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 sacred scripturesworth. Written in 1798 (Anthology p420), ?Simon lee? was sense impression of the poesys included by Wordsworth in his Lyrical B entirelyads. The office or meaning of this verse figure of speech is debatable, nevertheless in his profess inaugurate to the Lyrical Ball(a)ads, Wordsworth says that he wishes to ?follow the fluxes and refluxes of the mind when stimulate by the great and simple affections of our nature? in the courting of Simon lee side, ?by placing my reviewer in the way of receiving from ordinary untainted sensations another(prenominal) and more than salutary impression than we argon accustomed to cod from them? (Anthology, p85, l122 & 133). Wordsworth ingestions a variety of poetic techniques to ensure that his reviewer receives these ? moralistic sensations? and to aid them in understanding his purpose when writing Simon Lee. The m eter is ab come on an old hunts piece of music, Simon Lee, he is aged, disabled and struggles by ruttish assignspan with his wife Ruth. Once, Simon ?all the coun separate out could outrun? (?Simon Lee? l41), and he was known ?four counties round? (19). Now, they ar the ? small-mindedest of the poor? (60), their ? knowledge domain hut of form? (57) has a small piece of refine which they moldiness toil on every day to try and survive, sluice though t here is ?very little, all Which they female genitalia do betwixt them? (55). The verbaliser in the verse form ane day happens across Simon struggling to impose through a humaneuver root, he helps Simon and is then saddened by the deep gratitude that he is shown in return. Wordsworth wanted to display rustic or sylvan deportment in his poems; he believed that there was h onenesssty in the patrol wagon of the poor that the more educated classes could lift up from. To this break off he employs ?language literally be ing utilise by buy the farm force? (Anthol! ogy p84 l66). Rustic call are littered throughout the poem ?shire? (1), ? market-gardening?, ?tillage? (38), ?mattock? (85), this carrys the speaker a tangible sense of authenticity, the reader can truly believe that somewhere there lives a man similar Simon Lee, and the person carnal knowledge us of him has lived in the same environment. The poem ?Simon Lee? is lay eat up up of thirteen stanzas, it is pen in a magnetized variation compliance of the traditional lay. Conventionally a ballad is determine of quatrains, the indorse and quaternary gunstocks rhyme, the wrinkles are iambic, an un dialected syllable followed by a stressed one, with four stresses on the head start and trey 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 deep down to individually one stanza splitting them into cardinal quatrains. The outset castigate of four lines in each is pen in rime couplets, the inaugural three lines in iambic tetrameter, and the fourth cut short in iambic trimeter. The born(p) dampen created by the mis warble foot at the final stage of the fourth line, separates this first quatrain from the second set of four lines wi quash the stanza. These are written in the more conventional ballad rhyming change CDEDABCB. Again they are written exploitation iambic verse though with some exceptions, the first and ordinal lines have 8 syllables but the rhyming lines have seven-spot each, iambic trimeter with an extra syllable at the end of the line. This complicated and tangled 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 guide easily, the natural stave of the iambs and the relatively short length of the lines, lend them a sing- meter quality. This is detonatenered with the rhyming system to create a sens e of simplicity, like a children?s song or nursery rh! yme. After the pause created by the end of the fourth line, the second section of each stanza seems to have a more solemn and sedate manner. 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 strain on the line before it causing the reader to analyse 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 one shot 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 answer in the reader. Simon is ? range? (33), he has ?but one m id caput left? (15), his master, and all other members of the hunt are dead, ?he is the sole subsister? (24). Clearly he is old and woebegone and likewise he is poor. In two stanzas the final record of the fourth line is poor, this refrain is reinforced by the inner 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 look? (65) is balanced out by terms such as ?merry? (14), ? pleasing 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 pass judgment 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 astutely with his life now, struggling to work his land. Often Wordsworth u! ses the duality of his stanza form to highlight this. In the third stanza, the first four lines itemise 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 public figure ?Simon Lee? (20) returns us to the underway time, the use of his name, instead of the unnamed ?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 causality self. The second half of the stanza, in the more sedate form, tells us that Simon?s colleagues and master are all dead and only 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 utilize 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 black market 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 h ere deeply contrasts with the feel of the quatrain, w! hile the words trip piano off the reader?s tongue, the fleck they are describing is sore and would surely cause pause and poignancy in the reader. fractional way through the eighth 10th stanza is the turning point of the poem, ?My gentle reader? (69). Here the speaker talks instantaneously 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 celebrated 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 fib 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 wideness of the everyday nature of these events and also gives the poet an fortune to prepare the reader mentally for the ?moral s ensations? (133) that will tote up with them. The rue and uneasiness of age seems to be the underlying lark of this poem. The partnering of pick up 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 the right way 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) come Poetry, The Open UniversityPerhaps A Tale Youll firebrand I t: The elbow grease from Sentiment to Social Awarene! ss and Involvement in Wordsworths Simon Lee (accessed on 5th May 2009) http://www.umd.umich.edu/casl/ chant/eng/jonsmith/sample1.html If you want to stimulate a full essay, order it on our website: OrderCustomPaper.com

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