SONNET XII: From its first moments, the sonnet’s crafted darkness prepares the reader for the death of “th’ exhausted sufferer.” The image of the speaker on “some rude fragment of the rocky shore” cannot bode well. The picture is fatally dangerous, as the first stanza begins in sputtering bursts of emotion: the alliteration of the f’s in “fractured cliff,” and the b’s in “billows break” is harsh and angry. “Musing, my solitary seat I take” expresses loneliness not only through the word “solitary” and the inherently companionless activity of “musing,” but in the physical construction of the line. It is jarringly short, juxtaposed with the wordiness of the preceding two lines; the comma after the first word, a sudden break enforced on the reader, is also notable. Both of these elements converge with the line’s content to truly awaken similar feelings of solitude in the reader. Like the speaker, the reader feels enormity of facing the “deep and solemn roar” of the apathetic ocean, alone and powerless. The disturbing imagery continues with the horror of a nightmare: “dark waves,” a crazy “screaming seabird.” Like a nightmare, too, something about the “wild gloomy scene” is charming, alluring, dangerously attractive and intriguing. With a child’s run-away imagination, the speaker enjoys imagining herself as some tragic figure, facing “the storms of fate.” What’s with us humans that we actually find enjoyment in such “musing”s?
Many of Smith’s poems seem to revolve around the phrase “no more”-- Sonnet V especially, and by continuation, Sonnet XXXI. The poet grew up on the South Downs, and both of these poems depict her thoughts on her return to this place. Her memories are quite vivid, and her appreciation for the place is characteristic of the Romantic poets.
However, while the majority of the poets seeks solace in the woods, the lakes, and other sprawling, natural places, the revisitation almost seems to give Smith a feeling of anguish and loss. She deftly describes the scene itself to be happy and peaceful, using words such as “nurse”, “blessed”, and “mirth” (XXXI), but upon inserting herself into the scene, everything twists to the negative-- “artless song” and “limpid waves” (V), to name a few. While the later poem seems at first to be more optimistic than the first, both end with a turn for the dark, and oblivion. The difference between them is that in the former, she almost begs the elements of the scene to partake in her sorrow with her, or to perhaps alleviate it, while in the latter she marvels at the carefree quality of the Downs, and comments that she is no longer a part of that in the same way she had been as a child-- that they are separate, and one cannot affect the other, for better or worse.
Smith specializes in the sonnet, which she most likely learned through her study of Italian and her close work with the poetry of Petrarch, the acclaimed father of the sonnet. It is structured in both rhyme scheme and metre, yet there is a flow and a diversity to all of her poems, despite the common thread to themes, and the limitations of the form she chooses. In reference to her personification of the River Arun and the Lethe, the form does have a lilting, wave-like quality to it, akin to waves, which greatly adds to the effect that while she does wish to be lulled and to forget her hardships, her life is in order, she has a set structure, and relief and mindlessness will not come until that life is through, i.e. in death. Titling the collection “Elegiac Sonnets” is completely accurate.
Another thing I’d like to make note of, not necessarily concerning the poetry itself, but more of Smith’s historical background: the reception of her work was that of high praise, and yet her actual plight was ignored, despite the fact that it colored every aspect of her writing. I think that in a certain sense, poets of this age were seen to be a bit strange, or mad (as in the case of Blake), simply for their desire to be outside the civilized locations and in the wild. Additionally, the fact that Smith was female seems to have caused critics to immediately brush her sorrows aside, claiming them to be false, despite the glaring evidence contradicting their opinions. I think that after a while, this reception played out in Smith’s writing, specifically in the transition of attitude from the first poem to the next-- she is far more resigned to the way things are, and has set up a barrier between herself and nature (perhaps a metaphor for human nature?), as opposed to beseeching mercy and aid from it.
