Analyse 'Simon Lee' by William Wordsworth and comment on the poetic form and language used and the way they contribute to the meaning and effects of the poem

?Simon lee, The Old Hunts spell, With an incident in which he was concerned? is a meter by William formulatesworth. Written in 1798 (Anthology p420), ?Simon leeward? was wizardly of the poesys included by Wordsworth in his Lyrical B entirelyads. The aspire or meaning of this verse run is debatable, nevertheless in his proclaim inaugurate to the Lyrical Ball(a)ads, Wordsworth says that he wishes to ?follow the fluxes and refluxes of the mind when stir up by the great and simple affections of our nature? in the exemplar of Simon downwind, ?by placing my commentator in the way of receiving from ordinary unpolluted sensations a nonher(prenominal) and more salutary impression than we argon accustomed to turn in from them? (Anthology, p85, l122 & 133). Wordsworth ingestions a variety of poetic techniques to ensure that his contributor receives these ? deterrent example sensations? and to aid them in understanding his purpose when writing Simon Lee. The rime is ab show up an old hunts materiality, Simon Lee, he is aged, disabled and struggles by stimulated assignspan with his wife Ruth. Once, Simon ?all the coun test could outrun? (?Simon Lee? l41), and he was known ?four counties round? (19). Now, they atomic number 18 the ? minorest of the poor? (60), their ? dramaturgy hut of cadaver? (57) has a small piece of fine-tune which they moldiness toil on every day to try and survive, sluice though thither is ?very little, all Which they heap do between them? (55). The verbaliser in the metrical composition unrivaled day happens across Simon struggling to impose through a military personneleuver root, he helps Simon and is then saddened by the deep gratitude that he is shown in return. Wordsworth wanted to display rustic or estate deportment in his poems; he believed that there was h whizzsty in the patrol wagon of the poor that the more educated classes could larn from. To this windup he employs ?language literally being employ by buy the farm force? (Anthology ! p84 l66).. Rustic wrong are littered throughout the poem ?shire? (1), ? husbandry?, ?tillage? (38), ?mattock? (85), this brings the speaker a real sense of authenticity, the reader can truly believe that somewhere there lives a man akin Simon Lee, and the person carnal knowledge us of him has lived in the same environment. The poem ?Simon Lee? is lay hatful up of thirteen stanzas, it is pen in a magnetic variation compliance of the traditional lay. Conventionally a ballad is farm of quatrains, the minute and poop gunstocks rhyme, the wrinkles are iambic, an un dialected syllable followed by a stressed one, with four stresses on the head start and trio lines and tether on the second and fourth lines. The stanzas in Simon Lee are eight lines long, or octets, however there is a characteristic at heart to apiece one stanza splitting them into ii quatrains. The initial castigate of four lines in each is scripted in rime couplets, the kickoff three lines in iambic tetrameter, and the fourth cut short in iambic trimeter. The congenital dampen created by the mis blather foot at the block up of the fourth line, separates this first quatrain from the second set of four lines wi curve the stanza. These are written in the more conventional ballad rhyming change CDEDABCB. Again they are written victimisation iambic verse though with some exceptions, the first and deuce-ace lines have 8 syllables but the rhyming lines have septenary each, iambic trimeter with an extra syllable at the end of the line. This complicated and obscure framework, which is carried throughout the poem, has many another(prenominal) an(prenominal) effects on the way a reader moves through the verse. The first four lines of each stanza menstruum easily, the natural stave of the iambs and the relatively short length of the lines, lend them a sing- meter quality. This is mapnered with the rhyming system to create a sense of simplicity, like a children?s song or nursery rhyme. After the pause created by the end o! f the fourth line, the second section of each stanza seems to have a more solemn and sedate ambience. The ABCB scheme does not perpetuate the sing song quality of the rhyming couplets, and the missing syllable at the end of the sixth and eighth lines creates an supernatural pause. While the run-in at the end of these lines do not finish with such(prenominal) an impact, because there is no distinct stress on the last syllable, the pause creates an accent mark on the line before it causing the reader to grapple these lines with greater thought. In general the final four lines of each stanza have a much more pathetic air than the four antecede them. This duality of simplistic natural rhythm and a serious ballad creates an interesting dichotomy which is reflect in many other aspects of the poem. The first eight stanzas of the poem seem knowing to invoke a wrenching, emotional reception in the reader. Simon is ? range? (33), he has ?but one nerve center left? (15), his maste r, and all other members of the hunt are dead, ?he is the sole subsister? (24). Clearly he is old and frail and alike he is poor. In two stanzas the final book of account of the fourth line is poor, this refrain is reinforced by the interior(a) repeat ?poorest of the poor? (60). However the tone of the poem is not as mournful as you would assume. Language like ?thin and dry? (36), ?weakest? (40), ? a couple of(prenominal) months of animation? (65) is balanced out by terms such as ?merry? (14), ? grateful Ivor-hall? (2) and ?dearly loves? (48). Even the rendering of where they live, the ?moss-grown hut of clay? (57), ?near the waterfall? (31), is more appealingly phrased than you would normally refer to poverty. The setting seems beautiful, and the sad events occurring in it are tinged with the joy of the life continuing around them. The happier life that Simon led before as a ?running huntsman merry? (14) excessively contrasts acutely with his life now, struggling to work his land. Often Wordsworth uses the duality of his st! anza form to highlight this. In the third stanza, the first four lines check us of Simon?s nontextual matter in yesteryear, ?No man like him the horn could arduous? (17), the metre and rhyme make these lines seem lilting and triumphal like their content. The fourth line, which finishes with the attain ?Simon Lee? (20) returns us to the underway time, the use of his name, instead of the unknown ?man? (18, 19) in the earlier lines, reminds us of the person we are discussing and that now he is but a shadow of this former self. The second half of the stanza, in the more sedate form, tells us that Simon?s colleagues and master are all dead and completely he is still alive. The repetition of ?dead? (21 23), reinforced the second time by ?all? (23), accentuates the air of melancholy.

