Reading Wordsworth after McGann: Moments of Negativity in

Reading Wordsworth after M c G a n n :
M o m e n t s o f Negativity in "Tintern Abbey"
and the Immortality O d e
PETER SIMONSEN
Is it not possible, under certain conditions and at certain times, for
very important things to betray themselves in very slight
indications? ... So let us not under-value small signs: perhaps from
them it may be possible to come upon the tracks of greater things.
(Freud: 31)
S i n c e the m i d 1 9 8 0 s , J e r o m e J . M c G a n n has been t h e " m o s t influential
critic o f R o m a n t i c i s m " ( C r o n i n : 5 ) . M c G a n n ' s interventions in this field
h a v e been decisive in o p e n i n g a n d revising the R o m a n t i c c a n o n as well as
in altering o u r a p p r o a c h to R o m a n t i c texts. D u e in large p a r t to M c G a n n
m a n y m o r e very different p o e t s f r o m t h e p e r i o d are t o d a y b e i n g r e a d in
t h e historical, c o n t e x t u a l m a n n e r h e has theorised a n d a d v o c a t e d . A s s u c h
his w o r k has b e e n a n d is a salutary s o u r c e o f i n s p i r a t i o n
for
most
c o n t e m p o r a r y R o m a n t i c i s t s . Yet o n e serious p r o b l e m r e m a i n s : in b o o k
after b o o k , essay after essay, M c G a n n features W i l l i a m W o r d s w o r t h in the
role o f t h e partly c u n n i n g
reactionary,
partly d e l u d e d
idealist,
who
w r o n g l y s u p p r e s s e s particular socio-historical or p s y c h i c actualities f r o m
t h e surface o f his poetry. In his m a j o r w o r k in R o m a n t i c criticism, The
Romantic Ideology, w h i c h p r o v i d e d the script a n d set t h e s t a g e for A n g l o A m e r i c a n R o m a n t i c criticism well i n t o the 1 9 9 0 s , o n e o f M c G a n n ' s
central p r e m i s e s is t h a t W o r d s w o r t h ' s p o e t r y enacts " a strategy o f
d i s p l a c e m e n t " w h e r e b y " T h e p o e m annihilates its history, b i o g r a p h i c a l
a n d socio-historical alike, a n d replaces these particulars w i t h a record o f
p u r e c o n s c i o u s n e s s " ( 9 0 ) . H e r e it o n l y r e m a i n s for M c G a n n to a d d " t h a t
W o r d s w o r t h ' s . . . is a false c o n s c i o u s n e s s n e e d s scarcely to b e s a i d " ( i b i d . ) .
It is n o t M c G a n n ' s a s s u m p t i o n o f a historically elevated p o s i t i o n f r o m
w h i c h to p r o n o u n c e a devastating critique o f the escapist t e n d e n c y in
Wordsworthian
Romanticism's
imaginative
project
that
seems
to
be
79
Reading Wordsworth after M c G a n n
problematic. Surely R o m a n t i c poetry o f the W o r d s w o r t h i a n k i n d at first
sight often appears to wish to be able to transcend rather than articulate its
particular material enabling conditions, whether these are upsetting sociohistorical events exterior to the p o e t , or psychic events interior to the poet.
T h e p r o b l e m is M c G a n n ' s belief that W o r d s w o r t h m a n a g e s successfully to
displace a n d even 'annihilate' whatever causes his anxieties a n d crises. F o r
M c G a n n W o r d s w o r t h remains in a state o f naive assurance that there is
indeed full c o m p e n s a t i o n in the imaginative idealities projected in the poetic
works. H o w e v e r , neither W o r d s w o r t h nor his p o e m s were ever as convinced
that they h a d sufficiently stable g r o u n d s for asserting s u c h assurance as they
are m a d e o u t to b e in the criticism o f M c G a n n . 1 T o substantiate this claim
the following attends to ' m o m e n t s o f negativity' in W o r d s w o r t h ' s poetry;
m o m e n t s in which it anticipates an u n d e l u d e d a n d sceptical critique o f its
o w n transcendent a s s u m p t i o n s a n d affirmative visions. 2
T h e e x p l o r a t i o n o f these m o m e n t s o f negativity in W o r d s w o r t h has
been
a
persistent
concern
of
much
twentieth
century
Wordsworth
criticism f r o m A . C . B r a d l e y t h r o u g h Geoffrey H a r t m a n a n d P a u l d e M a n
to F r a n c e s F e r g u s o n , D a v i d S i m p s o n a n d m a n y others. T h e s e critics have
in various ways d e v e l o p e d insights p r o v i d e d b y B r a d l e y w h o in
t u r n e d against the V i c t o r i a n
Wordsworth
was
not
the
reception
nostalgic,
of Wordsworth.
necessarily
For
solacing
1900
Bradley,
and
over-
e m o t i o n a l lover o f nature readers s u c h as J o h n S t u a r t M i l l a n d M a t t h e w
A r n o l d h a d f o u n d h i m to be. W o r d s w o r t h was a p r o t o - m o d e r n p o e t w h o
c o n f r o n t e d "poverty, c r i m e , insanity, ruined i n n o c e n c e , t o r t u r i n g h o p e s
d o o m e d to extinction, solitary a n g u i s h , even d e s p a i r " , a n d w h o " d i d n o t
avert his eyes f r o m it" (Bradley: 1 2 4 ) . T h i s u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f W o r d s w o r t h
s t a n d s in d a n g e r o f b e i n g c u r b e d b y M c G a n n ' s powerful influence insofar
1
For other critiques of the understanding of Romanticism professed by McGann and
orher new historicists and cultural materialists, see M. H. Abrams, "On Political Readings
of the Lyrical Ballads', in his How to Do Things with Texts: Essays in Criticism and Critical
Theory (New York: Norton, 1989), pp. 364-391, Peter Manning, "Placing Poor Susan:
Wordsworth and the New Historicism", in his Reading Romantics: Texts and Contexts (New
York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990), pp. 300-320, and Susan Wolfson,
"Questioning 'The Romantic Ideology': Wordsworth", Revue Internationale
de
Philosophic
44:3 (1990), pp. 429-447. In granting Wordsworth some of the insights the new
historicists typically refuse him the essays by Manning and Wolfson have been most useful.
For a consideration of the role and articulation of negativity in literature, see the essays
in Sanford Budick and Wolfgang Iser (eds.), Languages of The Unsayable: The Play of
Negativity in Literature and Literary Theory (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1996).
2
80
Peter Simonsen
as its p r o b a b l e c o n s e q u e n c e is a less t h a n desirable return o f W o r d s w o r t h
s t u d i e s to V i c t o r i a n c o n d i t i o n s .
W o r d s w o r t h often functions as the n o r m a g a i n s t w h i c h m o s t other
poets
of
the
Romantic
period
appear
interesting
and
appealing
M c G a n n . In a n essay o n versions o f elegy in R o m a n t i c poetry,
to
"The
Failures o f R o m a n t i c i s m " , M c G a n n discusses w h a t h e calls 'a p o e t r y o f
failure' as a special " m o d e o f p o e t r y " : " P o e t r y as the expression a n d even
t h e e m b o d i m e n t o f loss a n d failure" ( 2 7 1 ) . 3 T h i s is a radically d a r k poetry,
which
McGann
Byronic
sorrow
typically
champions,
[which]
signifies
a
and
loss
it exhibits
from
which
an
"Indurated
there
is
no
r e d e m p t i o n " ( 2 7 3 ) . A c c o r d i n g to M c G a n n , this d a r k m o d e o f poetry,
w h i c h is p r a c t i c e d b y B y r o n , K e a t s a n d Shelley, derives f r o m s u c h late
e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y elegiac w o m e n p o e t s as C h a r l o t t e S m i t h a n d
Mary
R o b i n s o n , a n d gets rearticulated b y s u c h later p o e t s as Felicia H e m a n s a n d
Letitia E l i z a b e t h L a n d o n . T h e s e p o e t s M c G a n n n a m e s s e n t i m e n t a l a n d
d i s t i n g u i s h e s f r o m their R o m a n t i c c o n t e m p o r a r i e s . S e n t i m e n t a l " p o e t i c a l
theory a n d practice [is] firmly l o c a t e d in history", writes M c G a n n ,
. . . indeed, its theory and practice make historicality, with all its
nontranscendental features, a defining quality of the poetical.
