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Assalamualaikum and good morning everyone. Welcome
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back to English poetry at the Islamic University
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of Gaza. Today we move to a very interesting poet,
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critic and a modernist. When we started this
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course, I asked you for your favorite definition
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of poetry and most of you opted for the
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Wordsworthian definition, defining poetry as a
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spontaneous overflow of powerful emotions. And I
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want that many people would stop here, giving this
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definition, and this actually falls short because
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there is a second part, there's a significant
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part, actually 50% of what the definition is,
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which is recollected in tranquility. This
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recollection act of remembering and recalling
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memories is significant. We're going to see this
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in a bit. Before we talk about the features which
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we in a way or another mentioned in the lectures
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on William Blake. Let's see this canonical text.
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I'm sure you're already familiar with this. Some
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of you must have studied this before, but it's
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always, always good to see how different people do
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different things. In my way of studying poetry and
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literature in general, I like to focus on the
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structure, on the form, on how the poets say what
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they say rather than what they actually say. Some
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critics would suggest that there are actually a
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handful of themes out there. All poetry, all
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literature, all writings can be summarized into a
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handful of issues. I'm happy, I'm sad, she likes
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me, she doesn't like me, life's good, life's bad.
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And that's why we have poets, Arab poets, who
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suggested almost 2,000 years ago that whatever
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they were doing was just repeating themselves and
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intertexting or borrowing or quoting other poets.
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And this is 2,000 years ago. Ma arana naqulu illa
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muaran aw muadan min lafdina makrooro. And Antara
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says, hal ghadara ash shuara wa min mutraddami.
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Opening his muallaqa, his long poem, saying that,
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what should I write about? everything I want to
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speak about has already been spoken about by other
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poets. But he doesn't just stop there and give us
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that one line, the opening, because he knows he is
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not, in a way, the idea is being repeated, but how
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he is doing his poetry is totally different.
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That's why every poem, every poet is a different
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experience. Even by the same poet, you'll
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experience different different things I have, like
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when you study Tamim al-Barghouti, you'll find
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that there are common features for his poetry,
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right? But once you get into each poem, it's a
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microcosm of its own world. One guy said to a
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critic, I want to write poetry. I have so many
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ideas. I want to write poetry, we do this
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sometimes. I want to write poetry, I have so many
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ideas. And the critic being a critic said, poetry
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my friend is not made with ideas, but with words.
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what words to choose, how to use the words, how to
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word the words, how to order the words, how to
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play with the words, how to use and recruit
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literary devices and metaphorical language,
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figures of speech. And that's why, again, I like
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Samuel Coleridge's definition probably more. He
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says in a way, it sounds a stupid definition, but
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it's really deep. Poetry is the best words in the
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best order. Poetry is the best words in the best
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order, where he is focusing more on how the form
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and the language should say what they should say.
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Now, when we talk about William Wordsworth, we
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talk about one of the most, again, important poets
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of all times. We talk about the father or the
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founder or the co-founder of Romanticism. Along
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with Coleridge, they published what is known as
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The Lyrical Ballads around 1798. And the book in a
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short time sold out. There were no more copies
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because people remember we said nanoclassicism was
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already in decline and people were looking for
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something different, something new. Coleridge
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published only his Rymor Ancient Mariner and
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Wordsworth published like I'm not sure how many
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poems but a bunch of them. Now after two years
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they say they said like okay let's
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Let's tell people what we're doing. Let's define
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poetry, define a poet and tell them what kind of
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language, what kind of sensibility we're employing
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here.
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Coleridge, probably you know this already,
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Coleridge was a drug addict. He was an opium
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addict. He was high all the time. Not climbing
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trees, but high. He didn't participate in writing
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the introduction, which is now known as the
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preface to the lyrical ballad. It was written, I'm
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saying this because some people think that the
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preface is what Romanticism is, and this is, to a
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large extent, yes, if you consider words worth
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everything in Romanticism, and this is wrong. And
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I know many of you usually, I like feminism, I
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like post-colonialism, I like romanticism. And
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then later on you find, you realize that there are
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romanticisms, feminisms, and post-colonialisms.
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Because when you study what a college is going to
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be like, they share these common features, but
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they're totally different. Look at Shelley, for
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example, Percy Shelley. Lord Byron, Lord Byron,
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hates Coleridge and William Wordsworth. He keeps
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making fun of them all the time, mocking them.
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This is the second generation. Now, so William
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Wordsworth wrote the preface himself alone. This
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is good again and bad because we have now
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something, unlike the metaphysicals, they didn't
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write anything to define their poetry, what they
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were doing, to tell people about their new
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sensibility.
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But again, it's bad because some people think that
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this is all what you need to know about
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romanticism. This is also good because later on
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Coleridge realized that, oh my God, I didn't
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participate in this. And he wrote his own book
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known as Biographia Literaria, or Literary
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Biography. So it's good that we have two books by
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these two amazing poets and critics. This poem,
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some say, is the icon, the epitome of
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neoclassicism, sorry, romanticism. It contains
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almost every feature, as if he wrote this poem
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just to show people how to write poetry in terms
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of form, of language, of subject matter, of the
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new sensibility, of the feelings and emotions and
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imagination, individuality, as opposed to
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everything that we had in neoclassical Iran. Okay,
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so the poem is entitled with the daffodils the
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daffodils Probably let's let's read the poem
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together for the sake of time just one stanza
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each, please I wandered lonely Okay,
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can you say again and speak up I wandered lonely
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as a cloud that floats high over hills and hills.
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When all at once I saw a crowd, a host of golden
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daffodils beside the lakes beneath the trees,
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fluttering and dancing in the breeze. Thank you
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very much. One more, please.
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Thank you. Speak up. The waves beside them danced,
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but they outdid the sparkling waves indeed. A poet
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could not but be gay in such a tokened company. I
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gazed and gazed, but little thought what Thank you
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very much. One more, please. On my couch.
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Very good.
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Very good. Okay, so I'll go into a journey through
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this poem and show you how I like to usually do
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things. But this is a poem that can be studied
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from different ideas. You can start with the
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features, looking for them, et cetera. But let's
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do a close reading, reading between the words and
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the lines. Now, the title itself, Daffodils, or
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The Daffodils, suggests that
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This is a poem that is rooted, or at least
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inspired by nature. The daffodils, rather than
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paradise lost, paradise regained, rather than any
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lofty subject matter, the fairy queen, they say on
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criticism, they say on man, that's the daffodils.
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Totally different from the neoclassical, the
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neoclassicals who were writing before this. When
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we read the poem, we realize that this is a poem
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that is overwhelmed by nature and natural
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elements. It's not a poem that uses nature as some
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kind of decoration for the poem. Because some of
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you will say, okay, Shakespeare used natural
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elements. Marlowe used natural elements in his
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poetry. What difference does it make? The
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difference is actually
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Existential, not just superficial, because in this
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poem, in Wordsworth, nature is the poem. The poem
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is for nature, nature inspires the poem, nature
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everything. Take nature from the poem and you
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don't have a poem. But for Shakespeare, probably
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for Marlow, if you take nature, you take the
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decorations because he's saying that, come live
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with me and be my love. I own everything around
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me. He's not showing the relationship between him
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and nature and how nature is impacting him, his
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psychology, his everything here. So nature here,
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this is about the impact of nature. The impact,
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and again, I don't like to talk about themes
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because sometimes they limit the meaning of the
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poem. But yeah, there is this thing about how
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nature is changing, is impacting him from one
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thing to the other. And then the second thing, we
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are struck with the I. I wandered lonely as a
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cloud. And actually not only I, we have lonely and
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we have the singularity of a cloud. I wondered
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lonely as there is subjectivity here, there is
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individualism. For romanticism, remember we said
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that neoclassical poetry was poetry of the
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collective, of everybody, for all, not for all
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like in this sense where it talks, where it
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considers poetry a practice that is, that can be
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done by everybody, by any ordinary man with just,
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or woman with just some comprehensive sensibility.
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It means that you need to write poetry about
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significant and lofty issues, issues that touch
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Everybody. If your poem is about Adapodil, why
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should I care? Adapodil is not important to me.
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But God and Adam and Eve and the Queen, these
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things are important to everybody. And then he
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emphasizes this by saying lonely and then a cloud.
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He's wondering, not like clouds or birds,
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whatever, it's just one singularity. So when we
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say there's subjectivity here, there is
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individuality here, Don't get this mixed up with
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every, not every I in a poem is individual I,
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because some of the I's could be collective I's.
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I, an I where the poet is assuming the role of the
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spokesperson for everybody, like the we, okay?
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Like where, for example, a poet speaks for all
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lovers, for all poets, for all people, but with
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William Wordsworth, and mostly the romantics, but
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in particular, William Wordsworth, The I here is
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actually the poet himself. Because for
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romanticism, the poem is the poet. And the poet is
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the poem. They are interchangeable. That's why
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when you discuss romanticism, remember we said
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poetry for them is self-expression? You experience
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something, you experience something that you
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experience yourself in a way or another. It
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doesn't have to be a direct experience. We can
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talk about this later on. And lonely, this is
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loneliness. We'll see at the end how he was not
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alone when he had this experience. But there's
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somebody he is totally eradicating and erasing
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from the poem. Is this anti-feminism? Is this?
