both thematic and artistic designs. TA contains and expounds many of Wordsworth’s poetic and philosophical beliefs, which were intended to be the themes of his other poems like, the Recluse, The Excursion and, of course, The Prelude. Again the poem is unusual in examining the composition of the landscape, like his contemporary artist of his country Constable, rather than expressing the spirit of the landscape—its topography, its arrangement of vegetation, its placement of the works of men and its colours and light and shade have been scrupulously described. These scenes ultimately become the “objective correlative” for his philosophy of that period. The procedure and kind of poem were determined by Coleridge’s influence, for The Eolian Harp and Frost at Midnight were its immediate successors, with the 18^th century sublime odes in the farther background. But it msut be admitted that TA has greater dimension and intricacy and a more various verbal conversation than Coleridge’s poems.

Wordsworth’s TA inaugurated wonderfully the functional device, which he later called “two consciousness”: a scene is revisited, and the remembered landscape, “the picture of the mind” is superimposed on the picture before the eye. As the two landscapes fail to match, they set a problem, “a sad perplexity”, which compels the poet to the meditation. As Wordsworth now stands on the bank of the river Wye, he comes to the final realization of his relation to Nature and of his concept of the relation between man and Nature, in general, and above all of his ontological standing, both as a human being and as a poet. That is why he is found here thinking of nature not only as a painter, but as a philosopher too. In his scheme of thought the human world is connected with the divine world by the way of the world of Nature. In his Romantic vision the world of man—pastoral forms and plots of cottage ground—merges and becomes one in the spatial expansion with the world of Nature, which is finally connected with the inorganic quite of the sky. The suggestion is made through an intensification of the dominant aspect of the given landscape, its seclusion, which also implies a deepening of the mood of seclusion in the poet’s mind. To Wordsworth, the landscape of the Wye declares the unity of the universe. In this it appears that his philosophy is essentially quietistic and almost like that propounded in the Upanishdas. Again, in his indirect reference to the three planes of being—the natural, the human and the divine—Wordsworth adumbrates the great Romantic vision of cosmic unity. Thus Wordsworth also prepares the reader for the similar progression of his attitudes to and understanding of Nature in his own life.

Wordsworth traces in this poem the history of his evolving attitude to Nature basically for two reasons: on the surface, this is an autobiographical confession, and on the higher level of thought he wants to give validity of experience to the kind philosophical truths he seems to have found. This is, however, inextricably related to the growth of his poetic career. It is found that in his earlier poetry, Nature had no exotic significance. A humanitarian phase had followed ‘exemplified’ at its best in The Ruined Cottage. After a brief period of disillusionment, he became convinced that the universal human malady in mind and heart could be cured only by Nature’s “holy plan”. So this poem may be said to illustrate a love, which is almost religious in conception; “the sentiment of being spread over all that moves and all that seemeth still”; the experience of communion with the universal spirit; the moral influence of Nature even in absence. Furthermore, Wordsworth’s philosophy is almost pantheistic as he alludes to the link a pantheist sees between Nature and the lot of mankind, which he tries to ameliorate.

Wordsworth expounds these views not in isolation from experience but as organically related to his own experience in the lap of Nature. When he had visited the Wye as a mere boy, he enjoyed the abundance of Nature instinctively. A fuller commentary on this stage can be found in the Book I and Book II of The Prelude. At that stage of life, enjoyment of Nature was coarse and animalistc:

“…when first

I came along these hills; when like a roe

I bounded o’er the mountains…”

Wordsworth then describes his impressions he got during his second visit in 1793. At this period of life his appreciation of Nature had been largely emotional. At that time he ahd been

“…more like a man

Flying from something that he dreads than one

Who sought the thing he loved.”

Here speaks simultaneously of vision and emotion because his perception of the natural objects brought immediate joy to him. It had then for him no appeal that was “unborrowed from the eye”.

In the third stage Wordsworth find that the “aching joys” and “dizzy raptures” are no more, but their place has been taken by other gifts of Nature. As he looks on Nature now, he hears in it

“…the still and sad music of humanity,

Nor harsh nor grating, though of ample power

To chasten and subdue.”

