Close reading william wordsworth

Banner Image: Lake District by Jonny Gios, Unsplash.

close reading the poems of wordsworth
Sundays, 20 and 27 october 2024, 2.00-400 pm

We study some great poetry through close reading.

William Wordsworth (1770-1850)

I heard a thousand blended notes,
While in a grove I sate reclined,
In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts
Bring sad thoughts to the mind.

To her fair works did Nature link
The human soul that through me ran;
And much it grieved my heart to think
What man has made of man.

  – from Wordsworth, ‘Lines Written in Early Spring’ (1798)

 

Course description

If you were to ask the average person on the street to name a poet, there’s a good chance most people would know William Wordsworth: nature lover, radical revolutionary and committed poet. In these sessions we will explore just what it is about Wordworth’s poems that have made them so popular, even 170 years after his death.   

Led by Dr Mariah Whelan, in these two-hour sessions we will observe, analyse, and discuss Wordsworth’s poetic techniques. What are the effects of those techniques? How do they produce meaning – and emotion – and much else?

This is an ideal set of sessions for anyone who wants to develop their close reading skills and enhance their enjoyment of poetry. No prior experience of close reading is necessary to take part. Live online via Zoom. Mariah will provide a selection of poems for participants. 

Dates

Sundays, 20 October (British summer time) and 27 October (GMT) 2024
2.00-4.00 pm British time

Please note that the clocks move back to Greenwhich Mean Time on 27 Oct. Please check the time difference for your time zone.

Bookings

£84 full price
£78 students
£78 CAMcard

(includes 20% VAT)

Optional further reading

Stephen Gill, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Wordsworth (2006)

Links

Wordsworth Trust, Wordsworth Museum, Grasmere
Wordsworth Trust Blog
Poetry Foundation (US) on Wordsworth.
BBC webpage on Wordsworth

Some poems by Wordsworth

 

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802

Earth has not any thing to show more fair:
Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
A sight so touching in its majesty:
This City now doth, like a garment, wear
The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,
Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie
Open unto the fields, and to the sky;
All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.
Never did sun more beautifully steep
In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill;
Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!
The river glideth at his own sweet will:
Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;
And all that mighty heart is lying still!

 

It is a Beauteous Evening, Calm and Free

It is a beauteous evening, calm and free, 
The holy time is quiet as a Nun 
Breathless with adoration; the broad sun 
Is sinking down in its tranquility; 
The gentleness of heaven broods o'er the Sea; 
Listen! the mighty Being is awake, 
And doth with his eternal motion make 
A sound like thunder—everlastingly. 
Dear child! dear Girl! that walkest with me here, 
If thou appear untouched by solemn thought, 
Thy nature is not therefore less divine: 
Thou liest in Abraham's bosom all the year; 
And worshipp'st at the Temple's inner shrine, 
God being with thee when we know it not.

Zoom link

We will send you a Zoom link by email at least 24 hours before the first lecture. If the link does not arrive, please let us know by email in good time, at least an hour before the session begins, so we can re-send.

If you cannot attend a course you have booked

Please note that, because places are limited, we cannot usually give refunds if you cannot attend a course. But if you contact us in advance, we might be able to transfer your booking to a different course.

Recordings

Because these classes are guided group discussions (not lectures), they are not recorded.

Comment from a previous Close Reading participant

‘Thank you so much for this course. Working on Browning and Keats with Mariah has been wonderful and I feel so enthused after every class. Really looking forward to the next one!’ - Saffron, London, 2023