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self-centeredness or is this and again emphasis on
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individuality rather than society and community
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which is a romantic feature when he says as a
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cloud as is it's a simile thank you and a simile
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is a metaphor where you use as or like just and in
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general Similes are easier than metaphors. If he
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said, I wandered lonely or I floated lonely, we'll
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be asking, what does he mean? Why is he floating?
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What, is he a bird? Is he a duck? Is he what?
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Because the possibilities are open, but he just
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closes the door here by saying that, I wandered
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lonely as a cloud. That's the end of it. And this
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is something some people might be interested in
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doing research on. How, for example, the Nihilists
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were more into metaphors, you know, make things
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complex sometimes, elaborate. That's why we have
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the conceit and the Elizabethan conceit. But here,
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they go for the simple. We'll see this repeated
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again later on as the stars. And then again, a
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cloud, not clouds, emphasizing the singularity of
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it. But why a cloud? Yeah? Why a cloud? Not a
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tree, a bird, a cat, or a drone, or a plane, or a
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kite, you know? A kite, paper kite. What does it
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indicate possibly? Yeah? Maybe because it's up in
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the sky and it's hard to reach. Thank you very
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much. It's up in the sky. it's high up above
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everything it has this bird's eye view that can it
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can look at at things below it can see things from
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a comprehensive perspective it's up above that's
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one and i think because it is moving slowly so
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he's in a state when he is staring at everything
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and imagining everything so he couldn't be like
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But not necessarily, not all clouds move slowly,
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but that could be part of it. Sometimes they move
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slowly. So this deliberate movement could be a
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possible thing here. There is deliberation in the
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process. There could be another reason. Maybe to
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show that it's like something that is delicate and
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soft. The delicacy of it, okay, the softness. I
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heard somebody say something here.
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Okay, it's also free, it has this kind of free
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will. It's not connected with anything, it just
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moves at free will. So there could be these
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reasons for a cloud, one cloud, three. I love how
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when you examine our friend here, Wordsworth,
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we'll see the second poem in a bit. He likes to
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position himself. Remember I said, try to
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understand where the poet is, what he is or she is
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doing now, at the moment the poem is being
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written, right? Is he asleep? Is he walking? Is he
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eating? Is he in a class? Is he what? In a train,
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traveling? The man here positions himself up
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above. We see the second poem, he does almost the
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same. He distances himself from things. That
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floats on high o'er vales and hills. Now, o'er is
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over, but over makes it two syllables, or one
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syllable. And again, look at nature. This is
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something. When all at once I saw a crowd. If you
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look at the first two lines, I think there is some
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kind of deliberation. Somebody said deliberate
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here. They're musical, but they are a little bit
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slow. I wandered lonely as a cloud that floats on
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high or vales and hills. This line goes even
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quicker. When all at once I saw a crowd, a host of
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golden daffodils. When all at once, look at this
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suddenness here. I saw a crowd. And the crowd
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refers to a bunch of daffodils he saw. He
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describes them as a crowd doing something called a
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personification. Because a crowd of people, we
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say. But if crowd is negative, a little bit
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negative, because crowd, you don't like crowds,
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you're like, it's crowded, I'm not going to go
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there. He quickly follows it with a host which is
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more welcoming and more inviting. If you are a
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guest, the guy taking care of you is the host. And
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when you are a guest, somebody's guest, You just
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stay there, you enjoy food, you enjoy drinks, you
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enjoy just relax, right? But it's the host that
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works hard to please you, to make you comfortable.
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I'm not sure what he's doing here, but is he
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suggesting that the closer you get, the more
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beautiful the scene becomes, the more involved you
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are, the more inviting and appealing it is,
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because it sounded like a crowd, and then they
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turn to be a host, which also means a group of
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golden daffodils. Now, the daffodils are golden.
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Why would you say golden if they are already
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there? So there could be some kind of significance
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for this color, shiny color. Some people would
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suggest that gold, they're precious, they're gold.
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Referring to the color, but referring to their
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significance. Where? Beneath the lake, beside the
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lake, beneath the trees, fluttering and dancing in
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the breeze. This is again more for the
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personification. They are fluttering like birds
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but also they are dancing like human beings.
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That's a beautiful opening to a poem, very
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ecstatic, very appealing. I'm not sure if this is
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00:20:33,480 --> 00:20:37,800
soothing to you, but he's inviting you to some, in
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a way, to reconsider natural scenes, natural
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experiences. I hope you never see daffodils the
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same after this poem, or roses, or cats, or birds,
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00:20:50,620 --> 00:20:55,640
or clouds. Now, I'm not sure what words you find
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00:20:55,640 --> 00:20:58,620
difficult here. Fluttering, we already mentioned
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this before. Veil, veil, veil, veil, valley.
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00:21:05,680 --> 00:21:09,480
Fluttering, you know breeze, the sweet morning.
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00:21:12,500 --> 00:21:15,560
What else? I don't think there are difficult words
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00:21:15,560 --> 00:21:17,840
here. Even the words you're not familiar with, you
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00:21:17,840 --> 00:21:22,380
still can guess. If you go to the rhyme scheme,
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00:21:24,730 --> 00:21:29,150
Please. Thank you. Go. A, B,
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A, B. Are you sure? Yes. Yes. C, C. Are you sure?
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00:21:35,910 --> 00:21:39,310
Yes. The letters are different. We have to count
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the sound. It's the sound that we care about.
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00:21:43,090 --> 00:21:46,870
Perfect or? Perfect. Perfect. If you count, just
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to save you some time, if you count the syllables,
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Each line has eight syllables making four feet,
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mostly iambic tetrameter.
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You'll find that this time we're not going to find
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00:22:01,430 --> 00:22:05,930
many poems going for the five feet iambic
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pentameter.
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00:22:10,090 --> 00:22:12,810
And then the second syllable goes for continuous
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as the stars that shine. Again, another simile. as
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00:22:19,070 --> 00:22:22,630
the stars that shine and twinkle on the milky way,
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00:22:22,990 --> 00:22:26,690
they referring to? And look at this, this is by
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the way, this is now a modifying phrase.
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00:22:33,390 --> 00:22:38,610
The sentence is originally, because they are
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continuous, they stretched, or they were
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continuous. They stretched. This one of them is
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reduced. Continuous as the stars that shine and
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00:22:50,480 --> 00:22:53,860
twinkle on the Milky Way, they stretched a never
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-ending line. Grammatically, it's a never-ending
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line because line is one. So there is, again,
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00:23:01,560 --> 00:23:04,920
because many people still say there's no such
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00:23:04,920 --> 00:23:07,340
thing as spontaneous overflow of powerful
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emotions. there's always a conscious attempt,
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deliberate attempt to write poetry. So if this is
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a poem with a perfect rhyme scheme and a perfect,
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00:23:17,930 --> 00:23:21,690
you know, same number of syllables, yes great
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00:23:21,690 --> 00:23:24,750
poets don't stop and count, they feel the beat,
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00:23:24,850 --> 00:23:28,940
they feel The rhythm. But here, he's deleting the
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أ just to make it fit the eight syllables. The
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four feet. Along the margin of a bay, ten thousand
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sawyer at once. Look at this. Again,
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00:23:39,560 --> 00:23:43,460
grammatically, this is called fronting. Fronting,
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when you bring something in front. تقدير متأخير in
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Arabic. It should be I saw ten thousand subject
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verbs at a glance. But why is he doing this? Why
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is he starting with ten thousand and then delaying
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the subject? The door, the eye? Because the scene
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is more important
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than the person himself. What kind of scene do we
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00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:14,680
have here? The daffodils. Very good. So the
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00:24:14,680 --> 00:24:17,740
daffodils, the scene, thank you, nature is more
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significant than he is.
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He's bringing nature before, and of course we
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don't, how did he know that this is 10,000
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daffodils?
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Just, it's again, this is possible, it is possible
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that this is an exaggeration, but you could see in
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fields, you could see 10,000 roses or flowers in
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particular natural scene.
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If you, I'm sure you've seen many pictures online,
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00:24:49,910 --> 00:24:52,970
you will find sometimes actually none in, you look
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00:24:52,970 --> 00:24:55,590
to the horizon everywhere you'll be surrounded
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00:24:55,590 --> 00:25:00,210
with, but yeah it could be, could be he's just
393
00:25:00,210 --> 00:25:05,300
creating this perfect Ecstatic image. 10,000 saw I
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00:25:05,300 --> 00:25:08,320
at a glance, again extending the personification
395
00:25:08,320 --> 00:25:11,920
here, the metaphor, tossing their heads, like
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00:25:11,920 --> 00:25:16,020
moving their heads in sprightly dance. They're
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00:25:16,020 --> 00:25:18,420
still dancing. They're dancing here. They're
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00:25:18,420 --> 00:25:20,820
dancing in the second syllable, in the second
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00:25:20,820 --> 00:25:24,760
stanza. Dancing and dancing. They're happy. They
400
00:25:24,760 --> 00:25:29,000
inspire joy, inspire happiness. Beauty if you look
401
00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:34,400
at again same eight eight eight four feet each The
402
00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:37,200
rhyme scheme is remember you could continue with
403
00:25:37,200 --> 00:25:39,820
the letters But my advice is when you begin a new
404
00:25:39,820 --> 00:25:43,520
stanza go back to the alphabet to to do this,
405
00:25:43,600 --> 00:25:49,240
please a b a b
406
00:25:51,650 --> 00:25:55,050
C and T, also perfect rhyme. So it's the same, A,
407
00:25:55,150 --> 00:25:59,830
B, A, B, C, C, A, B, A, B, C, C, creating this
408
00:25:59,830 --> 00:26:06,830
perfect world, world, natural element. And then,
409
00:26:07,370 --> 00:26:15,090
standard three, which I love very much.
