The Idiot Boy

              This is a very long ballad written by the Romantic Poet Wordsworth. Although he was a famous Romance poet, this ballad is much more earthy and crass , not as concerned with typical form of the poetry of the Romance era. Like a contemporary ballad set to music or a country Western song this is the story of a women who is compelled to take care of her sick neighbor down the road, Susan Gale. This elderly ill women needs her neighbor to care for her and to send for the doctor along the dark night country road. So Betty Foy who is of a general poor class of people feels she has trained her mentally challenged son, "The Idiot Boy" to ride the long dark road into town to fetch the doctor. The poem is written in the tone of Mockery, or a bit of sarcasm, in regard to the boy "johnny" being the hero of the story. His mother Betty feels she has taught hi to ride into town well enough that he can complete the life or death errand in spite of his mental handicaps. Ironically, Wordsworth, as an upper class gentleman of intellect and education is somewhat disguised by the peasant poorer "Mary" who must keep her son at home and try to teach him to function in daily life, because in his notes on the poem, he states that people of his class would have place a child born this way into a care institution. He is somewhat offended by these needy limited people in his society. In the poem, Betty goes to care for the sick women, Susan, and awaits the "idiot" Johnny, her sons return with the doctor. She becomes more and more alarmed a and finally goes out in the night to look for him. Her sick neighbor actually gets better while overcome with worry and walks out looking for both of them and their return on horseback. This is a bit of irony in the ballad, or poem. The end is that the mother, Betty finds the boy lost in thought , having sat all night in the forest...till "morn".....The author laments the fact poor people have to care for their "retarded" loved ones to the extent that they forget their handicaps and all of society has to encounter these individuals. It is rather a shocking prejudice by this poet who we hope is filled with grand feelings. It is hard to believe people such as Wordsworth This is a very long ballad written by the Romantic Poet Wordsworth.Although he was a famous Romance poet, this ballad is much more earthy and crass , not as concerned with typical form of the poetry of the Romance era. Like a contemporary ballad set to music or a country Western song this is the story of a women who is compelled to take care of her sick neighbor down the road, Susan Gale. This elderly ill women needs her neighbor to care for her and to send for the doctor along the dark night country road. So Betty Foy who is of a general poor class of people feels she has trained her mentally challanged son, "The Idiot Boy" to ride the long dark raod into town to fetch the doctor. The poem is written in the tone of Mockery, or a bit of sarcasm, in regard to the boy "johnny" being the hero of the story. His mother Betty feels she has taught hi to ride into town well enough that he can complete the life or death errand in spite of his mental handicaps. Ironically, Wordsworth, as an upper class gentleman of intellect and education is somewhat disguisted by the peasant poorer "Mary" who must keep her son at home and try to teach him to function in daily life, because in his notes on the poem, he states that pople of his class would have place a child born this way into a care institiution. He is somewhat offended by these needy limited people in his society. In the poem, Betty goes to care for the sick women, Susan, and awaits the "idiot" JJohnny, her sons return withthe doctor. She becomes more and more alarmed a nd finally goes out in the night to look for him. Her sick neighbor actually gets better while overcome with worry and walks out looking for both of them and their return on horseback. This is a bit of orony in the ballad, or poem. The end is that the mother, Betty finds the boy lost in thought , having sat all night in the forest...till "morn".....The author laments the fact poor people have to care for their "retarded" loved ones to the extent that they forget their handicaps and all of society has to encounter these individuals. It is rather a shocking predjudice by this peot who we hope is filled with grand feelings. It is hard to believe people such as Wordsworth could be so callous and unfeeling towards the disabled since he was of the educated group of society of his time. It shows how the "caste" type society of the economic steryotyping of society and its inherent beliefs could poisen and predjudice the wealthier and educated and cause such inhumanity in some of their belief systems. Wordsworth did not want to see the disabled and felt their families should not be so invested in their well being.

Adress to a young Jack-Ass

           In this poem "Address To A Young Jack-Ass “ its Mother the poet Coleridge speaks of the foal as part of an "oppressed" race, who s face looks very patient and resigned to its lot in life. Perhaps this is a type of personification and political comment on the state of people of low stature in life and their resign to their personal lot in life and lack of upward mobility. We know that the Romantic poets , such as Coleridge and Wordsworth believed in a more utopian society or "pantisocracy", a communal life style of great equality. The poet speaks of the animals head hung low to the ground in remorse or sadness. Coleridge expresses surprise that such a young animal, unlike humans perhaps, can fathom it's station in life and feel depression even as a youngster at its lowly lot in life. He goes onto state that the animal will have a childhood and life of misery with aches and pain and even work until starvation and the obvious morose of the animal is due to its ability to perceive its coming fate. The poet states the poor jackass must see its mother who was long ago "tethered "chained to a log upon a narrow spot where there is no grass hardly left to eat. Next, Coleridge goes on to state that this hungry animal is much like himself and others who live in a just land but are not of the privileged or chosen ones in society who are able to live a life of sustenance and luxury, even tho it is available and exists all around. Only the wealthy partake of this lifestyle in empirical society of Coleridge. So this poem consists of commiserating with the beast and his old tired out mother to make a political point about the life in England and its need for reform. These images are known as "linkages" impressions which trigger ideas associated with it to make a further point by the poet. Samuel Taylor Coleridge was an originator (with Wordsworth) of the Romanticism movement which wrote prose and poetry which started with description of landscape which would than evoke a long ago or forgotten memory which would evoke an emotional response. In the informal poem "Address to a Young Jack-Ass and Its Tethered Mother" the poem is less formal and more s spontaneous as compared to the later writers or Coleridge’s' "Conversation Poems" which would follow the more formalized poems in the Romantic movement. In fact, these "Familiar Verse" poems became more well read after the Conversation poems such as Nightingale" and" Frost at Midnight". In "Address to Young Jackass" clearly Coleridge is using the suffering and lack of freedom in the animals future to juxtapose the suffering and lack of freedom in the life of the average or poor man with the lifestyle and almost caste system of the rich or empowered of Coleridge lifetime. Wordsworth and Coleridge and the Romantic movement would go on to a belief in transcendentalism and the writings of Kant, who believed in a utopian society or commune type of life. These socialistic lifestyle would ideally bring equality to all people and meet the needs of society without prejudice to the poor or average working class.

