Dorothy and William Wordsworth

After reading William Wordsworth, I really enjoyed reading Dorothy Wordsworth's writings, especially her journals. Dorothy had so much talent even though she did not aspire to be a great poet or even to be published at all. On page 290 it says “When she began her Grasmere journal, she told herself that she was writing to give William “pleasure.” It makes sense that she was writing these journals for William her brother since many of her writings parallel with his.

For example, in one of her journals on page 298 she describes the “Circumstances of ‘It is a Beauteous Evening.’” In the poem, she uses strong imagery to convey the sound of the ocean using words to describe it like “roared” and says the waves “broke against the pier.” In her writing she gives the ocean a sense of power much like William does in “It is a Beauteous Evening.” She also describes it as being “interfused with greenish fiery light” and the distant sea “black and gloomy.” Her images help me as the reader to be able to envision the scene well in my own mind as William does when describing the same scene. It is apparent that Dorothy reveres nature just as William does and finds much joy in it.

I was drawn to Dorothy’s beautiful imagery and language in “A Field of Daffodils.” She wrote the journal about a field of daffodils seen close to the waterside of a lake. Her and William must have both seen the place and valued their experience there greatly. William also wrote a poem “I wandered lonely as a cloud” about his experience there. In William’s version, he speaks of seeing the place alone stating that he “wandered lonely as a cloud/ That floats on high o’er vales and hills” (ln 1-2). He tells a story of seeing a crowd of golden daffodils and uses metaphors to describe them as “fluttering” and “dancing.” William Wordsworth is able to paint an exquisite picture for me with his use of metaphors. To describe the amount of daffodils he sees he says that they are “continuous as the stars that shine” and that they “stretched in never-ending line along the margin of the bay.” What sets him apart from his sister’s journal is how William takes what he has seen and then applies it to how it affects him afterwards. Even though he did not realize it then, when he returned and was lying on his couch “in vacant or in pensive mood,” we could think of the daffodils and his heart would fill with pleasure and “dance with the daffodils.” William Wordsworth mentions over and over again in his poetry that it is nature that brings him joy even when he is away from it. He carries on this thought nicely in this poem. In Dorothy’s journal, she uses similar imagery and metaphors to describe the beautiful and peaceful scene. In her journal, the daffodils “reeled & danced & seemed as if they verily laughed with the wind that blew upon them over the Lake.” The daffodils seem to be dancing in her journal like in William’s poem. In her journal though, she uses “we” referring to the fact that she was not alone when she experienced this daffodils. In William’s, he states that he “wandered lonely as a cloud,” inferring that he was alone when he made this discovery. Both William and Dorothy Wordsworth revered nature and received much joy from it. It seemed to have its own power and energy in their writings and brought both of them a sense of peace and serenity.