410
00:26:18,010 --> 00:26:20,810
Now the waves, now look at how nature is
411
00:26:20,810 --> 00:26:24,950
contagious. If you see a beautiful scene, it
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00:26:24,950 --> 00:26:29,090
inspires beauty everywhere. The waves themselves
413
00:26:29,090 --> 00:26:32,890
were affected by the scene, the inanimate thing
414
00:26:32,890 --> 00:26:37,410
here. The waves beside them danced. Even the way,
415
00:26:37,510 --> 00:26:39,970
this is again, remember this is some kind of
416
00:26:39,970 --> 00:26:44,470
perception. The romantics believe that beauty is
417
00:26:44,470 --> 00:26:48,110
in the eye of the beholder. If you look for
418
00:26:48,110 --> 00:26:51,130
beauty, you will find beauty. This is a man going
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00:26:51,130 --> 00:26:54,910
out who loves nature, who's looking for beauty. So
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00:26:54,910 --> 00:26:56,970
definitely he's going to see it. He's going to
421
00:26:56,970 --> 00:27:00,790
look at the daffodils dancing, the trees dancing,
422
00:27:00,910 --> 00:27:04,390
the clouds dancing, the waves dancing. But if he's
423
00:27:04,390 --> 00:27:08,710
not in the mood, if he is dark, sad, if he has
424
00:27:08,710 --> 00:27:12,890
just been through a tough experience, he's going
425
00:27:12,890 --> 00:27:17,540
to be expressing it differently. And this is a
426
00:27:17,540 --> 00:27:21,060
romantic concept. Some people believe this is, we
427
00:27:21,060 --> 00:27:25,440
spoke about this with William Blake. how both read
428
00:27:25,440 --> 00:27:29,740
the Bible day and night. I read, you read black
429
00:27:29,740 --> 00:27:33,640
while I read white. Different people give
430
00:27:33,640 --> 00:27:36,560
different impressions. That's why if it's raining,
431
00:27:36,620 --> 00:27:39,600
it's not raining now, unluckily for us. If you
432
00:27:39,600 --> 00:27:44,660
look at the rain, many people would think that
433
00:27:44,660 --> 00:27:48,300
everybody reacts the same to nature, to rain. We
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00:27:48,300 --> 00:27:50,880
love rain, all of us. But for some of us who have
435
00:27:50,880 --> 00:27:56,280
had bad experiences some rainy day, if you lost a
436
00:27:56,280 --> 00:27:59,320
dear, a loved one, if you have had this sad
437
00:27:59,320 --> 00:28:02,360
experience, rain is going to bring you all these
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00:28:02,360 --> 00:28:06,320
feelings of sadness and pain rather than joy and
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00:28:06,320 --> 00:28:13,520
happiness. So the waves were dancing, but they
440
00:28:13,520 --> 00:28:20,820
again, the daffodils, out dead. They were more
441
00:28:22,470 --> 00:28:27,770
Pleasant, more sparkling, happier than the waves.
442
00:28:28,810 --> 00:28:32,950
Outdid the sparkling waves in glee, in happiness,
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00:28:33,130 --> 00:28:36,790
in pleasure. A poet could not but be gay. We'll
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00:28:36,790 --> 00:28:42,470
talk about this in detail now. A poet could not
445
00:28:42,470 --> 00:28:50,010
but be gay in such joking company. I gazed. And
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00:28:50,010 --> 00:28:54,070
gaze. He could have said, I gazed a lot. Right? We
447
00:28:54,070 --> 00:28:58,350
do this. I gazed a lot. And that's it. I gazed.
448
00:28:58,610 --> 00:29:04,070
This is how he reacts. He just stands there. Once
449
00:29:04,070 --> 00:29:07,350
he was suggesting this beautiful thing, submissive
450
00:29:07,350 --> 00:29:12,650
to nature. You know? Like how the cloud is
451
00:29:12,650 --> 00:29:15,510
submissive to nature, to the wind blowing it here
452
00:29:15,510 --> 00:29:18,860
and there at free will. Because it doesn't control
453
00:29:18,860 --> 00:29:21,560
it. He is exactly like this. He's just standing
454
00:29:21,560 --> 00:29:24,880
there absorbing. You know absorbing in a sponge?
455
00:29:25,100 --> 00:29:28,000
It absorbs water. He's trying to absorb this
456
00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:33,860
beauty, this never-ending beauty. I gaze and gaze.
457
00:29:33,900 --> 00:29:36,440
Look at how he's emphasizing feelings and emotions
458
00:29:36,440 --> 00:29:38,940
over thinking.
459
00:29:40,320 --> 00:29:44,760
But little thought. Not never. Same thing, two
460
00:29:44,760 --> 00:29:47,180
syllables. But little thought.
461
00:29:49,730 --> 00:29:52,790
This is unlike the Age of Reason, the Augustan
462
00:29:52,790 --> 00:29:57,050
Age, where thinking and logic are more important
463
00:29:57,050 --> 00:30:01,630
than feelings and emotions. I gazed, I just kept
464
00:30:01,630 --> 00:30:04,570
looking and looking. And I found this very
465
00:30:04,570 --> 00:30:06,590
beautiful, one of the most fascinating lines.
466
00:30:06,950 --> 00:30:09,030
Because nowadays what we would be doing is just
467
00:30:09,030 --> 00:30:11,290
again take our mobile phones and just snap
468
00:30:11,290 --> 00:30:15,190
pictures just so you show off on social media. You
469
00:30:15,190 --> 00:30:20,450
care more about the picture than just Enjoying the
470
00:30:20,450 --> 00:30:24,770
scene. Submitting yourself to the scene. What
471
00:30:24,770 --> 00:30:27,270
wealth the show to me had brought. There's wealth
472
00:30:27,270 --> 00:30:30,390
here. This is not a businessman looking wow I'm
473
00:30:30,390 --> 00:30:34,050
going to make a lot of money because he said gold
474
00:30:34,050 --> 00:30:38,570
before he So we'll come back after a very, very
475
00:30:38,570 --> 00:30:42,130
short break. So I'm saying here that there's
476
00:30:42,130 --> 00:30:44,250
wealth here, but that's not the financial
477
00:30:44,250 --> 00:30:47,790
materialistic wealth. This is the spiritual,
478
00:30:48,210 --> 00:30:52,470
natural kind of wealth that the romantics look
479
00:30:52,470 --> 00:30:57,490
forward to. Now, I find this very interesting as a
480
00:30:57,490 --> 00:30:59,570
stanza. I think this is the core of the whole
481
00:30:59,570 --> 00:30:59,850
poem.
482
00:31:02,660 --> 00:31:05,480
If we start with the rhyme scheme, can somebody
483
00:31:05,480 --> 00:31:13,920
help me with the rhyme scheme, please? A, B, A, C,
484
00:31:14,880 --> 00:31:22,380
D, D, D. Possible? Possible? But do you have
485
00:31:22,380 --> 00:31:27,320
another suggestion, somebody? Please? Say again?
486
00:31:27,940 --> 00:31:35,230
Okay, begin again. A, B, A, another B, but does
487
00:31:35,230 --> 00:31:41,310
company and glee rhyme? This is glee and this is
488
00:31:41,310 --> 00:31:41,830
company.
489
00:31:44,870 --> 00:31:50,210
Long, short. Okay, so we go for an imperfect rhyme
490
00:31:50,210 --> 00:31:51,950
here, although I find this possible.
491
00:31:55,630 --> 00:31:58,830
And the fact that we differ here, that the first
492
00:31:58,830 --> 00:32:01,310
two sentences were beautiful and perfect. We're
493
00:32:01,310 --> 00:32:03,410
fine with that. But all of a sudden there's
494
00:32:03,410 --> 00:32:05,510
something, there's something that doesn't add up,
495
00:32:05,610 --> 00:32:07,210
something that is imperfect, something that is
496
00:32:07,210 --> 00:32:10,050
making us disagree. The first two sentences made
497
00:32:10,050 --> 00:32:15,410
all of us like, you know, nodding. But here, they,
498
00:32:15,650 --> 00:32:21,800
again, A, B, A, B, Nobody does this, the A, the S,
499
00:32:21,940 --> 00:32:25,040
the B small thing, but I like to do it to indicate
500
00:32:25,040 --> 00:32:29,200
an imperfect triangle. And then another C, another
501
00:32:29,200 --> 00:32:33,480
C. If we just do the last one and come back to
502
00:32:33,480 --> 00:32:37,620
this, it's going to also be A, B.