Sonnet XI: To be brutally frank, I don't like Smith's poetry. I think it's sappy and cliché (the poem "Beachy Head" is the longest in the sample you gave us and therefore has the most: "anxious cries," "lone shepherd," "baying dog," "brilliant rays of arrowy light," and "shades of night" are just a few. This is why I am not going to discuss "Beachy Head.") I chose to write about "To Sleep" because even though the language is as sappy and cliche as the other poems, I like the idea Smith is writing about. Sleep. Ah. I wish I could go to sleep, too. But I have too much homework. Of course, that does not compare with whatever Smith was dealing with when she wrote her poems, like sick/dead children or a psychopathic husband. How very, very sad. After the speaker lists three types of people who enjoy sleep easily, she laments (a very Romantic word) that she is denied sleep and it's accompanying loverly things like dreams. (So sad.) This is because only those "Who wake to labour, liberty, and love" can "taste thy [Sleep's] charms," while "thy opiate aid dost thou deny / To calm the anxious breast; to close the streaming eye." But an "anxious breast" and "streaming eye" could mean someone who is still breathing too quickly to fall asleep and whose eyes are watering with yawns. However, this is a very benign explanation, and it is more likely that the speaker's "anxious breast" and "streaming eye" are the result of sobs. Really, though, I only know that this is a very sad poem because I know that the author often wrote about sad things. Every hint of dark emotion in the poem could also be interpreted more mildly. "[T]ired natur[e]," "sad temples," and "aching head" are all normal results of lack of sleep and do not signify any great depression, as I can personally attest. The "sadness" of the speaker's temples could be referring to general achiness or sagginess around the eyes associated with a lack of sleep. The only line which does not fit is the one which excludes the speaker from those "Who wake to labour, liberty, and love." But I only inferred this explanation because I know that Smith often felt like she lacked these things. It's not stated directly in those lines that the speaker does not have labour (like the peasant), liberty (like the sea-boy), and love (like the village girl) when she wakes; the next line simply says, "But still thy opiate aid dost thou deny..." And the final line returns to my first point, that an "anxious breast" and "streaming eye" do not necessarily mean great distress, and can simply be the physiological results of sleep deprivation or even general tiredness. Smith's relatively placid adjectives in "To Sleep" contrast with the openly somber words of her other poems (such as, "When all, e'en Hope's last ray, is gone / There's no oblivion but in death alone!" -Sonnet V), and allow for a milder interpretation, unless the reader knows of Smith's traumatized background.
When reading through Charlotte Smith’s works, I was struck most by the consistency of the style and tone. The subject matter of each sonnet does vary (though never drastically), as does the rhyming scheme and form (still never drastically), but otherwise the poems flowed easily from one to the next, all heavily infused with Smith’s signature style: a huge emphasis on nature, melancholy, emotion, self-reflection… It’s tempting to label the fixed voice as repetitive, or as an easy way out for a poet. But in Smith’s case, while she does rely on the same style again and again, it’s hard to fault her with that - she does it so incredibly well.
Smith’s Sonnet XII (Written on the Sea Shore, October 1874) incorporates her regular themes, but deals particularly with her famous ‘melancholy’. It’s beautiful and tragic - and to me, the quintessential romantic poem. (Though perhaps that says more about my perception of romantic poetry, than romantic poetry itself.) Smith uses imagery to depict the sights and sounds of the seaside, capturing its beauty. But while painting the beautiful scene, Smith also inserts words that imply brokenness: “some rude fragment...rocky shore...fractured cliff...the billows break.” The harsh words interspersed in the lines imitate the waves of the sea (a back and forth), with the harsh ‘k’ (“billows break”) imitating the waves crashing against a cliff. The broken words have a double meaning, referring also to the brokenness in her soul. The poet finds comfort, though, in how the sea parallels the poet’s exploration into their own self. “But the wild gloomy scene has charms for me,/And suits the mournful temper of my soul.” Smith writes of the “wild and gloomy scene” which include “dark waves” in the “troubled sea.” It’s extremely straightforward, unambiguous. (Again, I’m tempted to call out the pretension, but it strangely doesn’t bother me that much.) In the final verse, Smith writes (I think, I was a little unclear on this) about permanent abandonment on the cliff, in solitude until death. And so it is with life… or Smith’s life, anyway. To be self-aware is to know that we are born alone, and we die alone. Especially as a female poet in her time, Smith would have felt the loneliness intensely. Even the simple title mirrors her resigned attitude toward melancholy. Like Smith expresses in her sonnet, she believes the loneliness to be fated. But, as is said in the second verse, she doesn't mind the melancholic temper. That is the price of "musing" in "solitude". Though the heightened tragic ending does suggest that despite the fact melancholy "suits" her, it is just a "charm", and the cost really is too high.