Effusion XXII To The Nightingale

       The Nightingale by Samuel Taylor Coleridge is one of a collection of sonnets of the "Romantic" genre that was popularized by the Romantic school of poets of which Coleridge and his contemporary friends , like Wordsworth were known for. Frequently , many pieces of poetry or prose would become a collection on one topic. These lyrical ballads were on one topic and were designed to express an appreciation of both nature and the emotions that could be evoked by reflection on the scene described in nature and the lesson that could be learned from being contemplative about scene. In this sonnet the poet, Coleridge is meditating on the beauty of the night and the moon which illuminates and defines the night with "diversities of tone" and refers to the various ways the moon looks in brightness and crescent as well as the feeling the moon causes in the night sky and how it varies. These changing phases of the moon evoke memories for the observer. The author uses personification to make the reader believe the moon is a women who is watching from above the people and its lovers below and causing emotions in those people and their thoughts of love. Coleridge is trying to write this sonnet in the manner of Rev. Bowles, one of his admired authors. Additionally, Coleridge was a brilliant scholar and writer on the subject of Shakespeare, and this sonnet is also, like many sonnets, reminiscent of Shakespeare writings as well. Coleridge’s sonnet poems are conversation poetry. It is blank fluent verse which follows the format of many such sonnets, which begin with a landscape description, which goes on to evoke memories and than usually sadness or loss and therefore causes a moral resolution and ends with romance or a landscape description once again. This poem was about the poets lover and wife, Sara, and her love for the author. The sonnet ends on a very loving note, discussing how the author, Coleridge, is thrilled with his "Sara" uttering her his name. It compares and contrasts the female personification of the moon lite night with his beautiful female lover Sara. It speaks of her breast of white snow much like he discusses the soft colors of the moon and the "white arm" of the harp like moon, or the crescent "female"moon. The poet Coleridge was a Romantic moody sonnet writer considered very knowledgeable and gifted in his art as well as a very intelligent thinker.

Gilpin, from Observations on the River Wye

         William Gilpin was a writer who helped to convey the philosophy of the views he saw in his travels in the world, in a verbose, or wordy but very descriptive, picturesque and descriptive way. This descriptions, or explanations of all that he saw in his travels were probably meant to make the reader feel motivated to go and see these sights for themselves or feel as if they had already seen the sights by the shear length and depth of Gilpin's observations.

          Interestingly, Gilpin was a clergyman and a teacher, so his descriptions could have showed and described a belief in the majesty and holiness, or spirituality of the universe as created by god. However, that is not really the case at all as William Gilpin instead is very concrete and sometimes quite harsh in his descriptions and depictions. Although he is credited with the creation of the concept of "picturesque" writing, he is almost like a painter in the way he describes nature and mankind’s architectural creations in the world.

          His type of writing was one which was meant to depict, almost a travelogue for the reader. He overviews the scene he sees and describes it like a painting with a dark foreground, a bright middle, and a concept of the less observable, less distinct distance. He takes great time to also describe the imperfect or somewhat ruined castle in the distance in this piece on "The River Why".....Gilpin likes the "imperfect" or aspects of the whole scene which are out of harmony, or flawed. He is analytical in his artist like "critique" of the scene. It is obvious he is also trained as a painter or schooled in art criticism. He talks about the "castle" as "bold and defiant" suggesting that castles were created that way because they were meant to be intimidating, to thwart wars and keep other military actions against the kingdoms squashed. Gilpin than goes on to discuss the more hidden abbey, and how it is hidden on a valley, for the purpose of meditation and therefore can be out of sight and more discrete. Maybe it's tranquility would cause monks to be drawn to the abbey , in contrast to the warlike imposing castle. Gilpin loves the lack of harmony of the ruins he finds, and likes the irregular lines. He, in fact complains about the parts of this scene of the tower where the "buttresses" still stand with complete "regularity"and he states he would like to "hit and break it with a mallet" which is very unusual for a tourist describing a scene on their travels as opposed to an artist who in a criticism of a painting might very well give ideas of how to make the painting of a landscape more appealing to a viewers "eye". This is the philosophy of "the Picturesque" writer who wants his writings to seem like a painting an observer may want to go view which might motivate someone to take in the sights William Gilpin just viewed.