Analyzing Rhetorical Devices in Wordsworth's Poetry

1743 Words7 Pages
Metaphors and Imagery in William Wordsworth’s Poetry Throughout all of William Wordsworth’s poems, he delivers his message through the use of creating images through details in his poems. By creating an image, the reader gets a better understanding of the true meaning of the poem. The use of imagery creates a realistic situation that makes the reader feel like he is witnessing or involved in the writing. William was inspired to write poetry after being on a walking tour of Switzerland and France. He became an idealist and began writing while he was still in college. Much that inspired his work were things which he witnessed firsthand, which is why he writes with imagery and metaphors, to give the mind a better view of how the situation looks through his eyes. “The Solitary Reaper,” published in 1807, is one of the poems in which Wordsworth uses imagery to express his theme. This poem emphasizes about how a young girl he saw while he was on a tour in Scotland could still seem so happy even though her lifestyle wasn’t so great. Scotland back then was becoming “Electric Scotland” which meant that people were moving into the towns for work in industries. The people that stayed behind in the country were mainly poor folk that couldn’t find the money or time to devote to the change. These people made a sad and pitiful way of living in the farms that they owned. The imagery in the first two quatrains describes the woman working in the fields cutting the grain that is ready for its reaping. Her voice is so pure that he, Wordsworth, has to stop, and admires the voice for one cannot simply walk passed this girl with a rude comment for it was of true wonder. All the air is ringing with her voice. “O listen! for the Vale profound/ Is overflowing with the sound.” The following quatrains marks her voice as uniqueness and wonder, nobody has ever heard anything like it, not

More about Analyzing Rhetorical Devices in Wordsworth's Poetry

Open Document