SONNET XII:
ReplyDeleteFrom its first moments, the sonnet’s crafted darkness prepares the reader for the death of “th’ exhausted sufferer.” The image of the speaker on “some rude fragment of the rocky shore” cannot bode well. The picture is fatally dangerous, as the first stanza begins in sputtering bursts of emotion: the alliteration of the f’s in “fractured cliff,” and the b’s in “billows break” is harsh and angry.
“Musing, my solitary seat I take” expresses loneliness not only through the word “solitary” and the inherently companionless activity of “musing,” but in the physical construction of the line. It is jarringly short, juxtaposed with the wordiness of the preceding two lines; the comma after the first word, a sudden break enforced on the reader, is also notable. Both of these elements converge with the line’s content to truly awaken similar feelings of solitude in the reader. Like the speaker, the reader feels enormity of facing the “deep and solemn roar” of the apathetic ocean, alone and powerless.
The disturbing imagery continues with the horror of a nightmare: “dark waves,” a crazy “screaming seabird.” Like a nightmare, too, something about the “wild gloomy scene” is charming, alluring, dangerously attractive and intriguing. With a child’s run-away imagination, the speaker enjoys imagining herself as some tragic figure, facing “the storms of fate.”
What’s with us humans that we actually find enjoyment in such “musing”s?
Many of Smith’s poems seem to revolve around the phrase “no more”-- Sonnet V especially, and by continuation, Sonnet XXXI. The poet grew up on the South Downs, and both of these poems depict her thoughts on her return to this place. Her memories are quite vivid, and her appreciation for the place is characteristic of the Romantic poets.
ReplyDeleteHowever, while the majority of the poets seeks solace in the woods, the lakes, and other sprawling, natural places, the revisitation almost seems to give Smith a feeling of anguish and loss. She deftly describes the scene itself to be happy and peaceful, using words such as “nurse”, “blessed”, and “mirth” (XXXI), but upon inserting herself into the scene, everything twists to the negative-- “artless song” and “limpid waves” (V), to name a few.
While the later poem seems at first to be more optimistic than the first, both end with a turn for the dark, and oblivion. The difference between them is that in the former, she almost begs the elements of the scene to partake in her sorrow with her, or to perhaps alleviate it, while in the latter she marvels at the carefree quality of the Downs, and comments that she is no longer a part of that in the same way she had been as a child-- that they are separate, and one cannot affect the other, for better or worse.
Smith specializes in the sonnet, which she most likely learned through her study of Italian and her close work with the poetry of Petrarch, the acclaimed father of the sonnet. It is structured in both rhyme scheme and metre, yet there is a flow and a diversity to all of her poems, despite the common thread to themes, and the limitations of the form she chooses. In reference to her personification of the River Arun and the Lethe, the form does have a lilting, wave-like quality to it, akin to waves, which greatly adds to the effect that while she does wish to be lulled and to forget her hardships, her life is in order, she has a set structure, and relief and mindlessness will not come until that life is through, i.e. in death. Titling the collection “Elegiac Sonnets” is completely accurate.
Another thing I’d like to make note of, not necessarily concerning the poetry itself, but more of Smith’s historical background: the reception of her work was that of high praise, and yet her actual plight was ignored, despite the fact that it colored every aspect of her writing. I think that in a certain sense, poets of this age were seen to be a bit strange, or mad (as in the case of Blake), simply for their desire to be outside the civilized locations and in the wild. Additionally, the fact that Smith was female seems to have caused critics to immediately brush her sorrows aside, claiming them to be false, despite the glaring evidence contradicting their opinions. I think that after a while, this reception played out in Smith’s writing, specifically in the transition of attitude from the first poem to the next-- she is far more resigned to the way things are, and has set up a barrier between herself and nature (perhaps a metaphor for human nature?), as opposed to beseeching mercy and aid from it.
Sonnet XI:
ReplyDeleteTo be brutally frank, I don't like Smith's poetry. I think it's sappy and cliché (the poem "Beachy Head" is the longest in the sample you gave us and therefore has the most: "anxious cries," "lone shepherd," "baying dog," "brilliant rays of arrowy light," and "shades of night" are just a few. This is why I am not going to discuss "Beachy Head.")