503
00:32:40,180 --> 00:32:44,260
Perfect? So the only stanza with an imperfection
504
00:32:44,260 --> 00:32:47,120
is stanza number three. That's number one. I was
505
00:32:47,120 --> 00:32:49,460
counting the syllables the other day and I
506
00:32:49,460 --> 00:32:55,300
realized the only line that has an
507
00:32:55,300 --> 00:32:56,960
extra syllable was this one.
508
00:32:59,540 --> 00:33:04,840
Is it this one? One, two, three, four, five, six,
509
00:33:05,220 --> 00:33:07,800
seven, eight. No, which one? Which one was that?
510
00:33:09,660 --> 00:33:11,840
Not this one. I think this one is perfect. Where's
511
00:33:11,840 --> 00:33:16,290
the eraser? This one is also eight lines. I must
512
00:33:16,290 --> 00:33:21,090
have mixed this up with another one. Okay. The
513
00:33:21,090 --> 00:33:25,690
thing I noticed, if you look at this, is that the
514
00:33:25,690 --> 00:33:27,670
poet here, remember this is a first, if this is a
515
00:33:27,670 --> 00:33:30,990
story, this is a first person narrator. I
516
00:33:30,990 --> 00:33:36,530
wondered, saw I at once, I gazed and gazed. And
517
00:33:36,530 --> 00:33:42,730
then all of a sudden, he shifts. He shifts from I
518
00:33:42,730 --> 00:33:50,770
to He or she, a poet. A poet could not but be gay.
519
00:33:50,990 --> 00:33:59,230
He doesn't say I was nothing but gay. Why didn't
520
00:33:59,230 --> 00:34:03,750
he say I was gay, I was happy? Definitely he
521
00:34:03,750 --> 00:34:08,910
didn't care about coming out and people saying
522
00:34:08,910 --> 00:34:12,920
he's gay because it meant happy here. A poet could
523
00:34:12,920 --> 00:34:16,840
not but be gay. Poets should be happy, would be
524
00:34:16,840 --> 00:34:20,580
happy. Can be nothing but happy when they come
525
00:34:20,580 --> 00:34:24,180
face to face with this fascinating scene here. A
526
00:34:24,180 --> 00:34:26,760
poet could not but be gay in such a joking
527
00:34:26,760 --> 00:34:30,500
company. And there is another indication here. I
528
00:34:30,500 --> 00:34:33,960
gazed and gazed. But little thought. The binary,
529
00:34:34,080 --> 00:34:37,200
the opposites. So I gazed, some would be.
530
00:34:37,880 --> 00:34:41,860
thinking. I wandered lonely, I gazed and some
531
00:34:41,860 --> 00:34:47,780
might just be happy. What wealth does he show? He
532
00:34:47,780 --> 00:34:53,470
didn't care about even this kind of wealth. In
533
00:34:53,470 --> 00:34:56,730
other words, he didn't react instantly to the
534
00:34:56,730 --> 00:35:00,170
poem, to the scene here. And we'll talk about two
535
00:35:00,170 --> 00:35:03,490
types of imagination here. There is primary
536
00:35:03,490 --> 00:35:06,030
imagination and there is secondary imagination.
537
00:35:06,170 --> 00:35:09,150
The primary imagination is the instant reaction to
538
00:35:09,150 --> 00:35:11,710
beauty, to nature. You see something beautiful,
539
00:35:11,790 --> 00:35:14,270
you say, wow, and that's it. Or you take a picture
540
00:35:14,270 --> 00:35:18,070
and you just go on. But for the romantics, they
541
00:35:18,070 --> 00:35:22,750
like to absorb. to put it there in their heart and
542
00:35:22,750 --> 00:35:27,650
mind and everything. And later on, two years
543
00:35:27,650 --> 00:35:30,030
later, a day later, one month later, two months
544
00:35:30,030 --> 00:35:32,250
later, they would be reflecting on this.
545
00:35:33,490 --> 00:35:34,970
Recalling, that's why the second part of the
546
00:35:34,970 --> 00:35:37,450
definition is as important. Recollected in
547
00:35:37,450 --> 00:35:41,870
tranquility. But why would the poet shift from,
548
00:35:42,170 --> 00:35:44,390
why is he distancing himself from this experience?
549
00:35:45,770 --> 00:35:50,060
He's not saying, I was happy, right? He's saying a
550
00:35:50,060 --> 00:35:58,500
poet could not but be gay. Yeah, please. Thank you
551
00:35:58,500 --> 00:36:01,660
very much. This could suggest that not only words
552
00:36:01,660 --> 00:36:04,980
worth, but also all poets. That's very good.
553
00:36:05,040 --> 00:36:10,420
That's possible. More. Please. It's also maybe
554
00:36:10,420 --> 00:36:14,760
attack or talking about the previous poet. Not
555
00:36:14,760 --> 00:36:18,420
the, not the, the neo-classical maybe or the poet
556
00:36:18,420 --> 00:36:22,980
that they prefer him. How's that? Because they
557
00:36:22,980 --> 00:36:27,640
maybe not appreciate the nature as, as he does.
558
00:36:27,640 --> 00:36:31,040
But, but he's saying the poet is happy. Could not
559
00:36:31,040 --> 00:36:35,380
be. Please. It might be an advice or advice.
560
00:36:38,470 --> 00:36:40,830
So this is for all poets, but why poets in
561
00:36:40,830 --> 00:36:42,190
particular? Why not everybody? Remember the
562
00:36:42,190 --> 00:36:45,410
romantics believe that a poet is an ordinary man
563
00:36:45,410 --> 00:36:49,390
endowed with comprehensive sensibility.
564
00:36:53,590 --> 00:36:57,790
You're not a poet, but poets don't only write
565
00:36:57,790 --> 00:36:58,990
about happiness, right?
566
00:37:02,350 --> 00:37:05,130
Okay, yeah, like if nature doesn't inspire
567
00:37:05,130 --> 00:37:08,410
happiness and pleasure and beauty, you're not a
568
00:37:08,410 --> 00:37:10,530
poet or you're not a romantic poet.
569
00:37:25,980 --> 00:37:29,680
So when he says a poet, he means that a poet will
570
00:37:29,680 --> 00:37:32,800
see this being something much more than any normal
571
00:37:32,800 --> 00:37:35,260
or ordinary person would see. And this would make
572
00:37:35,260 --> 00:37:37,740
him happy? That would make him happy.
573
00:37:40,910 --> 00:37:45,570
Okay. Thank you very much. Want somebody here? I
574
00:37:45,570 --> 00:37:49,070
think he's here distancing himself from this term
575
00:37:49,070 --> 00:37:52,370
of the poet. Like he's putting himself above this
576
00:37:52,370 --> 00:37:55,570
word. He's considering himself more than just a
577
00:37:55,570 --> 00:37:58,570
poet. Because any other poet would just see the
578
00:37:58,570 --> 00:38:01,590
scenery and be happy and react momentarily to it.
579
00:38:01,650 --> 00:38:04,150
But he sees himself something more than this. So
580
00:38:04,150 --> 00:38:06,390
he is in a way challenging the new classical
581
00:38:06,390 --> 00:38:10,980
people. What's wrong with this? What's wrong with
582
00:38:10,980 --> 00:38:11,720
being happy?
583
00:38:14,820 --> 00:38:17,620
Okay, that's good. Connecting this with the
584
00:38:17,620 --> 00:38:18,720
primary and secondary.
585
00:38:22,800 --> 00:38:26,500
Some kind
586
00:38:26,500 --> 00:38:28,680
of discipline and that, you know, the idea of
587
00:38:28,680 --> 00:38:31,640
spontaneous could be challenged here.
588
00:38:40,690 --> 00:38:41,250
Okay,
589
00:38:44,570 --> 00:38:48,270
so you agree there with Rahaf that the ability to
590
00:38:48,270 --> 00:38:50,830
express this, although not all people can express,
591
00:38:50,950 --> 00:38:52,530
at least they can feel it inside.
592
00:38:57,770 --> 00:39:00,670
Not all poets, remember. Romantic poets.
593
00:39:20,860 --> 00:39:24,500
But what's wrong with being happy? Isn't that
594
00:39:24,500 --> 00:39:24,800
good?