Romanticism feeds upon this theory, but only to raise up cries of
resistance, or to build temples in excremental places. Sentimental
poetry, by contrast, brings all o f its illusions, including its lost
illusions, down to eatth. (285)
In o r d e r to focus a n d f r a m e his r e a d i n g o f the s e n t i m e n t a l tradition, w h i c h
e m p h a s i s e s loss, the b o d y , disillusion, d e a t h , materiality, the real, M c G a n n
c o n s t r u c t s a R o m a n t i c tradition that e m p h a s i s e s the exact o p p o s i t e s o f
c o m p e n s a t i o n , the m i n d , illusion, life, spirituality, the ideal. P r e s e n t i n g
t h e n o r m a t i v e R o m a n t i c tradition against w h i c h he p r o m o t e s t h e m o r e
h o n e s t (we m a y a s s u m e ) m a n n e r o f c o n f r o n t i n g loss a n d failure in the
s e n t i m e n t a l t r a d i t i o n , M c G a n n writes,
The
usual
undertaking
of
these
matters
follows
a
Wordsworthian/Coleridgean line: 'For such loss ... abundant
recompence'. According to this view, there is—there must be—a
faith that looks through dearh. T h e philosophic mind of
3
See also McGann's chapter, "The Loss of Sentimental Poetry" in The Poetics
Sensibility: A Revolution in Literary Style (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996), pp. 150-173.
of
81
Reading Wordsworth after M c G a n n
romanticism works to redeem the harrowing logic of ultimate loss:
perhaps even, as in certain Christian and Marxian schemas, to
transform it into splendor. But a serious problem lurks beneath
these elegant compensatory formulas. W e know this from
Wordsworth's own poerry, whose best moments regularly betray
rheir conscious commitments. (271; McGann's ellipsis)
W o r d s w o r t h is here m a d e to subscribe to an i d e a o f a closed psychic
e c o n o m y in w h i c h it is p o s s i b l e to believe in full c o m p e n s a t i o n for loss.
H e thus c o m e s to represent an a l m o s t unbelievably naive p o s i t i o n a g a i n s t
w h i c h M c G a n n can present his c o u n t e r - t r a d i t i o n o f sentimentalist p o e t s ,
w h o c o n s c i o u s l y recognise a n d face the " p r o b l e m " o f " u l t i m a t e l o s s " that
M c G a n n claims W o r d s w o r t h o n l y articulates b y a c c i d e n t w h e n his p o e m s
" b e t r a y their c o n s c i o u s c o m m i t m e n t s " .
M c G a n n is clearly b e i n g hyperbolical in his construal o f W o r d s w o r t h
as the n o r m transgressed b y the therefore
newly interesting s e n t i m e n t a l
poets. Yet this is exactly the p r o b l e m . O n e o f the easiest w a y s to legitimate
t h e retrieval o f a n y o f t h e n u m e r o u s neglected R o m a n t i c p o e t s is to c l a i m
that this or that p o e t or g r o u p o f p o e t s departs f r o m a n d transgresses 'the
n o r m ' . A s always in s u c h u n d e r t a k i n g s w h a t is p o s i t e d as the n o r m has to
b e a unified a n d self-identical entity, w h i c h at m o s t c a n c o n t r a d i c t itself
w h e n it betrays its " c o n s c i o u s c o m m i t m e n t s " in u n i n t e n d e d slips a n d
lapses. H o w e v e r , the unnecessarily h i g h price for this salutary recuperation
o f a c o u n t e r - t r a d i t i o n at w o r k in the R o m a n t i c p e r i o d is a m i s r e a d i n g a n d
re-mystification o f W o r d s w o r t h w h i c h threatens to b e c o m e the n o r m a t i v e
u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f W o r d s w o r t h insofar as M c G a n n ' s influence has c o m e to
a s s u m e h e g e m o n i c status in current R o m a n t i c criticism
W h e n h e presents W o r d s w o r t h ' s allegedly closed e c o n o m y o f loss
a n d full c o m p e n s a t i o n in " T h e Failures o f R o m a n t i c i s m " , M c G a n n refers
to two f a m o u s p o e m s a n d passages b y W o r d s w o r t h . H e q u o t e s a line f r o m
" T i n t e r n A b b e y " ( 1 7 9 8 ) a n d he alludes to stanza ten o f the I m m o r t a l i t y
O d e ( 1 8 0 4 / 0 5 ) a n d presents this as evidence that there is, as there m u s t
be, a b u n d a n t r e c o m p e n s e in the face o f loss in n o r m a t i v e W o r d s w o r t h i a n
R o m a n t i c i s m . T h i s essay is essentially a testing o f M c G a n n ' s evidence.
T h e use o f " T i n t e r n A b b e y " will b e reconsidered first in o r d e r to b e g i n to
s u g g e s t that o n a s e c o n d look, W o r d s w o r t h is n o t saying exactly w h a t
M c G a n n takes h i m to b e saying. N e x t , a historical frame is p r o v i d e d to
situate the d i s c u s s i o n o f the value o f poetry a n d the i m a g i n a t i o n in the
R o m a n t i c p e r i o d itself, w h i c h finally leads to a r e a d i n g o f a p a s s a g e in the
Immortality
82
Ode
which,
like
the
passage
from
"Tintern
Abbey",
Peter Simonsen
p r o f o u n d l y p r o b l e m a t i s e s a n d c o m p l i c a t e s w h a t M c G a n n leaves as an
unproblematised
given:
that
Wordsworth's
poetic
language
aims
to
c o n v i n c e us in the affirmative that it p r o v i d e s full c o m p e n s a t i o n for the
losses it registers.
/
" T i n t e r n A b b e y " is a b o u t w h a t it m e a n s to b e in t i m e : a revisit to a
f o r m e r l y visited s p o t in n a t u r e c o m p e l s t h e s p e a k e r to m e a s u r e w h a t is lost
a g a i n s t w h a t is g a i n e d as t i m e passes. T h e p o e m m a k e s u s e o f o n e o f
W o r d s w o r t h ' s m o s t characteristic artistic t e c h n i q u e s , w h a t C a r l o s B a k e r
terms
"the
double-exposure
technique"
(106).