I chose to write about "To Sleep" because even though the language is as sappy and cliche as the other poems, I like the idea Smith is writing about. Sleep. Ah. I wish I could go to sleep, too. But I have too much homework. Of course, that does not compare with whatever Smith was dealing with when she wrote her poems, like sick/dead children or a psychopathic husband. How very, very sad.
After the speaker lists three types of people who enjoy sleep easily, she laments (a very Romantic word) that she is denied sleep and it's accompanying loverly things like dreams. (So sad.) This is because only those "Who wake to labour, liberty, and love" can "taste thy [Sleep's] charms," while "thy opiate aid dost thou deny / To calm the anxious breast; to close the streaming eye." But an "anxious breast" and "streaming eye" could mean someone who is still breathing too quickly to fall asleep and whose eyes are watering with yawns. However, this is a very benign explanation, and it is more likely that the speaker's "anxious breast" and "streaming eye" are the result of sobs. Really, though, I only know that this is a very sad poem because I know that the author often wrote about sad things. Every hint of dark emotion in the poem could also be interpreted more mildly. "[T]ired natur[e]," "sad temples," and "aching head" are all normal results of lack of sleep and do not signify any great depression, as I can personally attest. The "sadness" of the speaker's temples could be referring to general achiness or sagginess around the eyes associated with a lack of sleep. The only line which does not fit is the one which excludes the speaker from those "Who wake to labour, liberty, and love." But I only inferred this explanation because I know that Smith often felt like she lacked these things. It's not stated directly in those lines that the speaker does not have labour (like the peasant), liberty (like the sea-boy), and love (like the village girl) when she wakes; the next line simply says, "But still thy opiate aid dost thou deny..." And the final line returns to my first point, that an "anxious breast" and "streaming eye" do not necessarily mean great distress, and can simply be the physiological results of sleep deprivation or even general tiredness. Smith's relatively placid adjectives in "To Sleep" contrast with the openly somber words of her other poems (such as, "When all, e'en Hope's last ray, is gone / There's no oblivion but in death alone!" -Sonnet V), and allow for a milder interpretation, unless the reader knows of Smith's traumatized background.
When reading through Charlotte Smith’s works, I was struck most by the consistency of the style and tone. The subject matter of each sonnet does vary (though never drastically), as does the rhyming scheme and form (still never drastically), but otherwise the poems flowed easily from one to the next, all heavily infused with Smith’s signature style: a huge emphasis on nature, melancholy, emotion, self-reflection… It’s tempting to label the fixed voice as repetitive, or as an easy way out for a poet. But in Smith’s case, while she does rely on the same style again and again, it’s hard to fault her with that - she does it so incredibly well.
ReplyDeleteSmith’s Sonnet XII (Written on the Sea Shore, October 1874) incorporates her regular themes, but deals particularly with her famous ‘melancholy’. It’s beautiful and tragic - and to me, the quintessential romantic poem. (Though perhaps that says more about my perception of romantic poetry, than romantic poetry itself.)
Smith uses imagery to depict the sights and sounds of the seaside, capturing its beauty. But while painting the beautiful scene, Smith also inserts words that imply brokenness: “some rude fragment...rocky shore...fractured cliff...the billows break.” The harsh words interspersed in the lines imitate the waves of the sea (a back and forth), with the harsh ‘k’ (“billows break”) imitating the waves crashing against a cliff. The broken words have a double meaning, referring also to the brokenness in her soul. The poet finds comfort, though, in how the sea parallels the poet’s exploration into their own self. “But the wild gloomy scene has charms for me,/And suits the mournful temper of my soul.”
Smith writes of the “wild and gloomy scene” which include “dark waves” in the “troubled sea.” It’s extremely straightforward, unambiguous. (Again, I’m tempted to call out the pretension, but it strangely doesn’t bother me that much.) In the final verse, Smith writes (I think, I was a little unclear on this) about permanent abandonment on the cliff, in solitude until death. And so it is with life… or Smith’s life, anyway. To be self-aware is to know that we are born alone, and we die alone. Especially as a female poet in her time, Smith would have felt the loneliness intensely. Even the simple title mirrors her resigned attitude toward melancholy. Like Smith expresses in her sonnet, she believes the loneliness to be fated. But, as is said in the second verse, she doesn't mind the melancholic temper. That is the price of "musing" in "solitude". Though the heightened tragic ending does suggest that despite the fact melancholy "suits" her, it is just a "charm", and the cost really is too high.