The Last of the Flock

In "The Last of the Flock" by William Wordsworth, the narrator comes upon a grown man weeping in the middle of the road because he had to sell all his sheep but one, and that one ended up dying. The crying man says "For me it was a woeful day" 3 times, which emphasizes the sadness that he feels. It is obvious that he is sad because his flock is gone, but I think he also feels sad and guilty about loving his children less. He had to sell his sheep so he could feed his ten children, and for this he was upset with them. He even says, "And now I care not if we die, And perish all of poverty." He goes on to say that he loved his flock just as much as his children, and as the flock decreased so did the love for his children. For this, he thinks he is cursed, and acknowledges that it was an evil time. The narrator says that it is uncommon for a grown, healthy man to cry. Crying in the Romantic age was usually associated with children. But after being cursed, losing his flock, and losing the love for his children, how could the man not cry? If the man had not sold his flock and therefore not provided food for his children, then his children would have been crying instead. In a way, he takes their role, because children were the ones that usually cried. Even though he is extremely sad, he was a good father and saved his children the pain. And even though he thinks he loves his children less, by being unselfish and providing for them he is in reality showing his love for them. In the end, he chose his children over his flock, and although he is sad now, he spared the feelings of many others.

Simon Lee

I believe that William Wordsworth's Simon Lee is about the course of life and the fear of growing old. Of the 13 stanzas of the poem, the first ten just describe Simon Lee and his life. Basically, Simon Lee's life has been in a downward spiral since his youth. In his youth, Simon Lee was a servant for a wealthy family, but he was happy. He was a master hunter, and no man was as good as he was. Everyone had heard of him, and no one was happier. But Simon Lee outlived everyone in the household, including the dogs and horses. He loses his left eye and his limbs become marred. He is extremely thin, sick, and weak, and is nearing death. He has no children, and his wife is just as old and weak as he is. The reader has to sympathize with Simon Lee after reading all of this, as he is now completely opposite of what he was as a youth at the peak of his life. At this point in the poem, Wordsworth warns the reader that this is not a tale and that there will be no action. I think he does this so that the reader will reflect on the description of Simon Lee in the previous stanzas. However, he then tells a tale after all. After seeing Simon Lee struggle to chop up a "tangled root," the narrator (Wordsworth) offers to help. While Simon Lee hadn't been able to do it all day, the narrator severs it "with a single blow." Simon Lee is so overwhelmed with joy that he cries and thanks the narrator in an overwhelming fashion. The narrator never expected such thanks, but it actually makes him sad. This is because Simon Lee has gone from a youthful, vibrant, strong man into a feeble, old, helpless one. The narrator realizes that now he is like the youthful Simon Lee, but fears he will soon enough be like the old Simon Lee. Below is a link for the Curious Case of Benjamin Button trailer. This movie is about mortality and dealing with human's natural fear of death. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7L6K3fkwr-Y

The Nightingale

In "The Nightingale: A Conversational Poem" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the speaker, the speaker's friend, and the friend's sister are sitting and talking on a bridge near a stream about nightingales and nature. I believe that the speaker is Coleridge himself, and his friend is actually William Wordsworth. Coleridge, Wordsworth, and all Romantics loved nature and praised its beauty, because they believed nature is always joyous. It is obvious that this poem praises the beauty of the natural world, referring to the moon, nighttime, and the nightingale's song. Coleridge refuted those that said that the nightingale was melancholy just because a melancholy man sees his own feelings in the nightingale's song, because nature always inspires joy. Therefore, nature is not a representation of human feelings, but can shift to resemble a person's feelings. Coleridge and Wordsworth also believed that nature was a vital part to a child's development and to fully understand yourself as a person you should spend a lot of time in nature as a child. The baby in the story is Coleridge's first-born son Hartley, and Coleridge takes him outside under the moonlight when he was crying because nature is always so joyous. He wanted to make sure that from a young age his son would recognize this and grow up loving nature just as much as his father. I've included a picture of a baby simply enjoying nature.

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner makes others sadder?

In "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the Mariner must retell his story whenever he feels guilty for killing the albatross and also for being responsible for his shipmates' deaths. He knows when he comes upon a man that he must tell his tale to, and by telling his tale he is freed from his guilt. However, does part of his guilt and sadness get passed on to the person he tells the tale too? At the end of the poem, the Wedding-Guest who had just heard the Mariner's tale was stunned. Although he was at a wedding, which is supposed to be a joyous occasion, the Wedding-Guest was depressed. The last two lines of the poem are "A Sadder and a wiser man, He rose the morrow morn." After retelling his story, the Mariner is freed from his sadness, but I believe this is only because the sadness is passed on to the listener. When the Mariner tells his tale, it can in a way be seen as a confession for the sins he committed. By confessing and telling others to love all things that God made, he is repenting for what he did. By listening to the story and feeling the Mariner's pain and remorse, the Wedding-Guest (and all others that heard the tale) at first feel sad, but in the end are helping the Mariner earn his way back into heaven. They act as the priest would in confession. This makes me think, do priests feel the pain and sadness of others when they listen to confessions?
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_X2PKA9oPl2k/SZ99aEzyqAI/AAAAAAAAAkA/cOAjZQSxXyw/s400/confession.gif