As
Baker
explains,
W o r d s w o r t h u s e d the t e c h n i q u e to explore his m a j o r t h e m e o f p e r s o n a l
g r o w t h b y j u x t a p o s i n g " t w o w i d e l y s e p a r a t e d p e r i o d s o f t i m e in s u c h a w a y
t h a t w e are m a d e d r a m a t i c a l l y c o n s c i o u s o f the d e g r e e o f g r o w t h that has
t a k e n p l a c e between S t a g e O n e a n d S t a g e T w o "
(ibid.). T h e
poem
s u g g e s t s t h a t the speaker has lost a n i m m e d i a t e , direct, s e n s u o u s relation
to n a t u r e s u c h as that e x p e r i e n c e d in early y o u t h . Y e t W o r d s w o r t h will n o t
l a m e n t this loss, b e c a u s e s o m e t h i n g is g a i n e d f r o m it. W h a t is g a i n e d is t h e
e x p e r i e n c e as such, the m e m o r y o f it, w h i c h o n t h e o n e h a n d can serve as a
s u b s t i t u t e for n a t u r e w h e n t h e speaker is a w a y f r o m nature, a n d o n the
o t h e r h a n d m a k e s e v i d e n t the p o w e r o f c o n s c i o u s n e s s to function in the
i m m e d i a t e a b s e n c e o f the w o r l d . I n " T i n t e r n A b b e y " , a c c o r d i n g to B a k e r ,
"As
[Wordsworth]
overlooks
the scene o n c e m o r e , with t h e
mental
l a n d s c a p e o f the p a s t still in his purview, he is m a d e d o u b l y a w a r e o f a
s e n s e o f loss (the p a s t will n o t return) a n d a s e n s e o f c o m p e n s a t i o n greater
t h a n the loss (the n e w m a t u r i t y a n d insight w h i c h t h e a d v a n c i n g years
have brought)" (107). Although
they disagree in their e v a l u a t i o n
of
W o r d s w o r t h ' s p o e m , B a k e r ' s r e a d i n g is c o n s o n a n t w i t h M c G a n n ' s . T h e y
are
both
confident
that
Wordsworth
in
"Tintern
Abbey"
receives
" a b u n d a n t " c o m p e n s a t i o n for the losses registered in t h e p o e m .
Yet M c G a n n
qualifies
represses the u n d e r c u r r e n t
Wordsworth's
affirmations
and
o f sceptical
manifests
itself
doubt
in
that
certain
m o m e n t s o f negativity in the p o e m . M c G a n n cites a crucial p h r a s e f r o m
the
poem
to
illustrate
his
idea
that
in
Wordsworth
there
is
full
c o m p e n s a t i o n , b u t h e leaves s o m e t h i n g o u t o f t h e q u o t a t i o n , w h i c h c a n b e
seen
to
qualify
and
negativize
t h e affirmation
that
encapsulates
it.
W o r d s w o r t h registers the loss o f his earlier self a n d the i m m e d i a t e relation
to n a t u r e h e experienced o n his first visit to T i n t e r n A b b e y :
83
Reading Wordsworth after M c G a n n
That time is past,
And all its aching joys are now no more,
And all its dizzy raptures. N o t for this
Faint I, nor mourn nor murmur: othei gifts
Have followed, for such loss, / would believe,
Abundant recompence. For I have learned
T o look on nature, not as in the hour
O f thoughtless youth, but hearing oftentimes
T h e still, sad music of humanity,
N o r harsh nor grating, though of ample power
T o chasten and subdue. (Gill: 134,11. 84-94; emphasis added)
I n " T h e Failures o f R o m a n t i c i s m " , M c G a n n deliberately erases the crucial
italicised p h r a s e that W o r d s w o r t h deploys to destabilise the naive n o t i o n
o f full c o m p e n s a t i o n in the closed e c o n o m y o f loss a n d gain i m p l i e d in the
p a s s a g e . C o m m e n t i n g o n this a n d other m o m e n t s o f negativity in the
poem, Susan Wolfson
economy
...
astutely p o i n t s o u t that " t o p h r a s e a spiritual
with a tentative auxiliary . . .
is to d e p l e t e the store o f
r e c o m p e n s e . W o r d s w o r t h ' s rhetoric o f affirmation
in ' T i n t e r n
Abbey'
i n d u l g e s a f o r m o f negative assertion" ( 4 3 9 ) . T o s u g g e s t that w e are merely
dealing
instance
with
minor
when
and
relatively
Wordsworth
insignificant
inadvertently
details—or
betrays
with
an
his
"conscious
c o m m i t m e n t s " — w o u l d b e to p r o f o u n d l y m i s r e a d h i m . A s
Christopher
R i c k s p o i n t s o u t a n d a m p l y d e m o n s t r a t e s in his a t t e n t i o n to m i n u t e ,
particular details in W o r d s w o r t h , " S o s i m p l y l u c i d is W o r d s w o r t h ' s speech
t h a t it c a n c o n s t i t u t e a t e m p t a t i o n : w e m a y n o t p a y sufficient a t t e n t i o n to
t h e very w o r d s , since w e are so confident o f w h a t they are s a y i n g " ( 1 2 7 ) .
I n a certain sceptical readerly m o o d , the " I w o u l d believe" a d m i t s the
illusory or at least t e n u o u s g r o u n d o n w h i c h W o r d s w o r t h b u i l d s his h o p e s
for full c o m p e n s a t i o n . I f w e recover M c G a n n ' s repressed p a s s a g e a n d
b r i n g t h e p r o p e r w e i g h t to bear o n the tentative m o d a l auxiliary ' w o u l d ' in
" I would believe", t h e n w e u n d e r s t a n d W o r d s w o r t h to b e s a y i n g that in
fact he d o e s n o t believe that he has h a d or ever will receive " a b u n d a n t
r e c o m p e n c e " in the face o f loss, absence, d e a t h .
Wordsworth
a l m o s t , b u t n o t exactly, says the o p p o s i t e o f w h a t
M c G a n n w a n t s h i m to b e saying. M c G a n n w a n t s W o r d s w o r t h to b e
w r i t i n g in the indicative a n d to b e stating a h e l d fact, whereas
all
W o r d s w o r t h c a n d o is to write in the o p t a t i v e thus expressing a w i s h ,
w h i c h m a y or m a y n o t b e fulfilled. " I w o u l d believe" c o m e s close to
84
Peter Simonsen
i m p l y i n g , 'I w o u l d i f I c o u l d ' , or 'I w o u l d b u t I d o n ' t ' . F o l l o w i n g this line
o f t h o u g h t w e b e g i n to sense t h e o x y m o r o n i c n a t u r e o f the sheer idea o f
"abundant
recompence"
and
to
raise
the
question
of
whether
a
r e p r e s e n t a t i o n — b e it in the f o r m o f m e n t a l i m a g e r y h e l d in m e m o r y or
verbal
poetry—under
any
circumstance
can
be
said
to
substitute
a d e q u a t e l y for w h a t it represents, a n d h o t rather function as a r e m i n d e r o f
l o s s , a c o m p l e x sign o f a b s e n c e as m u c h as presence. M c G a n n ' s construal
of
a
binary
opposition
between
a
Wordsworthian,
optimistic
c o m p e n s a t o r y vision a n d its dark, s e n t i m e n t a l , B y r o n i c
and
counter-vision
b e g i n s to dissolve as w e recognize that W o r d s w o r t h e n c o m p a s s e s
w h a t M c G a n n calls the s e n t i m e n t a l a n d w h a t h e calls the
both
Romantic
elegiac current. I f W o r d s w o r t h ' s n e g a t i o n s are never a b s o l u t e n o r , b y the
s a m e t o k e n , are his affirmations.
To
understand
more
fully
where
McGann's
understanding
of
W o r d s w o r t h ' s p o e t r y derives f r o m , a n d to see m o r e clearly w h a t is at s t a k e
in r e c u p e r a t i n g certain m o m e n t s o f negativity in this poetry, it is necessary
t o recapitulate the w a y in w h i c h p o e t r y w a s a g g r a n d i s e d a n d e v a l u a t e d as a
k i n d o f s u b s t i t u t e religion in the R o m a n t i c p e r i o d a n d after. N o r m a t i v e l y
Romanticism
has b e e n
said t o
centre o n
the i d e a that
imaginative
literature can s o m e h o w correct the w r o n g s o f the w o r l d ; t h a t t h e failures
o f the real c a n b e a m e n d e d at the ideal level o f h u m a n
consciousness
t h r o u g h the r e d e m p t i v e intervention o f t h e i m a g i n a t i o n . I m a g i n a t i o n is
t h e m e n t a l , q u a s i - d i v i n e faculty that is m o b i l i z e d in R o m a n t i c aesthetics in
o r d e r to c o m p e n s a t e in ideality for the s h o r t - c o m i n g s o f reality.
