Comparing The Daffodils by William Wordsworth and Miracle on St. David's Day by Gillian Clarke
In this essay I will attempt to compare two very contrasting poems,
William Wordsworth’s `The Daffodils' which was written in pre 1900s
and Gillian Clarke’s ‘Miracle on St David's Day’, written in the 20th
century. Strangely enough Gillian Clarke’s ‘Miracle on St David's day’
was actually inspired by ‘The Daffodils’. In 1804 William Wordsworth
wrote ‘a masterpiece’, two years after his experience with the
daffodils, while the poem “Miracle on St. David’s Day” was written by
Gillian Clarke around 1980, one hundred and seventy-six years after
The Daffodils was.
Wordsworth was born on 7 April 1770 in Cockermouth, Cumberland, and
raised around the mountains of Cumberland around the River Derwent.
It was here that he would have been in ‘pure communication’ with
nature and this was probably the inspiration for most of his poems.
Gillian Clarke was born in Wales in 1937. Her parents spoke only
Welsh but she learned to speak English as well as Welsh and currently
lives in Tallgarreg, Wales, where she breeds sheep with her architect
husband, daughter and two sons.
The poems have many differences and similarities. I plan to write
about some of them in this essay. The poems are set in two different
places. ‘The Daffodils’ was written when Wordsworth was out walking
on his own, in Gowbarrow Park, by the River Ullswater – which was
obviously outside. ‘Miracle on St. David’s Day was written in a
mental institution – an indoor setting. This has an effect on the way
each poem is written. Both are written about the human mind, memory
a...
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... feels ‘gay’. This conveys that the sight of the daffodils was
magnificent, and this is why I adore this poem so much, I almost feel
jealous of Wordsworth for two reasons – one for his being there to
witness the daffodils and also because he has an extremely talented
writing ability always at his fingertips. Clarke’s poem is not as
good as Wordsworth’s, although she does describe the event very well,
and the poem is superbly written, but in my opinion, Wordsworth has
written a better poem, one which is renowned the world over. I say
that I prefer Wordsworth’s poem as he writes about a more uplifting
theme, and this gives Wordsworth the edge. Clarke’s poem is not as
uplifting as Wordsworth’s. I think that he has used the perfect
words to describe his perfect feelings, and that is how I describe his
perfect poem.
Sister Flowers and A View From the Bridge are two short stories with strong correspondence and likeness. In the story, Sister Flowers by Maya Angelou our narrator Marguerite, a young African American female gives the reader introspect of her life and how a scholarly educated and aristocratic woman named Mrs.Bertha Flowers has made an impact on the narrator's life. While in the story A View From the Bridge by Cherokee Paul Mcdonald a man talks about his encounter with a boy he met on a bridge. Both short stories from the choice of character comparisons with both Marguerite and the boy on the bridge , The author's theme,syntax and symbols to overall effectiveness of both narratives proves that these two stories are more the same as a sense to their overall message they are trying to communicate to the reader.
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In the short stories "The Story of an Hour," by Chopin and "A Rose for
William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily,” and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper,” are two short stories that incorporate multiple similarities and differences. Both stories’ main characters are females who are isolated from the world by male figures and are eventually driven to insanity. In “The Yellow Wallpaper,” the unidentified narrator moves to a secluded area with her husband and sister-in-law in hopes to overcome her illness. In “A Rose for Emily,” Emily’s father keeps Emily sheltered from the world and when he dies, she is left with nothing. Both stories have many similarities and differences pertaining to the setting, characterization, symbolism, and their isolation from the world by dominant male figures, which leads them to insanity.
In the short stories A Rose for Emily and The Story of an Hour, Emily Grierson and Louise Mallard are both similar women, in similar time periods but they both are in entirely different situations. This essay will take these two specific characters and compare and contrast them in multiple, detailed ways.
