"Resolution and Independence" is a

lyric poem Modern lyric poetry is a formal type of poetry which expresses personal emotions or feelings, typically spoken in the first person. The term for both modern lyric poetry and modern song lyrics derives from a form of Ancient Greek literature, th ...

by the English

Romantic poet Romantic poetry is the poetry of the Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. It involved a reaction against prevailing Neoclassical ideas of the 18th c ...

William Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poetry, Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romanticism, Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Balla ...

, composed in 1802 and published in 1807 in '' Poems in Two Volumes''. The poem contains twenty stanzas written in modified

rhyme royal Rhyme royal (or rime royal) is a rhyme, rhyming stanza form that was introduced to English literature, English poetry by Geoffrey Chaucer. The form enjoyed significant success in the fifteenth century and into the sixteenth century. It has had a mo ...

, and describes Wordsworth's encounter with a leech-gatherer near his home in the

Lake District The Lake District, also known as ''the Lakes'' or ''Lakeland'', is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Cumbria, North West England. It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and mou ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Overview

Stanzas I–III of the poem describe the poet's joy while taking a morning walk after a night of rain. In stanzas IV–VII, the poet is suddenly beset by anxious thoughts and fears about his own future, as well as the future of all poets, saying "We Poets in our youth begin in gladness; / But thereof come in the end despondency and madness." In Stanza VII, Wordsworth recounts past poets who died at a young age. In line 43, he "thought of Chatterton, the marvellous Boy / The sleepless Soul that perished in his pride", referring to

Thomas Chatterton Thomas Chatterton (20 November 1752 – 24 August 1770) was an English poet whose precocious talents ended in suicide at age 17. He was an influence on Romantic artists of the period such as Shelley, Keats, Wordsworth and Coleridge. Alth ...

, an 18th-century poet who committed suicide at the age of 17 after duping many in the literary world with his medieval forgeries. In line 45, Wordsworth writes "of Him who walked in glory and in joy / Following his plough, along the mountain-side", a reference to

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the List of national poets, national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the be ...

, who died at the age of 37 after an extended illness. The poem concludes in stanzas VIII–XX with Wordsworth meeting an old, poor leech-gatherer who endures the hardships of his life with patience and acceptance. The poet recovers from his dejection, and views the man as having been sent "To give me human strength, by apt admonishment".

History and background

The poem is based on Wordsworth's actual encounter with a leech-gatherer on 3 October 1800, near his home at Dove Cottage in Grasmere. However, the poem was not written until May 1802, when Wordsworth experienced the "despondency" described in the poem while walking on Barton Fell near

Ullswater Ullswater is a glacial lake in Cumbria, England and part of the Lake District National Park. It is the second largest lake in the region by both area and volume, after Windermere. The lake is about long, wide, and has a maximum depth of . I ...

. It was during this walk that he " ecollectedthe emotion in tranquility" and associated the leech-gatherer he had met two years earlier with his current experience. The first version of the poem was written between 3–9 May 1802 under the title of "The Leech-Gatherer", but Wordsworth considerably revised the poem during the following months after it was reviewed by his fiancée, Mary Hutchinson, and her sister Sara.Gill, Stephen. ''William Wordsworth: A Life'', p. 201. Oxford University Press, 1989.

Parody

In the 1871 novel ''

Through the Looking-Glass ''Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There'' is a novel published in December 1871 by Lewis Carroll, the pen name of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, a mathematics lecturer at Christ Church, Oxford, Christ Church, University of Oxford. I ...

'',

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet, mathematician, photographer and reluctant Anglicanism, Anglican deacon. His most notable works are ''Alice ...

parodies "Resolution and Independence" with the poem " Haddocks' Eyes".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Resolution And Independence 1807 poems Poetry by William Wordsworth

Overview

History and background

Parody

See also

References