In a letter f r o m 1 8 0 7 W o r d s w o r t h says that his v o c a t i o n is to create
poetry, w h i c h at s o m e future d a t e will " c o n s o l e the afflicted,
...
add
s u n s h i n e to d a y l i g h t b y m a k i n g the h a p p y happier, . . . [and] teach t h e
y o u n g a n d t h e g r a c i o u s o f every age, to see, to t h i n k a n d feel,
and
therefore to b e c o m e m o r e actively a n d securely v i r t u o u s " ( D e S e l i n c o u r t
1 9 6 9 : 1 4 6 ; 1 5 0 ) . T h i s captures w h a t M c G a n n takes W o r d s w o r t h ' s p o e t r y
t o exemplify a n d articulates s o m e o f o u r culture's m o s t d e e p l y e n t r e n c h e d
ideas a b o u t w h a t i m a g i n a t i v e literature is a n d is s u p p o s e d to d o : c o n s o l e in
t i m e s o f distress, a d d s u n s h i n e o n a rainy day, a n d p r o v i d e a m e a n s t o
cultivate the faculties o f seeing, t h i n k i n g , a n d feeling to realise o u r full
human
potential.
In t h e Preface to the Lyrical
Ballads,
Wordsworth
similarly writes:
85
Reading Wordsworth after M c G a n n
Poetry is rhe breath and finer spirit o f all knowledge
[The poet]
is the rock of defence of human nature; an upholder and preserver,
carrying everywhere with him relationship and love. In spite of
difference o f soil and climate, of language and manners, of laws
and customs, the poet binds together by passion and knowledge
the vasr empire of human society, as it is spread over the whole
earth, and over all time. (Gill: 606)
As
Raymond
Williams
points
out,
for
Wordsworth
poetry
ideally
e m b o d i e s a n d transmits to the reader "certain h u m a n values, capacities,
energies,
which
the
development
of
society
towards
an
industrial
civilisation w a s felt to b e threatening or even d e s t r o y i n g " ( 3 6 ) . I n d e e d ,
especially
in
Wordsworth's
the
nineteenth
but
also
in
the
twentieth
century,
p o e t r y was often v a l u e d for its t h e r a p e u t i c effects,
its
c a p a c i t y to function as a refuge, a n t i d o t e a n d s o u r c e o f h u m a n e value in
an
increasingly
urbanised,
industrialised,
capitalised,
and
ultimately
g o d l e s s m o d e r n w o r l d o f science a n d c o l d calculation.
A few lines f r o m K e a t s can b e taken to s u m u p the R o m a n t i c idea o f
poetry's h u m a n i s i n g agency. In o n e o f his last p o e m s , t h e
unfinished
m e d i t a t i o n o n the sources o f artistic inspiration a n d creation as well as the
role o f the p o e t in the m o d e r n w o r l d , t h e The Fall of Hyperion
fragment
c o m p o s e d in t h e s u m m e r o f 1 8 1 9 , K e a t s asks:
' . . . sure not all
Those melodies sung into the world's ear
Are useless: sure a poet is a sage,
A humanist, physician to all men [?]' (Barnard: 440,11. 187-90)
O n e o f the contexts necessary for u n d e r s t a n d i n g Keats's desire to k n o w
whether poetry is "useless" is the philosophical m o v e m e n t o f utilitarianism,
w h i c h h a d its origins in late seventeenth century Britain a n d received its
classical f o r m u l a t i o n s in the w o r k o f J e r e m y B e n t h a m . As M . H . A b r a m s
p o i n t s o u t , the utilitarian thinkers " a t t a c k e d poetry for b e i n g an o u t m o d e d
luxury trade, or a functionless vestige o f a primitive mentality" ( 3 2 6 ) . In the
face o f a m a t e r i a l - m i n d e d public that e s p o u s e d such ideas a b o u t poetry, the
R o m a n t i c s invested their poetry with absolute value b y p r o m o t i n g it as the
h u m a n e a g e n t for secular r e d e m p t i o n , s o m e t h i n g all h u m a n s need for their
e m o t i o n a l a n d mental well-being. T h u s Shelley claimed, in response to
T h o m a s L o v e Peacock's utilitarian theory o f poetry in " T h e F o u r A g e s o f
86
Peter Simonsen
Poetry", that " P o e t r y is . . .
s o m e t h i n g divine"
a n d that p o e t s are the
" u n a c k n o w l e d g e d legislators o f the w o r l d " .
A f a m o u s i n c i d e n t f r o m t h e p e r i o d relates h o w J o h n S t u a r t M i l l was
s a v e d f r o m a state o f d e p r e s s i o n a n d m e n t a l b r e a k d o w n
Wordsworth's
poetry
in
1828.
Mill
famously
describes
by
reading
this
in his
Autobiography
( 1 8 7 3 ) in t e r m s o f a quasi-religious c o n v e r s i o n experience.
M i l l h a d b e e n e n g a g e d in t h e utilitarian p r o j e c t o f r e f o r m i n g a n d
i m p r o v i n g society a n d its institutions in order to increase the material
well-being a n d therefore the h a p p i n e s s o f the largest p o s s i b l e n u m b e r o f
h u m a n s . " B u t t h e t i m e c a m e w h e n I [awoke] f r o m this as f r o m a d r e a m " ,
M i l l recognises, a n d c o n t i n u e s :
It was in the autumn of 1826. I was in a dull state o f nerves ...
unsusceptible to enjoyment or pleasurable excitement... In this
frame of mind it occurred to me to put the question ditectly to
myself: 'Suppose that all your objects in life were realised; that all
the changes in institutions and opinions which you are looking
forward to could be completely effected at this very insrant: would
this be a great joy and happiness to you?' A n d an irrepressible selfconsciousness disrinctly answered 'No!' At this my heart sank
within me: the whole foundation upon which my life was
constructed fell down. All my happiness was to have been found in
the continual pursuit of this end. T h e end had ceased to charm,
and how could there ever again be any interest in the means? I
seemed to have nothing left to live for. (Srillinger: 80-81)
Yet, h a v i n g reached this l o w p o i n t , M i l l discovers W o r d s w o r t h ' s poetry:
This [depressed] state of my thoughts and feelings made the fact of
my reading Wordsworth for the firsr time (in the autumn of 1828),
an imporrant event in my life
What made Wordsworth's poems
a medicine for my state of mind, was that they expressed, nor mere
outward beauty, but states o f feeling, and of thought coloured by
feeling, under the excitement o f beauty. They seemed to be the
very culture of the feelings, which I was in quest of. In them I
seemed to draw from a source o f inward joy, o f sympathetic and
imaginative pleasure.... I needed to be made to feel that there was
real, permanent happiness in tranquil contemplation. Wordsworth
taught me this. (88)
M i l l ' s u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f W o r d s w o r t h ' s p o w e r to give m e n t a l relief w a s
p r e f i g u r e d b y W o r d s w o r t h h i m s e l f in the m o v e m e n t s o f his m a j o r p o e m s .
A s M i l l p u t s it with reference to the I m m o r t a l i t y O d e , " I f o u n d
that
87
Reading Wordsworth after M c G a n n
[ W o r d s w o r t h ] h i m s e l f h a d h a d similar experience to m i n e ; that h e also
h a d felt t h a t the first freshness o f youthful e n j o y m e n t o f life w a s n o t
lasting; b u t that h e h a d s o u g h t for c o m p e n s a t i o n , a n d h a d f o u n d i t " ( 8 9 ) .
