The Grasmere Journal is an excellent example of Dorothy Wordsworth's talent for detail in her writing. Her writing comes across as quite romanticized as she delves into the nature around what she called home. The way she paints the picture feels almost delicate as she describes her subject. For example, the way she describes Dover Castle stands out due to the careful word choices. "...Dover Castle, which was but like the summit of the cloud--the evening star and the glory of the sky. The reflections in the water were more beautiful than the sky itself, purple waves brighter than precious stones forever melting away upon the sands" (pg. 350). The way she begins to lay the foundation for Dover castle compels us as the readers to see it in a way that makes it nearly impossible to see it any other way than as simply beautiful.
William Wordsworth's I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud felt as if he was trying to reach the same level of detail as his sister. Upon looking at the various editions, it seemed that William was striving to reach the same style and pattern as that of Dorothy in her journal. This could be proven as how he was said to consult with his sister's works (pg. 341).
When reading Revolution and Independence, I began to see differences in the pattern between William and Dorothy. Comparing word choice and fluidity, both have their own distinct voice in describing the world around them. Here is a excerpt from William's poem, "And with her feet she from the plashy earth raises a mist, which, glittering in the sun, runs with her all the way, wherever she doth run" (pg. 241, 21-23). After each reading, it was easy to hear the female and male voices in each work. Dorothy's patterns and phrasing, which flowed and was almost flowery, gave a strong female presence and the voice came off clearly as a woman. William's style, which was more to the point and precise, gave a stronger masculine tone thus allowing readers to hear the voice as a man.
I saw the differences in their writing also in Resolution and Independence; they both talk about a leech gatherer, but while Dorothy simply explains the man's situation and appearance in The Grasmere Journal, William gets a personal kind of spiritual insight from him.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to see the stark differences between Dorothy and William as has been pointed out-- but I find that some similarities are also very intriguing.
ReplyDeleteThe similarity that sticks out to me the most is that both William's poetry and Dorothy's journal entries seem almost dreamlike in nature. Of course Dorothy's is less dreamlike than Williams, but it is striking to see that sort of similarity.
It's also worthwhile to point out the existence of sensibility is still there, lurking... Although it's expression is seen in two very separate ways. William's expression of sensibility falls in the vein of strict poetics, while Dorothy's is seen as more of a personality trait- socioculturally inclined