Before focusing on Wordsworth and rereading his works in preparation for my thesis, before recently, I had not read Wordsworth for a couple of years. One of the pioneers of the Romantic Era of poetry, his romanticist poetry was filled with emotion and sensuality, along with a deep level of sensibility that distinguished itself from former eras of poetry.
Recently, I had reread one of my favorite Wordsworth pieces, “Elegiac Stanzas Suggested by a Picture of Peele Castle in a Storm, Painted by Sir George Beaumont.” As the name states, this poem takes the form of an elegy- a form of poetry that expresses or represents grief or sadness, particularly lament of grief of the passing of a loved one. Interestingly, though the poem defines itself as an elegy, the tone and mood of the poem are unique to most elegiac poems. Rather than coming off as mournful and sad, the poem is more nostalgic. “How perfect was the calm”, the author claims, as they state that “So pure the sky, so quiet was the air! So like, so very like, was day to day!” Here, the narrator reminisces on the beautiful landscapes that hold certain memories of the past, memories of both joy and pain.
When I had originally read the poem, I had really only noticed this bittersweet nostalgia outlined by the narrator. The admiration of nature and the use of words such as “perfect” and “calm” work to distract the reader, as in my case, myself, from the real sadness and grief the narrator is feeling during the poem. This situation is fitting for Romantic poetry and makes sense once you think of the tropes and concepts that make up the genre. Poets such as Wordsworth were encapsulated by the natural world, but not in a way that escapes from our reality. Rather, Romantic poets such as Wordsworth used nature as a commentary on our own reality, and were focused on how nature impacted our understanding of humanity. Thus, the only way our romantic narrator can truly express himself is through interactions with nature. For the narrator, when the person they lost was in their life, they served as a sort of stability. Now, this is gone, and they are left with reminiscing on the safe feeling around them. They state, “Whene’er I looked, thy Image still was there; It trembled, but it never passed away.” For the narrator, the person they lost could make ‘pure’ the sky and make the air ‘quiet’. The narrator also describes this stability as “A Picture had it been of lasting ease.” Though, in this case of ekphrasis, where the ‘image’ in question is George Beaumont’s “Peele Castle in a Storm”, the picture is ultimately not real. Perhaps the land that inspired the painting was real, but the geography in the painting is not literal. This possibly adds another layer of grief that the narrator is working with as the narrator is simply left with memories of the person he loves and struggles with a saddening question: which of our memories our truly real, and which do we frame in a picture that we’d like to remember?
As a poetic device, ekphrasis constantly interacts with this question, but does not necessarily provide a definitive answer. This concept is something that I will continue with and expand upon in my thesis.
Works Cited:
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “elegy”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 18 Oct. 2019, https://www.britannica.com/art/elegy. Accessed 29 October 2024.
Wordsworth, William. “VI Elegiac Stanzas: suggested by a Picture of Peele Castle, in a Storm, painted by Sir George Beaumont.” Poetry Foundation, Elegiac Stanzas Suggested by a Picture of… | The Poetry Foundation
I think that the title of your post, mentioning the unconscious, is a really interesting idea when in conversation to your observations about Wordsworth and ekphrasis. It brings to mind earlier class discussion about author intent. I looked up and read the poem you mentioned before I read the rest of your post, as well as the painting done by George Beaumont. I wonder at the reconciliation between themes of Romantic poetry, grounding intangible emotion through the natural world, and the poetic descriptions of physical objects used in ekphrasis. The question you ask about reality versus the ideal picture we paint is particularly evocative considering these two themes. Thinking about the poem and the painting as two separate objects as opposed to united into one experience offers opportunity into analysis that is very interesting. I haven’t personally done a lot of research into Wordsworth poetry, but the multiple levels in this specific poem, of muse the person, muse the painting, and the narrative choices present in the poem itself, are absolutely fascinating considering the themes you are focusing on.
I like the way you highlight the seeming tone mismatch between the elegy and the poem’s at least occasionally positive lines. For as you say, it just activates a distraction impulse from real grief. In a way, this reminds me of all the way back to our classes on Beloved. Sethe’s retreat from the world after Beloved’s death dominates her life, but it deeply motivates her in protecting Denver, even if isolationism ultimately harms both. Still, when Beloved returns, this motivation becomes total and becomes all Sethe can think about, no longer able to care about her living daughter.