Mill
found
relief
from
his
depression
through
reading
the
I m m o r t a l i t y O d e a n d f r o m r e c o g n i s i n g that W o r d s w o r t h h a d experienced
a similar crisis, b u t h a d f o u n d relief f r o m it a n d r e g a i n e d his strength. T h e
k i n d o f h o p e invested b y W o r d s w o r t h in the c o n s o l a t o r y a n d h u m a n i s i n g
p o w e r o f his poetry w o u l d s e e m to have been realised b y M i l l w h e n h e
r e a d W o r d s w o r t h in 1 8 2 8 at a t i m e w h e n R o m a n t i c ideas a b o u t p o e t r y
a n d the a g g r a n d i s e m e n t o f art as r e d e m p t i v e were b e i n g d i s s e m i n a t e d in
a n d a d o p t e d b y the culture at large t h r o u g h s u c h r e a d i n g experiences as
M i l l ' s or that othet V i c t o r i a n sage, M a t t h e w A r n o l d , w h o in " E l e g i a c
Verses"
( 1 8 5 0 ) asked, " w h e r e will E u r o p e ' s latter h o u r / A g a i n
find
W o r d s w o r t h ' s healing p o w e r ? " ( B r y s o n : 1 8 8 ) .
Ill
It
should
now
be possible
to
see
more
clearly
the origins
of
the
u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f W o r d s w o r t h t h a t M c G a n n presents in " T h e Failures o f
R o m a n t i c i s m " a n d elsewhere: S t u a r t M i l l ' s is a m a j o r nineteenth-century
celebration o f w h a t M c G a n n calls R o m a n t i c i s m ' s " e l e g a n t c o m p e n s a t o r y
f o r m u l a s " . M o r e recently, H e l e n V e n d l e r , M i c h a e l O ' N e i l l a n d D u n c a n
W u h a v e reasserted the t r a n s c e n d e n t 'healing p o w e r ' o f W o r d s w o r t h ' s
I m m o r t a l i t y O d e . A c c o r d i n g to V e n d l e r , " A r n o l d was u n c a n n i l y a c c u r a t e
in s p e a k i n g o f W o r d s w o r t h ' s 'healing power': t h e O d e is self-therapeutic"
(78-9),
and
for
O'Neill,
the p o e m
is c o n c e r n e d
with the
"curative
properties o f e x p r e s s i o n " ( 4 8 ) . Likewise, in his investigation o f the extent
t o w h i c h " t h e force that exerted m o s t influence o n [ W o r d s w o r t h ' s ] p o e t i c
life w a s g r i e f ( 3 0 9 ) , D u n c a n W u m a i n t a i n s that W o r d s w o r t h in the O d e
h e l d that " g r i e f c o u l d b e t r a n s c e n d e d " a n d that this p o s i t i o n was in n e e d
o f " n o j u s t i f i c a t i o n " ( 2 0 2 ) , even as W u a d m i t s " a perceptible t e n d e n c y in
his p o e t r y t o w a r d s s c e p t i c i s m " ( 3 0 9 ) .
Yet, this u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f the I m m o r t a l i t y O d e is p r e m i s e d o n a
b l i n d n e s s vis-ä-vis
certain m o m e n t s o f negativity that pull in t h e other
d i r e c t i o n . A n u m b e r o f critics h a v e p o i n t e d to the w a y s in w h i c h the O d e
u n d e r m i n e s its o w n affirmations. In o n e o f the fullest e x a m i n a t i o n s o f the
O d e , Jeffrey C . R o b i n s o n describes a ' c l a s s r o o m e x p e r i m e n t ' o f s p e n d i n g
a n entire semester reading the w o r k . T h r o u g h close textual analysis that
emphasised
88
the p o e m ' s
' q u e s t i o n i n g s ' a n d b y m e a n s o f a variety
of
Peter Simonsen
c o n t e x t u a l p l a c e m e n t s as well as attention to the stages o f c o m p o s i t i o n a n d
revision, R o b i n s o n ' s s t u d e n t s were led to revise their initial sense
of
"Wordsworth's
in
generally c o n s o l i n g i n t e n t i o n "
to b e c o m e
"tangled
W o r d s w o r t h ' s o w n c o n f u s i o n s o f loss a n d g a i n " ( 6 3 ) . A l s o r e s p o n d i n g to
t h e c o m p l e x i t i e s o f t h e p o e m ' s ' q u e s t i o n i n g s ' o f its o w n certainties, Peter
M a n n i n g has s h o w n h o w it " e x p l o i t s t h e r e s o n a n c e o f C h r i s t i a n
faith
w i t h o u t c o m m i t t i n g itself to belief, to t h e c o n v i c t i o n that w o u l d lessen its
h u m a n u n c e r t a i n t y " ( 8 0 ) , a n d , m o r e recently, F r e d H o e r n e r has a r g u e d
t h a t in the O d e the " l o s s that breaks the heart rekindles a dialectic o f
j o i n i n g a n d q u e s t i o n i n g , p r e s e n c e a n d a b s e n c e " rather t h a n a "retreat a w a y
f r o m suffering a n d into c o n s o l a t i o n " ( 6 5 6 ) . It is with reference to these
a n d other m o r e full explications o f t h e negative thrusts in O d e that I focus
in the f o l l o w i n g o n o n e u n s e t t l i n g m o m e n t o f negativity in t h e p o e m .
T h e first three stanzas o f the p o e m t h a t c u r e d M i l l ' s
depression
c a p t u r e the total m o v e m e n t o f the p o e m , a full r e a d i n g o f w h i c h can o n l y
b e s k e t c h e d here:
There was a time when meadow, grove, and stream,
T h e earth, and every c o m m o n sight,
T o me did seem
Apparelled in celestial light,
T h e glory and the freshness of a dream.
It is not now as it hath been of yore;—T u r n wheresoe'er I may,
By night or day,
T h e things which I have seen I now can see no more.
T h e Rainbow comes and goes,
And lovely is the Rose,
T h e M o o n doth with delight
L o o k round her when the heavens are bare;
Waters on a starry night
Are beautiful and fair;
T h e sunshine is a glorious birth;
But yet I know, where'er I go,
That there hath past away a glory from the earth.
N o w , while the Birds thus sing a joyous song,
And while the young Lambs bound
As to the tabor's sound,
T o me alone there came a thought of grief:
89
Reading Wordsworth after M c G a n n
A timely utterance gave that thought relief,
And I again am strong.
T h e Cataracts blow their trumpets from the steep,
N o more shall grief o f mine rhe season wrong;
I hear the Echoes through the mountains throng,
T h e Winds come to me from rhe fields of sleep,
And all the earth is gay,
Land and sea
Give themselves up to jollity,
And with the heart of M a y
Doth every Beast keep holiday,
T h o u Child of Joy
Shout round me, let me hear thy shouts, thou happy Shepherdboy!
A
three-step dialectic o f r e m e m b e r e d joy, its loss, a n d its
subsequent
retrieval is b e i n g articulated. T h e m o v e m e n t begins b y recalling a state o f
plenitude a n d j o y experienced in c h i l d h o o d ( " T h e glory a n d the freshness o f
a d r e a m " ) . B u t this plenitude is registered as past a n d lost ("there h a t h past
a w a y a glory from the earth"). T h i s loss leads t o , yet is n o t presented as the
direct cause of, the speaker's t h o u g h t o f " g r i e f , which m a r k s the climax o f
the speaker's crisis ( " T o m e alone there c a m e a t h o u g h t o f g r i e f ) . In the
final m o v e m e n t strength is regained despite irretrievable loss, grief
finds
relief, a n d the crisis is o v e r c o m e . T h e poet, as Mill p u t s it, has " s o u g h t for
c o m p e n s a t i o n , a n d [has] f o u n d it". T h e m e a n s to o v e r c o m e the crisis, m o s t
readers recognise, is poetic utterance ("timely utterance"). T h i s utterance
yields " E c h o e s " that signal a re-established positive correspondence between
the subject a n d the object which counters the negative state o f b e i n g isolated
in thought; " N o m o r e shall grief o f m i n e the season w r o n g ; / I hear the
E c h o e s t h r o u g h the m o u n t a i n s t h r o n g " .
