Elizabeth Brennan's Class Summary

Professor Foss arrived and gave us the gift of a reward quiz. The answers to the reward quiz were: hot air balloon, castle, floating island, west wind, and morning wind. We were reminded that class is cancelled for the Kemp Symposium and encouraged to attend. Please note that even though we are not meeting, there is a reading needed for completion. Foss saw our looks of disbelief and commented, “Before the semester started, that seemed like such a good idea.” The final exam assignment sheet is up on the Wiki. Professor Foss will not be reading drafts of exam answers, however he will be able to offer clarification and discuss ideas. We are also welcome to get feedback from peers and the writing center. We discussed the final exam more in depth, questioning how we can discuss the canonball papers without merely reiterating what has been said. Foss concluded that it is okay to interpret the works the same way but that we may also pick a different focus in order to create a cohesive grouping. If you summarize or quote a paper, it is appropriate to site it as if it is an essay found online. We question the rule of “same day texts” and by the end of class, Foss sticks with this guideline to promote an intertextual look at the works.

After taking care of housekeeping, we moved forward to continue on with our “Science and Nature” unit. Today we looked at the various works of Barbauld, W. Wordsworth, D. Wordsworth, Shelley, and Clare and determined whether their works appealed more to the imagination or irony in relation to reason and nature. The main themes were the cycle of human life in comparison to nature and the power of nature versus the power of man/technology. Ultimately, we tried to reach a definitive understanding of these ideas and the way the poets responded to them.

In large group, we started off with Percy Shelley’s “Ode to the West Wind,” discussing to what extent it was an engagement with science and nature versus its potential to be a more ironic, darker poem. Foss went over the structure of the poem. The first focus is on the earth and the leaves that are being blown around by the wind. The second section focuses on sky and the clouds that are subjected to the wind. In the third section, the ocean, sea, and the waves are blowing around. Finally, in section four, all pieces come together to the speaker who understands the power of this wind and wants to participate in that power. At the end of the poem, Shelley asks, “If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?” (70). Whether this is a rhetorical question meant to suggest a hopeful belief in nature’s tendency to cycle between good and bad, or if it is more of an anguished question, in which the speaker hopes that our lives mimic the cycle of nature, is left for the class to decide. Ultimately, the majority of comments decide that this is hopeful and accepting and that Shelley is saying even death is not the end because everything is recycled and continuous. In lines 63-64, “drive my dead thoughts over the universe/Like withered leaves, to quicken a new birth,” there is evidence for this claim.

In small group, we looked at the Wordsworth poems; the first two we analyzed together to discuss the different views and responses to nature and how it relates to the imagination as well as the speaker’s sense of himself. In “The World Is Too Much with Us; Late and Soon,” Wordsworth discusses how people do not pay attention to nature and take advantage of it. He indicates a distance between modern man and nature, criticizing the role of religion, English men, and society’s role in destroying nature, in turn stifling the imagination. Wordsworth’s perspective in “Elegiac Stanzas” is very different, in that it questions the relationship between man and nature. It presents a conflict between modern society and the power of nature, originally praised by Wordsworth until it took the life of his brother. Wordsworth is trying to find his place within the struggle, using the manmade castle as a symbol in the midst of the storm to epitomize this power struggle. In lines 49-52, Wordsworth describes nature with very dark imagery but nonetheless, he is still in awe of it. In this poem, he is more understanding of man’s creation, talking about the castle positively, and ends the poem still with the idea that there are two sides to the conflict. “Not without hope we suffer and we mourn” as the last line indicates that there is suffering but things will always get better and life cycles between good and bad. The first poem is more imaginative, while the second is based on experience.

In small group, we also analyzed two railways poems, “On the Projected Kendal and Windermere Railway” and “Steamboats, Viaducts, and Railways” (found on the class blog) and their attitudes toward science and technology in relation to nature. “On the Projected Kendal and Windermere Railway” blames English society. There is a plea for nature, saying mankind is encroaching on nature where it should not be. There is also a clear appreciation for nature and a question on technology’s role in the natural world. “Steamboats, Viaducts, and Railways” struggles with this conflict as well. Art, man’s creation, and Time, nature’s creation, are at war with each other in this poem. It also makes the point that technology affects feelings towards nature. Both poems suggest consequences for technology’s presence in nature.

After being called back to large group to discuss our ideas about those poems, we begin talking about Dorothy Wordsworth’s works. “Floating Island at Hawkshead” illustrates the idea that nature does not only give but it also takes away, in that the island enjoyed by so many sinks and is buried. However, the fragments remaining at the end suggest nature’s cyclic tendencies. “Thoughts on My Sick-Bed” depicts the power of the imagination and the speaker’s ability to connect with nature through memory, receiving renovation of the human spirit. It’s a hopeful piece, suggesting that through imagination, one can never be without nature. We decide that Dorothy Wordsworth has a standard view of nature and that “Floating Island at Hawkshead” is similar to “Ode to a West Wind” with its cyclic optimism.

Foss puts us back into small group to wrap up class with a discussion of John Clare’s works and his responses to nature/imagination and the relationship between poetry and the figure of the poet. “The Morning Wind” glorifies nature and criticizes society. The last two lines addressing “smoking chimneys sickening the world” establishes a direct point about man’s technology in contrast to the beautiful nature imagery. The use of “fairy vision” seems to provide another warning, indicating that nature will not last if we do not preserve it. “The Peasant Poet” is a simple poem without much conflict; everything is glorified and it is purely the imagination. The role of the poet is almost made obsolete because Clare is indicating that anyone can experience nature, and this enjoyment is more valuable than art, or trying to really understand it. Lastly, Clare’s “Pastoral Poesy” complicates the idea of poetry. It seems like Clare does not believe in the exploration of art and decides nature is more important; one should capture something as it is rather than question its essence. Clare’s poems are more imaginative appreciation, rather than truly looking to question the relation between human life and nature.

While there were a lot of different types of works and several different authors discussed in class today, all were tied together by the cyclic tendency of nature and its relation to human life as well as technology’s role in society versus appreciation for nature. In the end, the poems that seem to have captured these ideas best were “Ode to the West Wind” and “Elegiac Stanzas.” However, all the works were important in establishing a complete understanding of nature and ways in which it is appreciated in everyday life.

Word Count: 1352