He is satisfied now because he feels the presence of the divine power in everything,

“Whose dwelling is the light of the setting suns,

And the round ocean and the living air,

And the blue sky, and in the mind of man.”

Wordworth seems to have emerged here as a mystic in his all-pervading pantheism. But he differs from the conventional mysticism because unlike a mystic he can communicate his experiences in Nature to the readers. Now he understands that he is the lover of Nature, “Of all the mighty world/ Of eye, and ear”. Now his soul is relieved

“ …to recognise

In nature …

The anchor of my purest thoughts, the nurse,

The guide, the guardian of my heart, and soul

Of all my moral.”

Tintern Abbey

William Wordsworth

(Short Objective Type Questions & Answers)

What is the full title of the poem Tintern Abbey?

2.What does Wordsworth mean by “a soft inland murmur”?

ANS: Wodrsworth here refers to the soft murmuring sound of the river Wye. The river emerges from the mountains and flows through plain lands.

“Five years have past…winters.”(Lines 1-4) Why does Wordsworth here “five…. winters” here?

OR, How many years have elapsed between Wordsworth’s last visit and the present one?

ANS: At the beginning of the poem Tintern Abbey Wordsworth speaks of the years that elapsed between his last and present visit to the Way. Now he finds that there is a great difference between the two experiences.

*“Once again…the quiet of the sky.” (4-8) What does W mean by “thoughts of more seclusion” OR, What does W mean by “the quiet of the sky”?

ANS: At the beginning of the poem Tintern Abbey Wordsworth finds that in his present visit to the Wye after five years the landscape appears different to his eyes. Now, the high cliffs, covered with vegetation, on both sides of the river give him a sense of wildness of the place and of tranquillity all around him. As he looks ahead, the landscape seems to merge gently with the quiet sky. He experiences the feeling that the loneliness is deepened by the overhanging silence of the sky, which remains in perfect harmony with the horizon below.

*“With some uncertain notice…The Hermit sits alone.” (Lines 20-22) Explain the situation imagined by Wordsworth.

ANS: Now in his present visit while Wordsworth looks on the Wye landscape and tallies it with that of his last experience in the poem Tintern Abbey, he finds coils of smoke arising from somewhere out of the trees. This makes him imagine that either some vagabonds have come to stay there temporarily, or there lives a hermit who sits alone in his cave.

**“These beauteous forms…a blind man’s eye.” (23-25) What are referred to here as “beauteous forms”? Explain the phrase “a landscape to a blind man’s eye”?

ANS: By “beauteous forms” Wordsworth refers to the beautiful scenes of the Wye landscape—the green cottage grounds, the green orchards overloaded with fruits, the hedgerows spread along the farms, the coils of smoke rising from somewhere, either out of the temporary camps of some vagabonds under the trees or out of the fire made by some lonely hermit. He says that though he had been physically absent from the place for five years, the landscape had been very much present in his mind. He compares his state to that of a blind man: unlike a blind man he could remember the landscape vividly.

**“But oft, in lonely rooms…. Felt along the heart.” (26-29) What does the poet mean by “sensations sweet”?

ANS: Now in his present visit while Wordsworth, standing on the bank of the Wye in the poem, TA, looks on the landscape, he recalls that, whenever he felt exhausted at the cacophonies of town and city life, the memory of the beautiful scenes of the landscape provided him with solace of soothing sensations, which he felt in his blood, heart and finally in mind.

“As have no slight or trivial influence… acts/Of kindness and of love.” (31-36) What does Wodrsworth want to mean here?

ANS: Now in his present visit while Wordsworth, standing on the bank of the Wye in the poem, TA, looks on the landscape, he recalls that the beautiful scenes of the landscape provided him not only with relief of soothing sensations, which he felt in his blood, heart and finally in mind, but it also exerted an unconscious influence on him by inspiring him to acts of kindness and love.

**“To them I may have owed another gift…We see into life of things” (37-50) What is the referred to here as “another gift”?

OR, ** What is the gift referred to here?

OR, **What does W mean here by “blessed mood”?

OR, What does W mean by “the burthen of the mystery”?

OR, What does W mean by “that serene and blessed mood”?