Poetic utterance is w h a t finally allows the speaker to feel a n d sense
t h a t "all the earth is g a y " a n d to participate, a l t h o u g h vicariously, in this
rejuvenated life. T h i s m o v e m e n t captures t h e larger a n d h i g h l y c o m p l e x
m o v e m e n t o f the p o e m f r o m loss t o w a r d the possibility o f c o m p e n s a t i o n .
T o w a r d s the e n d o f the p o e m , in lines a l l u d e d to b y M c G a n n in " T h e
Failures
of
Romanticism",
Wordsworth
acknowledges
his
loss,
but
presents the t h o u g h t s o f suffering, w h i c h are e v o k e d b y loss, as a d e q u a t e
r e c o m p e n s e for w h a t is lost:
Though norhing can bring back the hour
O f splendour in the grass, o f glory in the flower;
90
Peter Simonsen
W e will grieve not, rather find
Strength in what remains behind;
In the primal sympathy
Which having been must ever be,
In the soothing thoughts that spring
O u t of human suffering;
In rhe faith that looks through death,
In years that bring the philosophic mind. (Gill: 302,11. 180-189)
T h i s affirmative s t a t e m e n t that c o m p e n s a t o r y " s t r e n g t h " c a n " s p r i n g " o u t
o f " s o o t h i n g t h o u g h t s " o f " s u f f e r i n g " (the formal r h y m e spring/suffering
w h i c h is u n d e r s c o r e d b y e n j a m b m e n t a l m o s t enacts t h e s e m a n t i c m e s s a g e
to s u g g e s t b o t h the sense o f 'to o r i g i n a t e o u t ' o f a n d 'to escape f r o m '
suffering) m a y b e r e a d in the light o f w h a t w a s said earlier in stanza three,
in particular in these lines:
T o me alone rhere came a thought of grief:
A timely utterance gave that thought relief,
And I again am strong.
In t h e s a m e m o m e n t that the t h o u g h t o f g r i e f is n o t e d , W o r d s w o r t h g o e s
o n t o state that h e h a s f o u n d relief a n d r e g a i n e d his strength t h r o u g h w h a t
h e calls " t i m e l y u t t e r a n c e " .
" I a g a i n a m s t r o n g " s e e m s an u n n a t u r a l w o r d o r d e r c o m p a r e d t o the
m o r e straightforward
'I a m s t r o n g a g a i n ' . T h e inversion o f the
more
s t r a i g h t f o r w a r d w o r d o r d e r m a y b e e x p l a i n e d b y the n e e d to find a r h y m e w o r d t o c h i m e w i t h the stanza's first r h y m e - w o r d , ' s o n g ' . T h e fact that
' s o n g ' a n d ' s t r o n g ' r h y m e indicates that uttering this r h y m e d s o n g is w h a t
makes Wordsworth
strong. I n
The
Verbal
Icon,
W i l l i a m K.
Wimsatt
p o i n t s o u t t h a t r h y m e s " i m p o s e u p o n the logical p a t t e r n o f expressed
a r g u m e n t a k i n d o f fixative c o u n t e r p a t t e r n o f alogical i m p l i c a t i o n " ( 1 5 3 ) .
And
as
Roman
Jakobson
explains,
"Rhyme
necessarily
involves
the
s e m a n t i c relationship between r h y m i n g u n i t s . . . . W h a t e v e r t h e relation
b e t w e e n s o u n d a n d m e a n i n g in different r h y m e t e c h n i q u e s , b o t h spheres
are necessarily i n v o l v e d " ( 4 5 - 6 ) . T h u s , M i c h a e l O ' N e i l l c o n c l u d e s a b o u t
these textual m o v e m e n t s in W o r d s w o r t h ' s p o e m , " T h e r h y m e
kept
apart for five lines, s u g g e s t s that strength lies in s o n g , a n d W o r d s w o r t h ' s
' t i m e l y u t t e r a n c e ' s u g g e s t s the curative properties o f e x p r e s s i o n " ( 4 8 ) . T h e
r h y m e s o n grief/relief a n d spring/suffering a c c o m p l i s h the s a m e thing:
91
Reading Wordsworth after M c G a n n
g i v i n g r h y t h m i c utterance to s o m e t h i n g painful is a w a y towards relieving
t h e m i n d a n d o v e r c o m i n g crisis. T h e s o n g m a k e s the speaker strong, gives
relief f r o m grief. T h e m a k i n g or uttering o f the p o e m c o m p e n s a t e s for the
losses it is a b o u t . In essence, this is w h a t the p o e m is a b o u t for J o h n S t u a r t
M i l l , H e l e n V e n d l e r , J e r o m e M c G a n n a n d M i c h a e l O ' N e i l l , d e s p i t e their
significant
should
ideological
not
take
understanding
of
and
leave
it
as
methodological
of
the
poem
simultaneously
differences.
carrying
only
asserting
However,
an
and
we
affirmative
affirming
a
" t h e r a p e u t i c s u c c e s s " (Vendler: 7 9 ) t h r o u g h " t h e curative properties o f
e x p r e s s i o n " exemplified a n d i n s t a n c e d b y the m a g i c o f r h y m e .
I f w h a t has been said c o n c e r n i n g the i m p o r t a n c e o f the r h y m e o f
'strong' a n d ' s o n g ' a n d 'grief a n d 'relief is g r a n t e d , w h a t are w e to m a k e
o f the fact, w h i c h O ' N e i l l a n d all other readers o f the O d e neglect to
m e n t i o n , that ' s o n g ' a n d 'strong' also r h y m e with 'wrong'? Is this the
p o e m ' s s u b t l y 'alogical' ( W i m s a t t ) w a y o f i m p l y i n g t h a t its overt assertions
o f " t h e curative properties o f e x p r e s s i o n " m a y b e 'wrong'? T h a t it is
s o m e h o w ' w r o n g ' to search for c o n s o l a t i o n , relief, a n d strength in p o e t i c
utterance? Is the s o n g in other w o r d s saying that it is w r o n g to seek
c o m p e n s a t i o n in " t h o u g h t s that s p r i n g / O u t o f h u m a n suffering"? O n a
straightforward r e a d i n g the line " N o m o r e shall g r i e f o f m i n e the s e a s o n
w r o n g " c o u l d n o t be clearer in its rejection o f despair. Yet the r h y m e
nonetheless i m p a r t s e n o u g h o f a q u e s t i o n i n g n o t e o f s c e p t i c i s m i n t o this
resolute affirmation to s u g g e s t that even as the p o e m is s a y i n g o n e t h i n g in
a n affirmative m o d e it is d o i n g a n o t h e r thing in a negative m o d e .
