The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 6 (of 8)

Name: The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 6 (of 8)
Author: Wordsworth, William

Wordsworth, William

English poetry -- 18th century; English poetry -- 19th century

Replying to some criticism on this _Ode_ by Southey, Wordsworth wrote to
his friend as follows:--"I am much of your mind in respect to my Ode.
Had it been a hymn, uttering the sentiments of a _multitude_, a _stanza_
would have been indispensable. But though I have called it a
'Thanksgiving Ode,' strictly speaking it is not so, but a poem,
composed, or supposed to be composed, on the morning of the
thanksgiving, uttering the sentiments of an _individual_ upon that
occasion. It is a _dramatised ejaculation_; and this, if anything can,
must excuse the irregular frame of the metre. In respect to a _stanza_
for a grand subject designed to be treated comprehensively, there are
great objections. If the stanza be short, it will scarcely allow of
fervour and importunity, unless so short, as that the sense is run
perpetually from one stanza to another, as in Horace's Alcaics; and if
it be long, it will be as apt to generate diffuseness as to check it. Of
this we have innumerable instances in Spenser and the Italian poets. The
sense required cannot be included in one given stanza, so that another
whole stanza is added, not infrequently, for the sake of matter which
would naturally include itself in a very few lines.

"If Gray's plan be adopted, there is not time to become acquainted with
the arrangement, and to recognise with pleasure the recurrence of the
movement.

"Be so good as let me know where you found most difficulty in following
me. The passage which I most suspect of being misunderstood is

    And thus is missed the sole true glory;

and the passage where I doubt most about the reasonableness of expecting
that the reader should follow me in the luxuriance of the imagery and
the language, is the one that describes, under so many metaphors, the
spreading of the news of the Waterloo victory over the globe."

The last reference in this letter is to the lines in that part of the
_Ode_, which follows--

    Joyful annunciation!--it went forth--
    It pierced the caverns of the sluggish North, etc."

    ED.

VARIANTS:

[Footnote 80: 1837.

    Hail, universal Source of pure delight!                     1816.
]

[Footnote 81: 1837.

    Whether thy orient ...                                      1816.
]

[Footnote 82: 1837.

                          ... that timid pace,
    Framed in subjection to the chains                          1816.

                          ... that timid pace
    Submitted to the chains                                     1827.
]

[Footnote 83: 1850.

    ... yon ...                                                 1816.
]

[Footnote 84: 1837.

    ... splendour, ...                                          1816.
]

[Footnote 85: 1837.

    ... but ...                                                 1816.
]

[Footnote 86: 1837.

    --Who to the murmurs of an earthly string                   1816.
]

[Footnote 87: 1837.

    ... in the night                                            1816.
]

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 6 (of 8)Wordsworth, William

General

The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 6 (of 8)

Wordsworth, William

English poetry -- 18th century; English poetry -- 19th century

Replying to some criticism on this _Ode_ by Southey, Wordsworth wrote to
his friend as follows:--"I am much of your mind in respect to my Ode.
Had it been a hymn, uttering the sentiments of a _multitude_, a _stanza_
would have been indispensable. But though I have called it a
'Thanksgiving Ode,' strictly speaking it is not so, but a poem,
composed, or supposed to be composed, on the morning of the
thanksgiving, uttering the sentiments of an _individual_ upon that
occasion. It is a _dramatised ejaculation_; and this, if anything can,
must excuse the irregular frame of the metre. In respect to a _stanza_
for a grand subject designed to be treated comprehensively, there are
great objections. If the stanza be short, it will scarcely allow of
fervour and importunity, unless so short, as that the sense is run
perpetually from one stanza to another, as in Horace's Alcaics; and if
it be long, it will be as apt to generate diffuseness as to check it. Of
this we have innumerable instances in Spenser and the Italian poets. The
sense required cannot be included in one given stanza, so that another
whole stanza is added, not infrequently, for the sake of matter which
would naturally include itself in a very few lines.

"If Gray's plan be adopted, there is not time to become acquainted with
the arrangement, and to recognise with pleasure the recurrence of the
movement.

"Be so good as let me know where you found most difficulty in following
me. The passage which I most suspect of being misunderstood is

    And thus is missed the sole true glory;

and the passage where I doubt most about the reasonableness of expecting
that the reader should follow me in the luxuriance of the imagery and
the language, is the one that describes, under so many metaphors, the
spreading of the news of the Waterloo victory over the globe."

The last reference in this letter is to the lines in that part of the
_Ode_, which follows--

    Joyful annunciation!--it went forth--
    It pierced the caverns of the sluggish North, etc."

    ED.

VARIANTS:

[Footnote 80: 1837.

    Hail, universal Source of pure delight!                     1816.
]

[Footnote 81: 1837.

    Whether thy orient ...                                      1816.
]

[Footnote 82: 1837.

                          ... that timid pace,
    Framed in subjection to the chains                          1816.

                          ... that timid pace
    Submitted to the chains                                     1827.
]

[Footnote 83: 1850.

    ... yon ...                                                 1816.
]

[Footnote 84: 1837.

    ... splendour, ...                                          1816.
]

[Footnote 85: 1837.

    ... but ...                                                 1816.
]

[Footnote 86: 1837.

    --Who to the murmurs of an earthly string                   1816.
]

[Footnote 87: 1837.

    ... in the night                                            1816.
]

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 6 (of 8)

The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 6 (of 8)

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