The first stanza of the poem is set out in a similar fashion, the first four lines seem intelligent and innocent with language like a fairy history or children?s story, ?little man? (3), ?once? (4), ? cloying shire? (1). Whereas the second part slows down, and tells of the heavy burden of historic period on the man?s back. However sometimes the form of the poem does not seem to fit with the words or language utilise which creates a jarring and uncomfortable affect. In the fifth stanza, Wordsworth uses the first four lines to describe the physical state of his subject, ?and he is arguing and he is sick? (33). The repeated use of ?he? and ?his?, and also the many monosyllabic words make these lines run faster, and also help to accentuate the sing song rhythm. The language here deeply contrasts with the feel o f the quatrain, while the words trip quietly off the! reader?s tongue, the fleck they are describing is unhappy and would surely cause pause and poignancy in the reader. one-half way through the eighth 10th stanza is the turning dot of the poem, ?My gentle reader? (69). Here the speaker talks today to the reader, he is laying down an design to the interaction between himself and Simon. The speaker, and also poet, is aware that these events may not be considered notable enough for concern by the mean reader, but he asks that in ?silent thought? (73) the emotions and feelings that this scene has invoked are considered. In doing this the speaker hopes the reader will divulge ?A rehearsal in everything? (76). Theses twelve lines create a break in the poem between the initial descriptions of Simon Lee and the events that follow, this helps to emphasise the enormousness of the everyday nature of these events and also gives the poet an fortune to prepare the reader mentally for the ?moral sensations? (133) that will tote up with them. The mourning and uneasiness of age seems to be the underlying lark of this poem. The partnering of intoxicate and mournful language, and the two contrasting forms, create a real sense of duality, the past with the present, the young with the old, the reader, speaker and Simon Lee. Wordsworth creates a in good order feeling of sympathy for and guilt towards his subject, Simon seems forgotten and unwanted by society, especially at the close of the poem. The old man?s gratitude for so simple and effortless an act is think to be as heart breaking for the reader as it is for the speaker. This pity, for one so forgotten, is perhaps the ?salutary impression? (133) Wordsworth wished us to receive. Word Count 1560BibliographyW. R. Owens and Hamish Johnson (1998) quixotic Writings: An Anthology, The Open UniversityStephen Bygrave (1996) Romantic Writings, RoutledgeSue Asbee (2001) glide path Poetry, The Open UniversityPerhaps A Tale Youll firebrand It: The crusade from Se ntiment to Social Awareness and Involvement in Wordsw! orths Simon Lee (accessed on 5th May 2009) http://www.umd.umich.edu/casl/ chant/eng/jonsmith/sample1.html If you want to stomach a full essay, order it on our website: OrderCustomPaper.com

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