D e s p i t e t h e fact that it relates to the F r e n c h context, w h i c h was never
exactly parallel to the E n g l i s h w h e n it c o m e s to the force o f N e o c l a s s i c a l
doctrines o f d e c o r u m a n d p o s i t i o n s o n r h y m e (because the E n g l i s h h a d to
take account
of a
native b l a n k verse tradition
much
stronger
than
anywhere o n the c o n t i n e n t ) , the following m a y b e read as an a c c o u n t o f
the a p p a r e n t l y irrational a n d inexplicable use o f r h y m e in the O d e :
In upholding the essentially Cattesian view that Truth expressed
irself as clear and distinct ideas, neoclassical French theorists o f
poetic language, of whom Boileau is rhe best known,
recommended the suppression or, at least, the strict control o f
language's more irrational potentialities. O n e of the chief problems
here was deciding on the function and status of rhyme. Rhyme was
a necessary feature of regular French verse: it provided essential
phonetic reinforcemenr to the verse line and guaranteed formal
unity. But at the same time rhyme was, from a semantic point of
92
Peter Simonsen
view, potentially a subversive agent. If not strictly disciplined, it
could neglect its duty as an element in a logically structured
discourse and assert itself as a feature in its own right, establishing
through phonetic similarity with other words (rhyme or otherwise),
an oblique or irrational connection which might run counter to the
proposition of which it was, in theory, part.... With the
Romantics, words were permitted to regain some of their opacify
which had been refined out o f them by the demands of rational
discourse in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. (Scott: 15)
T o t r a n s p o s e these insights to the E n g l i s h c o n t e x t , reference m i g h t b e
m a d e to J o h n D r y d e n ' s Essay on Dramatic
Poesy ( 1 6 6 8 ) . B e f o r e t h e essay's
truly significant d i s c u s s i o n o f t h e use a n d relative merits o f r h y m e a n d
b l a n k verse in d r a m a , D r y d e n s u m s u p received w i s d o m c o n c e r n i n g " t h e
sweetness o f E n g l i s h v e r s e " . T h i s , h e says,
is improved by the happiness o f some writers yet living; who first
taught us to mould our thoughts into easy and significant words,—
and to retrench superfluities o f expression,—and to make our rime
so properly a part of the verse, rhat it should never mislead rhe
sense, but itself be led and governed by it. (Arnold: 16)
D r y d e n here recognises, even as he resists, the potential o f r h y m e to
m i s l e a d the sense, to u n d e r m i n e the logic o f sense m a k i n g . C o n s i d e r i n g
t h e influence o f the Essay o n s u b s e q u e n t E n g l i s h literature a n d taste, this
s t a t e m e n t n o t o n l y reflects received w i s d o m c o n c e r n i n g the relation o f
r h y m e to sense, it certainly generates t h e idea t h a t t h e t w o are, as P o p e was
later to p u t it, to e c h o o n e a n o t h e r with sense or 'reason' b e i n g the s o u r c e ,
and
rhyme
or
'language'
being
the
faithful,
mimetic
echo.
This
c o r r e s p o n d s to t h e N e o c l a s s i c a l i d e a that l a n g u a g e is a dress for t h o u g h t ,
s o m e t h i n g w h i c h fits m o r e or less a d e q u a t e l y , b u t w h i c h is u l t i m a t e l y a
m e r e o r n a m e n t to the sense a n d n o t , as the R o m a n t i c s will c o m e to
believe, s o m e t h i n g that e m b o d i e s t h o u g h t , a n d crucially, s o m e t h i n g w h i c h
n e e d n o t always m a k e sense in the s a m e w a y P o p e desires. A s P o p e writes
t o i n t r o d u c e d Essay on Criticism
(1711),
'Tis hard to say, if greater Want of Skill
Appear in Writing or in Judging ill;
Bur, o f the two, less dang'rous is th' Offence,
T o tire our Patience, than mis-lead our Sense. (Audra and Williams:
239,11. 1-4)
93
Reading Wordsworth after M c G a n n
O n e w a y o f k e e p i n g " W r i t i n g " f r o m " m i s - l e a d [ i n g ] o u r S e n s e " , a n d thus
o f c o n t r o l l i n g the a u t o n o m o u s force o f l a n g u a g e while still retaining
r h y m e , is to p r o m o t e a n d use closed couplets. In c o u p l e t s the distance
between r h y m e - w o r d s a n d thus l a n g u a g e ' s potential to p r o d u c e aberrant
m e a n i n g s is k e p t to a n a b s o l u t e m i n i m u m to m e e t the P o p e a n
" T h e Sound
dictum:
m u s t s e e m an Eccho to the Sense" ( A u d r a a n d W i l l i a m s : 2 8 1 ,
1. 3 6 5 ) .
R o m a n t i c i s m ' s resistance to a n d d e p a r t u r e f r o m the closed c o u p l e t
m a y b e a d e p a r t u r e f r o m the desire to control t h e potential o f r h y m e to
p r o d u c e ' u n i n t e n d e d ' m e a n i n g s a n d a m o v e to liberate w h a t D a v i d S c o t t
calls " l a n g u a g e ' s m o r e irrational potentialities". I n other w o r d s , it m a y b e
said that there is a p a r a d o x i c a l intent to p r o d u c e u n i n t e n d e d m e a n i n g s to
b e located in certain R o m a n t i c p o e m s s u c h as t h e O d e rather than w h a t
McGann
postulates
when
he
accounts
for
Wordsworth's
few
"best
m o m e n t s " w h e n the p o e t r y betrays its " c o n s c i o u s c o m m i t m e n t s "
and
a p p a r e n t l y says m o r e t h a n it m e a n s .
If
only
we
knew
what
Wordsworth's
thoughts,
intentions,
c o m m i t m e n t s were w h e n h e a l l o w e d his l a n g u a g e to i n d u l g e in s u c h
a p p a r e n t l y c o n t r a d i c t o r y a n d mind-bafflingly irrational rhymes! T h e n w e
m i g h t h a v e said with M c G a n n that the r h y m e o f s o n g a n d w r o n g is a n
u n i n t e n t i o n a l accident o f l a n g u a g e a n d n o t s o m e t h i n g w e s h o u l d take as
essentially W o r d s w o r t h i a n . B u t w e d o n o t k n o w w h y h e m a d e that fatal
r h y m e . I n d e e d , the o d d s are that these r h y m e s are far f r o m accidental. In
his diary, T h o m a s M o o r e p a r a p h r a s e s W o r d s w o r t h ' s c o n v e r s a t i o n o n the
relative merits
o f English
s t r u g g l i n g with w o r d s o n e
and
Italian with
regard
to
rhyming:
[is] led to give birth to a n d dwell
"In
upon
t h o u g h t s , while, o n the contrary, an easy a n d mellifluous l a n g u a g e [like
Italian is] a p t to t e m p t , b y its facility, into negligence, a n d to lead the p o e t
to s u b s t i t u t e m u s i c for t h o u g h t " ( O ' D o n n e l l : 4 1 - 2 ) . In t h e s a m e place,
M o o r e reports W o r d s w o r t h s p e a k i n g o f " t h e i m m e n s e t i m e it t o o k h i m to
write even the shortest c o p y o f v e r s e s , — s o m e t i m e s w h o l e weeks e m p l o y e d
in s h a p i n g two or three lines, before he can satisfy h i m s e l f w i t h their
s t r u c t u r e " ( O ' D o n n e l l : 2 5 6 n 3 5 ) . Surely W o r d s w o r t h was c o n s c i o u s a n d
c o m m i t t e d w h e n he utilised the irrational p o w e r s o f l a n g u a g e in r h y m i n g
s o n g , strong, a n d w r o n g in the O d e . Yet whether or n o t the r h y m e is
finally seen as a n accident, it is there o n the o p e n p a g e , a n d
thus
s u s c e p t i b l e to b e i n g interpreted as a n u n t i m e l y sign o f the p o e m ' s o w n
subversion
o f the
naively affirmative
m e d i c i n e for a d e p r e s s e d state o f m i n d .