OR, *What does W mean by ‘affections” here?

OR, What is the state in which W thinks, “the breath of this corporal frame…Almost suspended…living soul…the life of things”?

OR, **What does W mean by “We see into the life of things”?

ANS: Now in his present visit while Wordsworth, standing on the bank of the Wye in the poem, TA, looks on the landscape, he recalls how the beautiful scenes of the landscape provided him not only with relief of soothing sensations, but also created in his mind a mood, which was divine. At that mood he felt that all the insoluble questions regarding life and the world were resolved as all mellow and tender feelings like love, faith, compassion, devotion and piety went on to suspend his breathing and even the movement of his blood. He experienced a dreamlike condition induced by those feelings; he understood that his existence was in perfect harmony with Nature. Wordsworth thinks at that particular moment the functions of our outer eyes are suspended; our inner eyes come into action and we can understand the reality of the physical things around us.

* “If this be …turned to thee.” What does W refer to as “a vain belief”?

What does he mean by “many shapes/Of joyless delight”?

OR, What does he mean by “fretful stir/Unprofitable, and the fever of the world”?

OR, Why does he address the Wye as ‘sylvan’?

ANS: Now in his present visit while Wordsworth, standing on the bank of the Wye in the poem, TA, looks on the landscape, he recalls how the memories of the landscape provided him not only with relief of soothing sensations, but also created in his mind a mood, which was divine. He emphasises that this cannot be a ‘vain’, that is, false belief since those gave him much needed relief whenever he went through depressed states of the mind. Whenever he became burdened with unhealthy thoughts and anxieties, common to human beings, he turned to the memories of the Wye, which runs through the wild woods and cliffs and has a kind of sylvan identity about her.

**“And now, with gleams of half-extinguished thought…the picture of the mind revives again”(59-62) What does W refer to as “gleams of half-extinguished thought”?

What does W mean by “picture of the mind”?

OR, Why does he call the ‘recognitions’ “dim and faint”?

OR, What does Wordsworth mean by “sad perplexity” in the poem TA?

ANS: Now in his present visit while Wordsworth, standing on the bank of the Wye in the poem, TA, looks on the landscape, the picture of the landscape, preserved in his mind during his previous visits, comes back to him as if in kaleidoscopic flashes. Though he cannot recapitulate his past experience fully, he seems to capture it in the presence of the original landscape that acts as a kind of mirror to his mind. (Wordsworth here refers to his memory of the landscape preserved in his mind as “picture of the mind”). (Here Wordsworth calls his past ‘recognition’, that is, past experience “dim and faint”.) (But Wordsworth is puzzled by the fact that the present experience does not fully tally his previous ones. An aspect of change in the landscape makes him both perplexed and sad.)

What does W mean by “life and food/ For future years”(ll. 65)
“…And so I dare to hope… Wherever nature led”(ll. 66-71) Explain how W feel during this period?

OR, **“The coarser pleasure of my boyish days…gone by.” What does W mean by “the coarser pleasure of my boyish days”?

OR, What does W mean by “animal movements”?

ANS: Now in his present visit while Wordsworth, standing on the bank of the Wye in the poem, TA, looks on the landscape, he understands that, as he has grown in years the appeal of the landscape has changed considerably over the years from what it had been during his first visit. At that time as a mere boy, his delight in the lap of Nature was coarse and animalistic in the sense that his enjoyment of the natural beauties was instinctual and grossly physical. Like a young deer he jumped up and down the valley and the riversides; he now feels that at that time as if he was led by Nature herself.

**“…more like a man…the thing he loved.” (71-73) Explain the poet’s experience during the period.

OR, **“The sounding cataract/ Haunted me like a passion.” What does W mean here?

ANS: Now in his present visit while Wordsworth, standing on the bank of the Wye in the poem, TA, looks on the landscape, he remembers how he would enjoy the beauties of the Wye landscape during his second visit in 1793. Then his enjoyment of nature had been purely emotional and sensuous. He would seek only the gratifications of the senses in his search for the natural objects like the sounding waterfall, the high rock, the mountain, the mysterious forest. It seems to him now that in his excitement he was running away from something present in Nature rather than seeking that in love.

