William Wordsworth

Unlike William Blake, William Wordsworth had an excellent education and graduated from Cambridge University. His childhood was filled with tragedy - the death of both of his parents. Like Blake, he was able to write from different perspectives. I enjoyed the writing entitled, Simon Lee. This began as a story of an old huntsman. He used to be in great shape, but now he was older, either "three score and ten but others say he's eighty," (pg. 197). He has outlived most of people around him - "His master's dead, and no one now Dwells in the hall of Ivor, men, dogs, and horses, all are dead, He is the sole survivor," (pg. 198). I smiled when I read how much the elderly man loved the hunts. Wordsworth wrote, "And still there's something in the world at which his heart rejoices, For when the chiming hounds are out, He dearly loves their voices!" (pg. 198).

This work did an excellent job allowing the reader to use his or her own imagination to picture the scene he was describing. I could see this old man in my mind smiling when he hears the hounds barking. I believe Wordsworth did an excellent job building up the character of this gentleman. He makes you like him, and then he presents the problem. This man was used to no one caring about him, and no one ever helped him. Then one day, the man saw that he was overworked. He wrote," You're overtasked, good Simon Lee, Give me your tool," (pg. 199). The man proceeded to lend a helping hand. Simon Lee burst into tears because this was such a kind act. Then, he writes, "The gratitude of men has oftner left me mourning," (pg. 199). I felt this line was the key. I read this line to mean that the gratitude shown by this elderly man was unnecessary. He should not have had to thank him. It should be expected that those who are able help those who are unable. It was not the fact that he thanked him; it was the fact that this man was so overwhelmed by the kind act. It made him sad because the man should be used to people respecting him and helping him when possible.

I would now like to draw attention to the poem, There Was a Boy. This poem was sad. I did not understand it at first glance. I think this poem was about nature and about the innocence of youth, two of his favorite topics and favorites among the romantics. He writes, "At evening when the earliest stars had just begun to move along the edges of the hills, Rising or setting, would he stand alone, beneath the trees, or by the glimmering lake," (pg. 212). Even though I did not completely get it, I liked the purity of the poem and the beautiful and eloquent phrases. Overall, I did not like his work as much as William Blake. However, I felt his works were more thought out and planned.