595
00:39:36,320 --> 00:39:40,060
But clearly this poet is expressing himself or
596
00:39:40,060 --> 00:39:46,240
herself by being happy, by being gay. Okay, so
597
00:39:46,240 --> 00:39:50,420
you're taking happiness as just again some kind of
598
00:39:50,420 --> 00:39:54,320
an instant momentary reaction to this, but for the
599
00:39:54,320 --> 00:39:57,040
romantics a primary reaction, for the romantics
600
00:39:57,040 --> 00:40:05,320
it's much more. Okay, sorry? he's beyond he
601
00:40:05,320 --> 00:40:07,940
doesn't find this I think I agree with those who
602
00:40:07,940 --> 00:40:10,080
suggested that this could include some kind of
603
00:40:10,080 --> 00:40:12,820
parody clearly when he said but little thought
604
00:40:12,820 --> 00:40:15,340
again he's putting himself as opposed to the other
605
00:40:15,340 --> 00:40:18,500
Augustan poets I'm different from those people
606
00:40:18,500 --> 00:40:22,150
which is a poet he's Suggesting an ordinary poet,
607
00:40:22,450 --> 00:40:25,410
this is, yes, this emphasizes here couldn't but,
608
00:40:26,010 --> 00:40:28,650
but it includes some negative, the negative of not
609
00:40:28,650 --> 00:40:31,750
here. And the distance, the shift from the I to he
610
00:40:31,750 --> 00:40:34,770
or she, the third person pronoun, suggests that
611
00:40:34,770 --> 00:40:36,770
the poet is distancing himself from this
612
00:40:36,770 --> 00:40:40,210
momentarily artificial reaction to nature. He's
613
00:40:40,210 --> 00:40:45,170
saying an Augustan poet, an ordinary poet, would
614
00:40:45,170 --> 00:40:48,770
just be happy and that's it, bye bye. But I am
615
00:40:48,770 --> 00:40:51,470
different, I am not an ordinary poet, I'm a
616
00:40:51,470 --> 00:40:54,630
romantic poet. Remember the romantics did not call
617
00:40:54,630 --> 00:40:57,670
themselves romantic poets, later critics called
618
00:40:57,670 --> 00:41:01,230
them the romantics or romanticism. Because for him
619
00:41:01,230 --> 00:41:05,270
it's much more than just being happy, than just
620
00:41:05,270 --> 00:41:08,510
the instant reaction to nature. It's about,
621
00:41:08,590 --> 00:41:13,070
remember, absorbing, living the experience, making
622
00:41:13,070 --> 00:41:15,970
it overwhelm you, submitting yourself to this.
623
00:41:16,440 --> 00:41:18,860
making it change your life radically altogether,
624
00:41:19,320 --> 00:41:21,940
as we're going to see in the second, in the last
625
00:41:21,940 --> 00:41:26,800
stanza, in stanza number four. So this, again,
626
00:41:26,880 --> 00:41:29,020
stanza in particular, has this imperfection, which
627
00:41:29,020 --> 00:41:31,000
creates tension, tells us, wait a minute, there's
628
00:41:31,000 --> 00:41:37,580
something there, and then we find the shift from I
629
00:41:37,580 --> 00:41:39,980
to he or she, and then the negative here,
630
00:41:40,400 --> 00:41:42,260
indicating that there's something, a poet is
631
00:41:42,260 --> 00:41:46,020
telling us, calm down, Wait a minute, pay
632
00:41:46,020 --> 00:41:48,060
attention, I'm doing something here. I'm raising a
633
00:41:48,060 --> 00:41:54,360
point that is deeper than probably other ideas.
634
00:41:54,660 --> 00:41:57,160
Some might read this and just keep going. But
635
00:41:57,160 --> 00:42:00,120
yeah, I agree that there is some kind of mockery.
636
00:42:00,200 --> 00:42:03,620
He's mocking previous poets who just react
637
00:42:03,620 --> 00:42:09,200
artificially, momentarily, instantly to nature. To
638
00:42:09,200 --> 00:42:12,690
those people, remember? Nature is a decoration,
639
00:42:12,890 --> 00:42:16,650
but not this man who lives for nature, returns to
640
00:42:16,650 --> 00:42:20,430
nature. And then there is a shift. One important
641
00:42:20,430 --> 00:42:24,930
thing here is that the three stanzas, one, two,
642
00:42:24,970 --> 00:42:29,090
and three, are basically in the past simple tense.
643
00:42:31,290 --> 00:42:33,250
When I ask you the question, where is the poet
644
00:42:33,250 --> 00:42:36,990
now? Probably he is lying on his couch. He's
645
00:42:36,990 --> 00:42:38,890
probably lying on his couch.
646
00:42:42,200 --> 00:42:46,580
He's not high, not as high as Coleridge of course,
647
00:42:46,820 --> 00:42:51,960
as the cloud, not wandering, not gazing anymore.
648
00:42:52,460 --> 00:42:57,240
He's now reliving, replaying, recalling the
649
00:42:57,240 --> 00:43:00,620
experience. For oft, When on my, like often,
650
00:43:00,800 --> 00:43:03,500
right? But often is two syllables and oft is one.
651
00:43:04,420 --> 00:43:07,980
When on my couch I lie in vacant or in pensive
652
00:43:07,980 --> 00:43:11,440
mood, whatever mood I am in, vacancy, pensiveness,
653
00:43:12,200 --> 00:43:14,880
in mood, they, referring again back to the
654
00:43:14,880 --> 00:43:17,880
alphabets, they flash upon the inward eye,
655
00:43:18,000 --> 00:43:21,220
imagination, feelings, which is the bliss of
656
00:43:21,220 --> 00:43:28,140
solitude, solitary. living, solitude, being alone.
657
00:43:29,040 --> 00:43:31,900
And then what happens, it's like an argument, I'm
658
00:43:31,900 --> 00:43:35,740
the same. But not like John Donne, of course. And
659
00:43:35,740 --> 00:43:40,080
then my heart with pleasure fills. This is the
660
00:43:40,080 --> 00:43:43,680
proper reaction. It's not about just, ah, I saw
661
00:43:43,680 --> 00:43:49,240
this beautiful field with daffodils today and
662
00:43:49,240 --> 00:43:52,890
that's it. For this man, experiencing nature is
663
00:43:52,890 --> 00:43:57,470
life-changing experiences. You change, you have to
664
00:43:57,470 --> 00:43:59,830
change. And I said this at the beginning of this
665
00:43:59,830 --> 00:44:05,110
course. Hopefully, when you read texts, they must
666
00:44:05,110 --> 00:44:09,410
have impact on you. And then my heart with
667
00:44:09,410 --> 00:44:12,410
pleasure fills and dances with the affordance. I
668
00:44:12,410 --> 00:44:14,790
love how he at the beginning personified nature
669
00:44:14,790 --> 00:44:19,150
and now he's objectifying himself. He's not
670
00:44:19,150 --> 00:44:21,210
uniting with nature. He's submitting himself to
671
00:44:21,210 --> 00:44:23,930
nature. He's allowing nature to control him. He's
672
00:44:23,930 --> 00:44:28,930
becoming part of nature, mother nature. I return
673
00:44:28,930 --> 00:44:32,290
to nature as a romantic feature.
674
00:44:33,690 --> 00:44:36,170
So the shift from the past simple tense to the
675
00:44:36,170 --> 00:44:39,960
present simple tense is a very interesting thing
676
00:44:39,960 --> 00:44:44,240
because he is reliving. This is the secondary
677
00:44:44,240 --> 00:44:46,980
imagination we talk about. Later on, I'm not sure
678
00:44:46,980 --> 00:44:49,740
how long after the original experience he's
679
00:44:49,740 --> 00:44:52,440
writing this, but he's using the present
680
00:44:52,440 --> 00:44:54,480
simpletons to express that this happens to him all
681
00:44:54,480 --> 00:44:56,640
the time. Every time he's in a vacant or pensive
682
00:44:56,640 --> 00:45:00,300
mood, what does he do? He recollects, he recalls,
683
00:45:00,320 --> 00:45:03,580
he remembers that experience. And every time he
684
00:45:03,580 --> 00:45:05,820
does so, this is again, remember, the baby-like
685
00:45:05,820 --> 00:45:09,380
experience. Every time, experiencing every time,
686
00:45:10,180 --> 00:45:12,780
everything as if it's the first time you've ever
687
00:45:12,780 --> 00:45:15,740
seen this. Reliving again and again and again.
688
00:45:15,800 --> 00:45:19,300
Every time being awestruck by this. This sense of
689
00:45:19,300 --> 00:45:22,800
awe. Sense of wonder. Everything is a miracle.
690
00:45:23,000 --> 00:45:28,210
Everything is a blessing. So this, the present
691
00:45:28,210 --> 00:45:32,070
continuous give it continuity, but also it
692
00:45:32,070 --> 00:45:35,230
indicates how the poet is reliving this experience
693
00:45:35,230 --> 00:45:39,450
now. One last thing I find interesting about this
694
00:45:39,450 --> 00:45:44,490
poem is the last couplet, if you want to say it's
695
00:45:44,490 --> 00:45:46,450
a couplet. I don't like to call it a couplet here,
696
00:45:46,530 --> 00:45:56,450
but okay. The last line, If you do the scan gene,
697
00:45:56,510 --> 00:46:00,650
if you scan the meter here, it should be like this
698
00:46:00,650 --> 00:46:09,350
and da says with the daf bills
699
00:46:21,880 --> 00:46:25,020
Okay, so weak, strong, stressed, unstressed,
700
00:46:25,220 --> 00:46:28,480
stressed, unstressed, stressed, unstressed, and
701
00:46:28,480 --> 00:46:34,120
then stressed. But this way, and you should be
702
00:46:34,120 --> 00:46:38,800
reading it, and dances with the daffodils. And
703
00:46:38,800 --> 00:46:41,960
then my heart with pleasure fills and dances with
704
00:46:41,960 --> 00:46:45,540
the daffodils without stress on with. And then my
705
00:46:45,540 --> 00:46:48,460
heart with pleasure fills and dances with the
706
00:46:48,460 --> 00:46:54,710
daffodils. Which is okay, again. But I think this
707
00:46:54,710 --> 00:47:00,050
should be going back because with is a preposition
708
00:47:00,050 --> 00:47:03,330
remember determiners, articles, prepositions even
709
00:47:03,330 --> 00:47:07,410
auxiliaries are unstressed generally because says
710
00:47:07,410 --> 00:47:10,570
something you add to the syllable to the word to
711
00:47:10,570 --> 00:47:12,650
the main syllable so unstressed and then with
712
00:47:12,650 --> 00:47:17,490
unstressed with two weak syllables here a weak
713
00:47:17,490 --> 00:47:21,900
thought and dances with the daffodils But it
714
00:47:21,900 --> 00:47:26,540
should be read otherwise, with being stressed. And
715
00:47:26,540 --> 00:47:31,200
I find this beautiful and again deliberate with a
716
00:47:31,200 --> 00:47:33,580
spontaneous overflow of powerful emotions stirred
717
00:47:33,580 --> 00:47:37,740
word for word. In this sense, we emphasize the
718
00:47:37,740 --> 00:47:42,900
idea of withness with nature. And then my heart
719
00:47:42,900 --> 00:47:46,080
with pleasure fills and dances with the daffodils.