*“…the tall rock…Their colours and forms, were then to me/ An appetite; a feeling and a love” (78-81) What does W mean by “an appetite”?

ANS: Now in his present visit while Wordsworth, standing on the bank of the Wye in the poem, TA, looks on the landscape, he remembers how he would enjoy the beauties of the Wye landscape during his second visit in 1793. Then his enjoyment of nature had been purely emotional and sensuous. He would seek only the gratifications of the senses in his search for the natural objects like the sounding waterfall, the high rock, the mountain, the mysterious forest. He would love those natural objects passionately as someone seeks the objects of his appetite, that is, desire.

“That had no need of a remoter charm…Unborrowed from the eye.” What does W mean by “remoter charm”? **Why does W use the phrase “unborrowed from the eye”?

ANS: Now in his present visit while Wordsworth, standing on the bank of the Wye in the poem, TA, looks on the landscape, he remembers how he would enjoy the beauties of the Wye landscape during his second visit in 1793. Then his enjoyment of nature had been purely emotional and sensuous. He had not been conscious of the fact that pleasures of the sights and sounds of nature can be obtained through contemplation even being absent from the actual landscape. He would seek only the gratifications of his eyes in his search for the natural objects like the sounding waterfall, the high rock, the mountain and the mysterious forest.

**“That time is past…And all its dizzy raptures.” (84-85) What time is referred to here? What does W mean by “aching joys” and “dizzy raptures”
“Not for this…other gifts have followed…Abundant recompense…A presence…rolls through all things.”(ll. 86–103)***What are the ‘gifts’ referred to here?

ANS: Now in his present visit while Wordsworth, standing on the bank of the Wye in the poem, TA, looks on the landscape, he understands that the appeal of the landscape has changed considerably in the lapse of five years from what it had been during his second visit as a young man. He does not feel ecstatic at the sight of Wye landscape. But he does neither mourn nor complain of the loss. He comes to the conclusion that his sensuous ecstasies have been replaced by a philosophical understanding that Nature possesses enough power to mitigate the suffering and sorrows of mankind and by an awareness of the presence of some mysterious Divine Being in everything. He is moved to higher thoughts by its presence in every inanimate and animate thing. He refers to these as “other gifts” of Nature.

*What does W mean by “thoughtless youth”?

***What does W mean by “The still, sad music of humanity”?

ANS: Now in his present visit while Wordsworth, standing on the bank of the Wye in the poem, TA, looks on the landscape, he understands that the appeal of the landscape has changed considerably in the lapse of five years from what it had been during his second visit as a young man. He does not feel ecstatic at the sight of Wye landscape. But he does neither mourn nor complain of the loss. He is now happy to find that his sensuous ecstasies have been replaced by a philosophical understanding. He understands that the suffering and sorrows of mankind find an echo in the solemn order of Nature. He is also satisfied to find that Nature possesses enough power to purify and soothe the excited or suffering human mind.

*What does W mean by “Nor harsh nor grating, though of ample power”?

ANS: Now in his present visit while Wordsworth, standing on the bank of the Wye in the poem, TA, looks on the landscape, he understands that the appeal of the landscape has changed considerably in the lapse of five years from what it had been during his second visit as a young man. But he does neither mourn nor complain of the loss. He is now happy to find that his sensuous ecstasies have been replaced by a philosophical understanding. He understands that the suffering and sorrows of mankind are in harmony with the solemn order of Nature. Those are not in cacophonic relationship with Nature.

*What does W mean by “a sense sublime”?

***Whose ‘dwelling’ is referred to here?

OR, What does W refer to as “A motion and a spirit”?

ANS: Towards the end of his meditation on the bank of the Wye in the poem, TA, Wordsworth comes to the conclusion that his sensuous ecstasies have been replaced by a philosophical understanding that Nature possesses enough power to mitigate the suffering and sorrows of mankind and by an awareness of the presence of some mysterious Divine Being in everything. He is moved to higher thoughts by its presence in every inanimate and animate thing—in the light of the setting sun, in the ocean, in the fresh air, in the blue sky and in the human mind. He thinks that this Divine Being is the prime mover of all the animate and inanimate objects in the universe. He calls this Being “a motion and a spirit.”