94
understanding
o f it as
merely
Peter Simonsen
T h e d o u b l e pull o f the l a n g u a g e o f the O d e c a n b e u n d e r s t o o d in
t e r m s o f a distinction b e t w e e n R o m a n t i c ' i d e o l o g y ' a n d R o m a n t i c 'work',
w h i c h M c G a n n i n t r o d u c e s in Romantic
Ideology. " T h e g r a n d illusion o f
R o m a n t i c ideology is that o n e m a y e s c a p e . . . a w o r l d [in w h i c h , as Shelley
writes in t h e Defence,
' m a n , h a v i n g enslaved t h e e l e m e n t s , r e m a i n s h i m s e l f
a slave'] t h r o u g h i m a g i n a t i o n a n d poetry. T h e great t r u t h o f R o m a n t i c
work is that there is n o e s c a p e , t h a t there is o n l y revelation (in a w h o l l y
secular s e n s e ) " ( 1 3 1 ) . T h e p r e s e n c e o f a certain negativity at t h e c o r e o f
t h e l a n g u a g e o f w h a t h a s b e e n read as o n e o f the m o s t affirmative p o e m s
by Wordsworth
suggests
that w e s h o u l d
not
uncritically repeat
the
t h e r a p e u t i c r e a d i n g o f W o r d s w o r t h . T h i s m o m e n t o f negativity in t h e
Ode
resonates
Romantic
with
poetry's
McGann's
"greatest
Ideology
of
o f artistic s u c c e s s " , w h i c h ,
he
description
moments
in
Romantic
c o n t i n u e s , "are a l m o s t always associated w i t h loss, failure, a n d d e f e a t — i n
particular
the losses w h i c h
strike m o s t
closely to t h o s e Ideals
(and
I d e o l o g i e s ) cherished b y the p o e t s in their w o r k s " ( 1 3 2 ) . Y e t M c G a n n
insists o n p r o b l e m a t i s i n g t h e idea that t h e greatness o f R o m a n t i c p o e t r y is
c o n n e c t e d w i t h its c a p a c i t y to lead to an a u t h e n t i c critique o f its o w n
d o m i n a n t ideology. H e writes that R o m a n t i c poetry's "greatest m o m e n t s
usually o c c u r w h e n it p u r s u e s its last a n d final illusion: that it c a n e x p o s e
or even that it has u n c o v e r e d its illusions a n d false c o n s c i o u s n e s s , that it
h a s finally arrived at t h e T r u t h " . T h i s is essentially w h a t the O d e has b e e n
t a k e n to achieve in t h e k e y - r h y m e dwelled u p o n a b o v e . Yet,
McGann
c o n t i n u e s as h e turns the tables u p o n s u c h a n a r g u m e n t : " T h e n e e d to
believe in s u c h a n a c h i e v e m e n t , either i m m e d i a t e or eventual, is d e e p l y
R o m a n t i c ( a n d therefore illusive) b e c a u s e it locates the g o a l o f h u m a n
p u r s u i t s , n e e d s , a n d desires in Ideal s p a c e " ( 1 3 4 ) . H o w e v e r , n o t h i n g s e e m s
further r e m o v e d f r o m the truth t h a n this c o n f u s i o n
o f real,
material
textual space, the s p a c e o f the p o e t i c work, w i t h an Ideal s p a c e , the s p a c e
of
Romantic
Ideology.
Wordsworth's
implied
critique
of
the
c o m p e n s a t o r y potential o f p o e t i c l a n g u a g e m a y n o t qualify as t h e T r u t h ,
b u t it is certainly n o t a critique that h a p p e n s in a n Ideal a n d therefore
illusory s p a c e , it h a p p e n s right before o u r eyes.
W o r d s w o r t h is n o t s i m p l y the affirmative p o e t M c G a n n t u r n s h i m
i n t o , n o r is h e the o p p o s i t e . H e is b o t h a n d in a sense neither. T h i s d u a l i t y
is reflected in W o r d s w o r t h ' s f u n d a m e n t a l a m b i v a l e n c e r e g a r d i n g t h e force
o f p o e t i c l a n g u a g e . In o n e o f the Essays
upon Epitaphs
f r o m 1 8 1 0 , for
i n s t a n c e , W o r d s w o r t h f a m o u s l y presents w o r d s as in p o s s e s s i o n o f a p o w e r
to give or to take a w a y life:
95
Reading Wordsworth after M c G a n n
If words be nor . . . an incarnation of the thought but only a
clothing for it, then surely will rhey prove an ill gift [which has] the
power to consume and to alienate [the reader] from his right mind.
Language, if it do[es] not uphold, and feed, and leave in quiet, like
the power o f gravitation or the air we breathe, is a counter-spirit,
unremittingly and noiselessly at work to derange, to subvert, to lay
waste, to vitiate, and to dissolve. (Owen and Smyser: III, 84-5)
L i k e w i s e , in a letter f r o m 1 8 2 9 he writes, " w o r d s are n o t a m e r e vehicle,
b u t they are powers
either to kill or to a n i m a t e " ( D e S e l i n c o u r t
1 8 5 ) . A s he p u t s it in B o o k F i v e o f The Prelude
1979:
(1805),
.... Visionary power
Attends upon the motions o f the winds
Embodied in the mystery of words;
There darkness makes abode, and all the host
O f shadowy things do work their changes there,
As in a mansion like rheir proper home;
Even forms and substances ate circumfused
By that transparent veil with light divine;
And through the turnings intricate of Verse,
Present themselves as objects recognised,
In flashes, and wirh a glory scarce their own. (Gill: 450,11. 619629)
W o r d s are a m y s t e r y partly b e c a u s e they are at o n c e the loci o f d a r k n e s s
a n d s h a d o w s a n d the m e d i a o f divine e n l i g h t e n m e n t a n d
momentary
insights. W o r d s w o r t h c o n t a i n s a n d e n c o m p a s s e s , in a radically u n s t a b l e
c o n j u n c t i o n , b o t h w h a t M c G a n n identifies as the sentimental-materialist
strain in R o m a n t i c p e r i o d writing, a n d the o p p o s i t e ,
more
transcendentalist
understood
strain
o f what
is m o r e
traditionally
idealistas
R o m a n t i c i s m . T h e interplay a n d tension between these surely n e e d s to b e
c o n s i d e r e d i f w e are to a c c o u n t for the full force o f his w o r k .
From
the F r e u d i a n
perspective
of my
epigraph
we know
m i s t a k e s , slips a n d errors are never j u s t that. T h e y are
that
tremendously
i m p o r t a n t details that o p e n a l m o s t limitless possibilities for interpretation.
A s F r e u d w a r n s , "let us n o t under-value small signs: p e r h a p s f r o m t h e m it
m a y b e p o s s i b l e to c o m e u p o n the tracks o f greater t h i n g s " . W o r d s w o r t h ' s
r h y m e s are s u c h " s m a l l s i g n s " that m a y l e a d to "greater t h i n g s " s u c h as the
n a t u r e a n d v a l u e o f R o m a n t i c poetry, a n d to the c l a i m that in o r d e r to
r e a d the O d e in the right m a n n e r — a n d n o t o n l y this p o e m , b u t a n y
96
Peter Simonsen
Romantic poem—a
c o n s t a n t awareness o f the d u p l i c i t y o f l a n g u a g e ,
l a n g u a g e as b o t h , at o n c e , a n i m a t i n g a n d killing, m e d i c i n e a n d p o i s o n ,
m u s t b e p r e s e n t in the m i n d o f the reader. In W o r d s w o r t h
R o m a n t i c poetry, every affirmation
of "abundant recompence"
and
in
carries
w i t h i n itself the seeds o f its o w n u n d o i n g in the s h a p e o f a sceptical a n d
hesitant "I w o u l d believe".
University
of Southern
Denmark
97
Reading Wordsworth after M c G a n n
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