720
00:47:47,360 --> 00:47:52,770
Emphasizing this is? Not only gain unity, like you
721
00:47:52,770 --> 00:47:55,350
could say unity, I accept that, but this is nature
722
00:47:55,350 --> 00:47:58,450
is overwhelming. He's submitting himself to
723
00:47:58,450 --> 00:48:02,010
nature. He's emphasizing the idea of withness with
724
00:48:02,010 --> 00:48:05,910
nature, unity with nature, going back, a return to
725
00:48:05,910 --> 00:48:10,210
nature, to mother nature, like I said. So I could
726
00:48:10,210 --> 00:48:13,670
ask you a question, for example, why should with
727
00:48:13,670 --> 00:48:16,450
in the last line of the daffodils be stressed?
728
00:48:17,090 --> 00:48:22,020
Please, don't say to emphasize. to emphasize is
729
00:48:22,020 --> 00:48:25,700
not the answer. That's why I'd be asking you this
730
00:48:25,700 --> 00:48:30,100
question, why is he emphasizing with? So the
731
00:48:30,100 --> 00:48:32,740
emphasis here is to indicate this unity, this
732
00:48:32,740 --> 00:48:34,960
total submission to nature.
733
00:48:38,140 --> 00:48:43,520
What a beautiful poem. A critic says, many critics
734
00:48:43,520 --> 00:48:47,600
say, this man was the poet who taught us how to
735
00:48:47,600 --> 00:48:51,500
remember. Because this is about remembering
736
00:48:51,500 --> 00:48:52,380
things.
737
00:48:56,260 --> 00:49:00,220
Now, you could see all the features of romanticism
738
00:49:00,220 --> 00:49:02,620
here. Maybe I forgot something. There's a return
739
00:49:02,620 --> 00:49:04,020
to nature, imagination.
740
00:49:07,160 --> 00:49:10,000
individuality, simplicity of language, anti
741
00:49:10,000 --> 00:49:14,220
mainstream rejection of artistic conventions and
742
00:49:14,220 --> 00:49:17,160
the form is the content, how in the third stanza
743
00:49:17,160 --> 00:49:20,700
when he wanted to make a point to, he just created
744
00:49:20,700 --> 00:49:23,240
this tension and conflict, memory, feelings and
745
00:49:23,240 --> 00:49:28,380
emotions as opposed to reason. There are questions
746
00:49:28,380 --> 00:49:30,840
here, I'll be posting one of them online so we can
747
00:49:30,840 --> 00:49:31,920
continue the discussion.
748
00:49:36,330 --> 00:49:37,690
Probably you mentioned some of them.
749
00:49:41,110 --> 00:49:48,010
Look at this, number five. In real life, by the
750
00:49:48,010 --> 00:49:52,210
way, it was Dorothy who had this entry, this
751
00:49:52,210 --> 00:49:56,330
experience in her diaries. She's totally not
752
00:49:56,330 --> 00:50:00,990
there. So I'm saying here that what is, why is
753
00:50:00,990 --> 00:50:03,910
she, should be why, why is she erased from the
754
00:50:03,910 --> 00:50:07,090
poem? We can continue this discussion online. Is
755
00:50:07,090 --> 00:50:10,210
she erased because he hates her, because he's anti
756
00:50:10,210 --> 00:50:15,750
-feminist, because women are not good enough? Or
757
00:50:15,750 --> 00:50:20,010
is this more to do with the fact that this is a
758
00:50:20,010 --> 00:50:24,910
romantic poem and individuality? Think about this.
759
00:50:25,750 --> 00:50:28,090
But the last question is more important to me.
760
00:50:28,350 --> 00:50:30,630
It's not showing here. I have to show it to you
761
00:50:30,630 --> 00:50:34,350
because it's important. I love this question.
762
00:50:38,140 --> 00:50:41,460
The question says, I'm quoting somebody.
763
00:50:44,040 --> 00:50:49,140
It says, a trivial subject matter, okay? The
764
00:50:49,140 --> 00:50:52,940
question says, a trivial subject matter, as Anne
765
00:50:52,940 --> 00:50:58,780
Seward says or thought a daffodil to be, does not
766
00:50:58,780 --> 00:51:04,140
deserve the ecstatic diction of vacancy, pensive,
767
00:51:04,400 --> 00:51:07,880
and bliss. Like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. This is
768
00:51:07,880 --> 00:51:10,900
just a daffodil, a bunch of daffodils. You don't
769
00:51:10,900 --> 00:51:18,000
write this fascinating poem to react to just a
770
00:51:18,000 --> 00:51:23,600
bunch of daffodils. That's too much. You use this
771
00:51:23,600 --> 00:51:28,260
language and this beautiful reaction, what, to
772
00:51:28,260 --> 00:51:33,050
write about the queen, about More significant
773
00:51:33,050 --> 00:51:36,230
issues. How would you react? How would you reply
774
00:51:36,230 --> 00:51:39,750
to this critic? Clearly, she's trashing the
775
00:51:39,750 --> 00:51:43,850
romantics. Clearly, she is not happy with what the
776
00:51:43,850 --> 00:51:46,870
romantics are doing. This will be our question to
777
00:51:46,870 --> 00:51:49,910
discuss online. Would you agree that, yes, this is
778
00:51:49,910 --> 00:51:53,930
trivial matter? You're causing us a headache with
779
00:51:53,930 --> 00:51:57,830
this just daffodil, just a rose. Why are people
780
00:51:57,830 --> 00:52:03,150
reacting to the poem this way? Now, in the
781
00:52:03,150 --> 00:52:05,630
remaining time, we need to study this again, a
782
00:52:05,630 --> 00:52:08,370
poem by William Wordsworth. I'm sure I'm shifting
783
00:52:08,370 --> 00:52:08,850
quickly.
784
00:52:11,430 --> 00:52:14,630
Upon Westminster Bridge. If you know London,
785
00:52:15,290 --> 00:52:20,290
Westminster Bridge is a famous famous bridge in
786
00:52:20,290 --> 00:52:22,250
London, probably the most famous bridge in London,
787
00:52:22,430 --> 00:52:22,670
Westminster.
788
00:52:28,230 --> 00:52:31,370
Remember, this is a poet of nature. What on earth
789
00:52:31,370 --> 00:52:38,850
is he doing in London? If you reject London and
790
00:52:38,850 --> 00:52:42,770
the corruption and the society, why are you there?
791
00:52:44,270 --> 00:52:46,670
And again, let's examine where he positions
792
00:52:46,670 --> 00:52:50,770
himself in time and in place. Please read the poem
793
00:52:50,770 --> 00:52:54,830
very quickly. Earth has nothing to show my head.
794
00:52:55,370 --> 00:52:59,020
Down would be heat. Would he be of soul who could
795
00:52:59,020 --> 00:53:04,040
pass by a sight so touching in its majesty? This
796
00:53:04,040 --> 00:53:08,520
city now doth like a garment wear the beauty of
797
00:53:08,520 --> 00:53:14,700
the morning, silent there, ships, towers, domes,
798
00:53:15,460 --> 00:53:20,980
theaters, and temples lie open unto the field and
799
00:53:20,980 --> 00:53:24,250
to the sky. All bright and glittering in the
800
00:53:24,250 --> 00:53:27,690
smokeless air, Never did sun more beautifully
801
00:53:27,690 --> 00:53:33,330
steep. In his first splendor valley-bronze
802
00:53:33,330 --> 00:53:38,670
overhead, Mare saw I never felt a calm so deep.
803
00:53:39,450 --> 00:53:44,030
The river glides at his own sweet swell, Dear God,
804
00:53:44,450 --> 00:53:48,510
the very houses he must leap, And all that mighty
805
00:53:48,510 --> 00:53:52,850
heart is lying still. Okay, beautiful reading.
806
00:53:53,470 --> 00:53:57,770
Thank you for this recitation. What do you notice
807
00:53:57,770 --> 00:54:00,410
the first thing before we talk about it? Please.
808
00:54:01,370 --> 00:54:05,790
Fourteen lines, so this is a sonnet. Ah, he's not
809
00:54:05,790 --> 00:54:10,500
only in London. He's also restricting himself.