“Therefore I am still …of my moral being”(103–112)

**What makes W declare, “Therefore am I still/ A lover of the meadows and woods”?

ANS: Towards the end of his meditation on the bank of the Wye in the poem, TA, Wordsworth comes to the conclusion that his sensuous ecstasies have been replaced by a philosophical understanding. He realises now that Nature possesses enough power to mitigate the suffering and sorrows of mankind and by an awareness of the presence of some mysterious Divine Being in everything. He is moved to higher thoughts by its presence in every inanimate and animate thing—in the light of the setting sun, in the ocean, in the fresh air, in the blue sky and in the human mind. That is why he firmly declares that he still remains a lover of the beautiful of Wye landscape and of the world of Nature.

***What does W mean by “the mighty world/ Of eye, and ear”? (ll.106–107)

ANS: Towards the end of his meditation on the bank of the Wye in the poem, TA, Wordsworth comes to the conclusion that his sensuous ecstasies have been replaced by a philosophical understanding. He realises now that Nature possesses enough power to mitigate the suffering and sorrows of mankind and by an awareness of the presence of some mysterious Divine Being in everything. That is why he firmly declares that he still remains a lover of the beautiful of Wye landscape and of the world of Nature. He is satisfied with power of his senses—eye and ear, which, though unable to capture Nature fully, can recreate this spiritual pattern of the universe in imagination.

* What does W mean by “language of the sense”?

ANS: Towards the end of his meditation on the bank of the Wye in the poem, TA, Wordsworth comes to the conclusion that his sensuous ecstasies have been replaced by a philosophical understanding. He realises now that Nature possesses enough power to mitigate the suffering and sorrows of mankind and by an awareness of the presence of some mysterious Divine Being in everything. He is satisfied with power of his senses—eye and ear, which, though unable to capture Nature fully, can recreate this spiritual pattern of the universe in imagination. In this the senses become the medium, through which the realisation of the deeper significance of Nature can be understood.

**What does Wordsworth refer to as “the anchor of my purest thoughts”?

OR, What does W refer to as “The guide, the guardian of my heart, and soul/ Of my moral being”?

ANS: Towards the end of his meditation on the bank of the Wye in the poem, TA, Wordsworth comes to the conclusion that his sensuous ecstasies have been replaced by a philosophical understanding. He realises now that Nature possesses enough power to mitigate the suffering and sorrows of mankind and by an awareness of the presence of some mysterious Divine Being in everything. He is satisfied with the power of his senses—eye and ear, which, though unable to capture Nature fully, can recreate this spiritual pattern of the universe in imagination. He is delighted to find that man can remain in perfect harmony with Nature. In this harmony he finds the support for his lofty ideas, the cherisher and guide and protector of his true feelings, and finally it seems to him that his soul has become a part of the harmony, thereby influencing his ethical and moral decisions.

“If I were not thus taught…Of thy wild eyes…dear sister.”(114–122) What does W mean by “genial spirits to decay”?

OR, Whom does W address here as “my dearest friend”?

OR, How can he catch “the language of my former heart”?

ANS: Towards the end of his meditation on the bank of the Wye in the poem, TA, Wordsworth comes to the conclusion that his sensuous ecstasies have been replaced by a philosophical understanding that Nature possesses enough power to mitigate the suffering and sorrows of mankind and by an awareness of the presence of some mysterious Divine Being in everything. In the final section of the poem TA, Wordsworth turns to his sister and addresses her as ”my dearest friend”. He declares that if he had not realised that man can remain blissfully by remaining in harmonious relationship with Nature, if he had not found in Nature the support for his lofty ideas, the cherisher and guide and protector of his true feelings and a part of his soul, he would not have been able to enjoy natural sights and sounds cheerfully. In that case, he would have to face melancholia.

“…this prayer I make…Is full of blessings.”
“Therefore let the moon…For al thy sweet memories…”About whom is all this said and why?
“…wilt thou then forget…We stood together.”(150–151)
What does W mean by “holier love”?
Why does W refer to the Wye as “sylvan”?

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