While Coleridge takes the supernatural and makes it seem natural, Wordsworth takes the natural and makes it seem supernatural. Thus, a magical moment in a Wordsworth poem would be a moment in which he transforms any ordinary, natural event- such as death- and draws it in a supernatural light.
For example, in “We Are Seven,” Wordsworth brings to question the topic of death and heaven. In this poem, a young girl has seven siblings, but two of them are deceased. The narrator asks the question, “‘How many are you, then… if they two are in heaven?’” to which the young girl replies, “Nay, we are seven!”
The idea of heaven, or any afterlife itself is an element of the supernatural. But Wordsworth ventures further. He brings up the idea that even when a person dies, his presence still lingers on Earth, which in itself is a sort of magic. And, the fact that Wordsworth chose to use an 8 year old girl to convey this idea makes the poem even more striking, since children are innocent, yet this poem is about death.
Claire, I really liked how you phrased the natural event such as death being drawn in a "supernatural light". While I must agree with you on that, do you think that death in this poem is viewed as more of as a physical force or an emotional force? This spurred the thought in my mind that everything we do on a daily basis is based on the physical interactions we have with different people. Our first impressions, our choice of friends, and many more things are dependent on how we physically and socially interact with people. We often forget about the "supernatural" emotional factor, which I believe is addressed extremely well in your blog above. Sometimes in poems as well as real life, I tend to only focus on the physical "death" rather than realizing that the death may refer to the spirit and legacy that lives on.
ReplyDeleteHi Claire,
ReplyDeleteI am also a fan of Wordsworth's "We Are Seven" poem. One of the main concepts that I felt that was most prominent is how Wordsworth is able to convey that the little maid girl does not lack the understanding of mortality. Rather, he exemplifies that the little girl comprehends death better than the old man. She is able to accept that two of her siblings have gone to heaven but she understands that their existence disappears. This may represent the dichotomy of the idea of death between the young and old. In my opinion, the 8 year old girl was used as the epitome of innocence to represent the magic still present in children.