810
00:54:10,700 --> 00:54:12,540
Where is the spontaneity, the spontaneous
811
00:54:12,540 --> 00:54:14,580
overflow? Remember I told you never believe
812
00:54:14,580 --> 00:54:18,300
critics and teachers. This is where you should
813
00:54:18,300 --> 00:54:20,380
listen to my advice, unless you don't want to
814
00:54:20,380 --> 00:54:23,740
listen to me as being a teacher. So this is a 14
815
00:54:23,740 --> 00:54:29,920
-line poem. It's a sonnet. Remember a sonnet is
816
00:54:29,920 --> 00:54:34,240
very rigid. It's like what Rome do as Romans do.
817
00:54:34,420 --> 00:54:38,250
So he's doing the same as Romans. Thank you. you
818
00:54:38,250 --> 00:54:43,310
know, putting himself in this cage. So it's a
819
00:54:43,310 --> 00:54:45,830
sonnet, thank you very much. 14 lines, thank you
820
00:54:45,830 --> 00:54:50,010
very much. And what about the rhyme scheme? Could
821
00:54:50,010 --> 00:54:51,570
somebody do it very quickly, the rhyme scheme,
822
00:54:52,110 --> 00:54:56,550
please? A, B, B,
823
00:54:58,750 --> 00:55:06,650
A, leave her alone, yeah? A, B,
824
00:55:09,690 --> 00:55:15,830
B. A. Thank you. C. D.
825
00:55:18,750 --> 00:55:22,130
Deep and
826
00:55:22,130 --> 00:55:35,570
deep. C. Well. D. Asleep. C. And then? That's a
827
00:55:35,570 --> 00:55:37,910
Petrarchan sonnet, not a Shakespearean sonnet. He
828
00:55:37,910 --> 00:55:42,970
doesn't like Shakespeare, clearly. Listen, the
829
00:55:42,970 --> 00:55:46,410
Romantics were called Romantics because
830
00:55:46,410 --> 00:55:48,750
Romanticism, the word Romantic was used to
831
00:55:48,750 --> 00:55:52,030
describe the Middle Ages, the medieval times, when
832
00:55:52,030 --> 00:55:56,510
nature was unregulated, uncivilized, uncontrolled
833
00:55:56,510 --> 00:56:01,110
by man. When nature was, when life was as simple
834
00:56:01,110 --> 00:56:06,680
as it was in a way. So he's leaving, jumping over
835
00:56:06,680 --> 00:56:09,940
all the poets, the giants, the romantic, the
836
00:56:09,940 --> 00:56:13,440
neoclassicists, those poets, and he's going back
837
00:56:13,440 --> 00:56:18,580
to the origin, the origin of things. So I think
838
00:56:18,580 --> 00:56:21,800
this is a deliberate, again, attempt to distance
839
00:56:21,800 --> 00:56:25,220
himself from Shakespeare. I also think that it's a
840
00:56:25,220 --> 00:56:28,120
way of defining critics. Like, if you say I'm not
841
00:56:28,120 --> 00:56:30,480
a poet, I can write upon it just as well. I can,
842
00:56:30,560 --> 00:56:33,610
it could be, yeah. But also it says that the idea
843
00:56:33,610 --> 00:56:36,910
of spontaneity in poetry and writing is a myth.
844
00:56:37,830 --> 00:56:39,890
It's not always true. Sahya, you're right, you
845
00:56:39,890 --> 00:56:43,170
react instantly sometimes. I'm sure you started
846
00:56:43,170 --> 00:56:44,810
writing poetry, some of you. Sometimes you just
847
00:56:44,810 --> 00:56:47,590
get the inspiration and you write a poem and it's
848
00:56:47,590 --> 00:56:50,310
a beautiful poem. But sometimes you go back to
849
00:56:50,310 --> 00:56:53,370
check, you know, on language and diction and
850
00:56:53,370 --> 00:56:57,310
poetic language and everything. Some of you
851
00:56:57,310 --> 00:57:00,070
protested something here. I agree that this is...
852
00:57:00,650 --> 00:57:03,730
Okay, an imperfect rhyme. At the time when he's
853
00:57:03,730 --> 00:57:08,410
talking about the majesty, the majesty here, by
854
00:57:08,410 --> 00:57:10,490
and majesty, there is an imperfect rhyme. Again,
855
00:57:10,570 --> 00:57:12,990
creating some kind of conflict. There is something
856
00:57:12,990 --> 00:57:15,670
that is not right with the city. He's not saying,
857
00:57:15,850 --> 00:57:18,150
okay, I'm sorry, nature is not as good as I
858
00:57:18,150 --> 00:57:22,230
thought, and this is the city of London is more
859
00:57:22,230 --> 00:57:27,270
significant, more important. What is the time in
860
00:57:27,270 --> 00:57:32,270
the poem? Morning? This is at dawn, where did he
861
00:57:32,270 --> 00:57:32,950
say this?
862
00:57:39,070 --> 00:57:41,570
Okay, before the sun, there was something about
863
00:57:41,570 --> 00:57:46,690
the sun there Okay The morning, this is the early
864
00:57:46,690 --> 00:57:49,950
morning hours Where is the poet?
865
00:57:52,730 --> 00:57:58,050
Again, standing up above almost everything High
866
00:57:59,270 --> 00:58:04,250
But again, not as high as Coleridge. Sorry for the
867
00:58:04,250 --> 00:58:05,010
stupid pun.
868
00:58:09,470 --> 00:58:11,450
Thank you very much. And this is the second
869
00:58:11,450 --> 00:58:13,430
question. What else do you notice about the poem?
870
00:58:13,510 --> 00:58:19,370
The poem is people-less. There are no people. And
871
00:58:19,370 --> 00:58:21,910
it's because if there are people, the factors will
872
00:58:21,910 --> 00:58:25,630
be going on and then the smoke and the corruption
873
00:58:25,630 --> 00:58:28,550
and the pollution and the anxiety will be
874
00:58:28,550 --> 00:58:32,670
permeating, overwhelming. So the timing he chooses
875
00:58:32,670 --> 00:58:38,810
is also, so he sees beauty in the heart of the
876
00:58:38,810 --> 00:58:43,170
beast. The heart of London, he could see beauty.
877
00:58:43,990 --> 00:58:47,810
And remember for this, I want you to compare this
878
00:58:47,810 --> 00:58:50,850
poem to a poem called London by William Blake.
879
00:58:52,030 --> 00:58:55,330
Fascinating stark contrast between both of them.
880
00:58:56,590 --> 00:58:59,850
This man looks with beauty, only beauty, mostly
881
00:58:59,850 --> 00:59:03,610
beauty. He was an outsider. This is significant.
882
00:59:03,750 --> 00:59:06,590
He's not a Londoner himself. Blake was a Londoner.
883
00:59:07,530 --> 00:59:11,290
Blake sees corruption. He sees injustice, he sees
884
00:59:11,290 --> 00:59:14,930
blood, he sees poverty, he hears the voices of the
885
00:59:14,930 --> 00:59:18,490
downtrodden, the wretched of the earth. He cares
886
00:59:18,490 --> 00:59:21,290
about them, he raises their voices, he gives them
887
00:59:21,290 --> 00:59:25,190
a voice and a face. But this man, that's why many
888
00:59:25,190 --> 00:59:28,190
people describe William Wordsworth in particular
889
00:59:28,190 --> 00:59:33,850
as an escapist, as
890
00:59:36,710 --> 00:59:41,290
He's doing nothing. For many people, he is running
891
00:59:41,290 --> 00:59:44,230
away, but for others, the act of writing poetry
892
00:59:44,230 --> 00:59:50,450
itself is how bad corruption is. And for this, you
893
00:59:50,450 --> 00:59:52,230
will be surprised by the way, when the second
894
00:59:52,230 --> 00:59:56,850
generation was writing, Shelley, Keats, and Byron,
895
00:59:58,090 --> 01:00:00,130
this man was still alive because he lived like a
896
01:00:00,130 --> 01:00:03,700
hundred years. I'm not sure how old, but he was
897
01:00:03,700 --> 01:00:06,320
very old. But again, the second generation was
898
01:00:06,320 --> 01:00:11,180
taking control. And those people, Chile, you are
899
01:00:11,180 --> 01:00:14,240
many, they are few. He was clearly calling for
900
01:00:14,240 --> 01:00:17,100
revolution, for an actual revolution. And that's
901
01:00:17,100 --> 01:00:20,300
probably one reason why I love him the most,
902
01:00:20,780 --> 01:00:26,620
Chile. Was anti-authoritarian, anti-everything.
903
01:00:29,440 --> 01:00:33,540
So the poem here, Upon Westminster Bridge, shows
904
01:00:33,540 --> 01:00:35,700
how this as a romantic poet would choose a
905
01:00:35,700 --> 01:00:37,820
particular timing and a particular place, again
906
01:00:37,820 --> 01:00:40,960
just to be himself. If you read the poem, I'll
907
01:00:40,960 --> 01:00:43,200
just do some commentary very quickly before we
908
01:00:43,200 --> 01:00:49,000
leave. Earth has nothing, again this is starting
909
01:00:49,000 --> 01:00:53,530
with a stressed syllable. Earth has nothing. has
910
01:00:53,530 --> 01:00:59,450
not anything to show more fair. What? You just
911
01:00:59,450 --> 01:01:02,530
said the daffodils are the most beautiful thing.