Savannah is the city of Southeast Georgia near the mouth of the Savannah River. James Ogelthorpe founded it in 1733, it is the oldest city in Georgia and has been a major port since the early 19th century (Soukhanov, p.1606). Savannah has been called that gently mannered city by the sea and indeed it is, with Spanish moss hanging from the huge oak trees and the shine of the moon reflecting off the pillars of Savannah’s grand mansions. Ones imagination can conjure up a simple setting where the clop of hooves on the cobblestone streets echo in the mind and sweat from the glass of a delicious madiera leaves a ring on the tabletop.
Historically, women have been treated as second class citizens. The Napoleonic Code stated that women were controlled by their husbands and cannot freely do their own will without the authority of their husband. This paper shows how this is evident in the "Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin and " A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner. In both stories, the use of literary elements such as foreshadowing, symbolism, and significant meaning of the titles are essential in bringing the reader to an unexpected and ironic conclusion.
In “I wandered Lonely as a Cloud,” William Wordsworth accomplishes his ideal of nature by using personification, alliteration, and simile within his poem to convey to the reader how nature’s beauty uplifts his spirits and takes him away from his boring daily routine. Wordsworth relates himself in solidarity to that of a cloud wandering alone, “I wandered lonely as a cloud” (line 1). Comparing the cloud and himself to that of a lonely human in low spirits of isolation, simultaneously the author compares the daffodils he comes across as he “floats on high o’er vales and hills” (line 2) to that of a crowd of people dancing (lines 3-6 and again in 12). Watching and admiring the dancing daffodils as he floats on by relating them to various beauties of
I chose the poem "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" by William Wordsworth because I like the imagery in it of dancing daffodils. Upon closer examination, I realized that most of this imagery is created by the many metaphors and similes Wordsworth uses. In the first line, Wordsworth says "I wandered lonely as a cloud." This is a simile comparing the wondering of a man to a cloud drifting through the sky. I suppose the wandering cloud is lonely because there is nothing up there that high in the sky besides it. It can pass by unnoticed, touching nothing. Also, the image of a cloud brings to mind a light, carefree sort of wandering. The cloud is not bound by any obstacle, but can go wherever the whim of the wind takes it. The next line of poem says "I saw a crowd, a host, of golden daffodils." Here Wordsworth is using a metaphor to compare the daffodils to a crowd of people and a host of angels. The word crowd brings to mind an image of the daffodils chattering amongst one another, leaning their heads near each other in the wind. The word host makes them seem like their golden petals are shimmering like golden halos on angels. It is interesting to note that daffodils do have a circular rim of petals in the middle that could look like a halo. Later in the poem Wordsworth uses another simile, saying the dancing of daffodils in the wind is "continuous as the stars that shine and twinkle on the milky way." This line creates the image of the wind blowing the tops of random daffodils up and down in a haphazard matter, so they appear to glint momentarily as their faces catch the sun. This goes along with the next metaphor of the daffodils "tossing their heads in sprightly dance." Comparing their movement to a dance also makes me think of swirling, swishing yellow skirts moving in harmony.
Throughout the poem, the poet presents an overall meaning. The main meaning is that nature can bring happiness when it’s needed and that its beauty should be appreciated. The speaker of this poem makes a heaven out of a windy day and a bunch of daffodils. When he felt lonely, the daffodils around him, gave him a boost of joy. The poet is implying that people have become blind to the beauty of nature that is easily accessed, which is why he focused on the visual descriptions of the daffodils. Wordsworth wanted to emphasize the importance of
Figurative language is used by William Wordsworth to show the exchange between man and nature. The poet uses various examples of personification throughout the poem. When the poet says:”I wandered lonely as a cloud” (line 1),”when all at once I saw a crowd” (line 3), and “fluttering and dancing in the breeze” (line 6) shows the exchange between the poet and nature since the poet compares himself to a cloud, and compares the daffodils to humans. Moreover, humans connect with God through nature, so the exchange between the speaker and nature led to the connection with God. The pleasant moment of remembering the daffodils does not happen to the poet all time, but he visualizes them only in his “vacant or pensive mode”(line 20). However, the whole poem is full of metaphors describing the isolation of the speaker from society, and experiences the beauty of nature that comforts him. The meta...