912
01:01:04,990 --> 01:01:10,110
Dull would he be of soul who could pass by a sight
913
01:01:10,110 --> 01:01:13,130
so touching in its majesty.
914
01:01:15,710 --> 01:01:17,970
You'd be dull if you don't react to the beauty
915
01:01:17,970 --> 01:01:24,300
here. The city now does I love him using the word
916
01:01:24,300 --> 01:01:27,080
the old English middle English does rather than
917
01:01:27,080 --> 01:01:31,340
does because again he's taking London 300 years
918
01:01:31,340 --> 01:01:34,580
before 200 years before before the industrial
919
01:01:34,580 --> 01:01:36,160
revolution and the factories and the corruption
920
01:01:37,380 --> 01:01:40,780
Does like a garment wear and sadly this is only a
921
01:01:40,780 --> 01:01:43,880
garment he knows this it's only something the
922
01:01:43,880 --> 01:01:48,080
country will shed out will take off in in minutes
923
01:01:48,080 --> 01:01:53,540
or in an hour or so a garment like a dress the
924
01:01:53,540 --> 01:01:59,260
beauty of the morning silent bear the silence here
925
01:01:59,260 --> 01:02:01,160
the lack of people the fact that there are no
926
01:02:01,160 --> 01:02:09,160
people and there ships towers Domes, theaters,
927
01:02:10,160 --> 01:02:13,660
temples, lie. And I think there could be a pun
928
01:02:13,660 --> 01:02:17,160
here. Lie, they're just lying asleep out there,
929
01:02:17,540 --> 01:02:21,600
but the scene lies. It's deceptive. Now it's
930
01:02:21,600 --> 01:02:24,900
beautiful and romantic. In an hour or so, it's
931
01:02:24,900 --> 01:02:29,700
going to be hell breaking loose upon
932
01:02:31,510 --> 01:02:35,530
open onto the fields and to the sky, how it's just
933
01:02:35,530 --> 01:02:38,670
one painting, one image, all bright and glittering
934
01:02:38,670 --> 01:02:42,730
in the smokeless air. I think this is where I mix
935
01:02:42,730 --> 01:02:45,810
things up. This is every line is 10 syllables.
936
01:02:46,230 --> 01:02:49,390
It's basically Iambic Pentameter, but he does
937
01:02:49,390 --> 01:02:54,340
experiment more. He's just not as Symmetric as
938
01:02:54,340 --> 01:02:57,740
others This is the only line that has an extra
939
01:02:57,740 --> 01:03:01,180
syllable unless you want to delete the schwa here
940
01:03:01,180 --> 01:03:04,380
glittering if you go for glittering It's 10 if you
941
01:03:04,380 --> 01:03:07,760
go for glitter glittering. It's just 8 it's
942
01:03:07,760 --> 01:03:11,660
already 11 All bright and glittering in the
943
01:03:11,660 --> 01:03:16,100
smokeless air. Look at this smokeless People is
944
01:03:16,100 --> 01:03:18,280
what else does he go for list? How many listens do
945
01:03:18,280 --> 01:03:20,760
we have? two or more
946
01:03:24,020 --> 01:03:26,580
Smokeless, just one, so glittering in the
947
01:03:26,580 --> 01:03:31,760
smokeless air, never did sun. It should be the sun
948
01:03:31,760 --> 01:03:34,700
because just one sun, right? Or is he considering
949
01:03:34,700 --> 01:03:37,520
him son of nature, son of this? But he doesn't go
950
01:03:37,520 --> 01:03:40,670
for the sun, he's going to break See my point
951
01:03:40,670 --> 01:03:44,050
here? Grammatically it should be the sun which is
952
01:03:44,050 --> 01:03:46,130
going to add an extra syllable. But why did you
953
01:03:46,130 --> 01:03:49,790
add an extra syllable here? I didn't want to add
954
01:03:49,790 --> 01:03:52,070
one here because there is a message he's sending
955
01:03:52,070 --> 01:03:54,590
here. If you dig deeper, you'll find it.
956
01:04:00,160 --> 01:04:02,300
Possible, but I'm not sure whether, because
957
01:04:02,300 --> 01:04:04,840
sometimes you have different texts, I try to look
958
01:04:04,840 --> 01:04:07,280
for the original text, I couldn't find one, just
959
01:04:07,280 --> 01:04:10,440
to see whether this is glittering or glittering,
960
01:04:10,500 --> 01:04:14,220
right? And yeah, you look at texts, if this is the
961
01:04:14,220 --> 01:04:16,140
original text, this is how he wrote it, why is
962
01:04:16,140 --> 01:04:22,020
this capitalized, but not this? Or is this where
963
01:04:22,020 --> 01:04:26,060
society and civilization control overwhelm and
964
01:04:26,060 --> 01:04:30,950
subdue nature, which is not good? never did sun
965
01:04:30,950 --> 01:04:34,810
more beautifully steep in this first in his first
966
01:04:34,810 --> 01:04:39,410
remember his refers to the sun his first splendor
967
01:04:39,410 --> 01:04:43,850
valley rock or hell no so I again never two
968
01:04:43,850 --> 01:04:47,470
syllables no so I again the fronting here I never
969
01:04:47,470 --> 01:04:53,470
saw I never saw never felt there's a lot of
970
01:04:53,470 --> 01:04:57,560
negativity we'll see this in a bit A calm so deep,
971
01:04:57,940 --> 01:05:00,120
a calm beauty, a silence.
972
01:05:03,590 --> 01:05:08,490
The river glides, he goes again for, not glides,
973
01:05:09,810 --> 01:05:13,810
going for old English because he's situating
974
01:05:13,810 --> 01:05:16,430
himself in a different place. Remember this is the
975
01:05:16,430 --> 01:05:19,950
relativity of time and issues of time and shapes
976
01:05:19,950 --> 01:05:22,370
of time Dr. Lyman mentioned before you could use
977
01:05:22,370 --> 01:05:25,970
this as an example. The river glides at his own
978
01:05:25,970 --> 01:05:27,150
sweet will.
979
01:05:30,520 --> 01:05:32,440
I don't think this is a religious, dear God. Some
980
01:05:32,440 --> 01:05:34,400
people would take it as a religious thing. It's
981
01:05:34,400 --> 01:05:40,820
just, dear God, the very houses seem asleep. This
982
01:05:40,820 --> 01:05:43,500
is another personification. People are asleep.
983
01:05:44,880 --> 01:05:50,020
Everything is asleep. And all that mighty heart is
984
01:05:50,020 --> 01:05:54,820
lying still. The mighty heart, London. Is he just
985
01:05:54,820 --> 01:05:57,760
referring to London as a whole? Or the factories?
986
01:05:58,040 --> 01:06:02,260
Or the machines? Remember this is momentarily,
987
01:06:02,500 --> 01:06:06,580
it's going to change. I find the imperfect rhyme,
988
01:06:06,960 --> 01:06:08,780
the extra syllable, and thank you somebody said
989
01:06:08,780 --> 01:06:11,160
the repetition of the never, never, and the not,
990
01:06:11,280 --> 01:06:15,120
not. Things that create tension that tell us that
991
01:06:15,120 --> 01:06:18,460
this is not going to last forever. Because it's
992
01:06:18,460 --> 01:06:21,640
only, and he admits this, he's not deceiving us or
993
01:06:21,640 --> 01:06:25,480
himself. This is a garment, it's just a gown you
994
01:06:25,480 --> 01:06:31,380
put on at night And soon it will be taken off and
995
01:06:31,380 --> 01:06:40,040
a garment of corruption, sins, pollution, smoke.
996
01:06:40,940 --> 01:06:46,660
Smoke will overwhelm, will take over. Such a
997
01:06:46,660 --> 01:06:48,800
beautiful poem. One of the most, again,
998
01:06:49,360 --> 01:06:52,920
interesting poems of all times. But again, he's
999
01:06:52,920 --> 01:06:55,360
not going for Shakespeare. He's jumping over
1000
01:06:55,360 --> 01:07:00,020
Shakespeare. That's the term. Frog leaping or you
1001
01:07:00,020 --> 01:07:04,220
know, it's going back to Petrarch. I think the
1002
01:07:04,220 --> 01:07:07,520
word garment where it goes entirely with the whole
1003
01:07:07,520 --> 01:07:11,460
time idea of lie and lying. The garment? Possibly,
1004
01:07:11,540 --> 01:07:16,480
it's momentarily. It's now this
1005
01:07:16,480 --> 01:07:19,600
beautiful and silent and bare, but in a moment
1006
01:07:19,600 --> 01:07:21,500
it's going to be different.
1007
01:07:24,160 --> 01:07:26,700
More? Please.
1008
01:07:36,530 --> 01:07:38,870
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but look at
1009
01:07:38,870 --> 01:07:42,390
what timing he chooses, what place he places
1010
01:07:42,390 --> 01:07:46,430
himself. That's a romantic concept. If you look at
1011
01:07:46,430 --> 01:07:50,750
these questions, They are very interesting things
1012
01:07:50,750 --> 01:07:53,770
to look into this poem. I'll stop here. If you
1013
01:07:53,770 --> 01:07:57,190
have questions, please stay behind.