Dorothy was born on Christmas Day, 1771 as the only daughter of Ann Cockson and William Wordsworth. She became a poet after a member of her family, William Wordsworth, wrote a poem about her. Unfortunately, after she began writing only five of the poems she wrote was published during her lifetime. I read "To My Niece Dorothy, a Sleepless Baby" and became very intrigued by her use of adjectives and adverbs in this an all of the other writings I read that was written by Dorthy. In this particular writing she wrote " The days are cold; the nights are long..." the usage of the vivid explanation in just this sentence paints a bright picture of the setting in this poem.
In each of the poems I read that was written by Dorothy, the descriptions were vivid from the green grass, blue skies, to the thundering mill, each of her poems were vividly written to paint an extravagant picture of what, when, and where of the poems were being explained.
When Dorothy talked about the setting of where the poem took place at she would describe the things around , the color of flowers, she leaves on trees, snow on the ground, cold winds, etc... she could paint the picture of when the poem was to have occurred. This may be in the blooming of the flowers in the spring or summer, to the cold winds of the winter or early spring.
Her where might be in an a mill, rolling meadow, etc... I believe that she describes this with video particularity as well.
For these reasons I prefer reading her poems, thus far. I believe that her writings have been the easiest to read and opens my mind up to what she is saying. As I previously said my favorite so far is " To My Niece Dorothy;a Sleepless Baby"
6 comments:
I agree that Dorothy Wordsworth did a fantastic job including a great deal of imagery in her journal entries. She obviously had a deep appreciation for nature; in fact, I think she probably had the kind of appreciation for nature that would be close to impossible to find today. People do not often take the time to look around and really enjoy the beauty of nature--all we seem to do today is rush around doing self-serving things. As I read her work, I wondered what Wordsworth's appreciation for nature said about her as a personality. I also questioned what she would say about the ways humans have destroyed some of the most beautiful aspects of nature in our world today...
Mike,
It was very thoughtful of you to provide a portrait of Dorothy Wordsworth for this post--the illustration adds a lot to make your blog visually appealing.
Good focus on a single poem by this poet, and some good observations about it. I must differ a bit with your enthusiastic opinion of the poem, though. When I read a line like "The days are cold, the nights are long" I don't see much particularity, but instead almost a cliche or a statement of the obvious. I guess I prefer Dorothy Wordsworth's journals, which I do think describe her world with "video particularity" (as you say).
I reaaly enjoyed reading Dorothy's work as well. Dorothy's keen attention to details and love for nature brings life to her journal entries, which makes her journal entries my favorite. As you have stated in your blog when she describes the things around her such as the color of flowers, the leaves on trees, snow on the ground, it gives you a vivid view of what she was explaining. This suggest that as individuals we need to stop and smell the roses and give thanks to God for the bounties that He has provided. One such example is nature itself.
I enjoyed reading Dorothy's works and I thought you did a very nice job of commenting on her work. I enjoyed her imagery and I thought it was a significant part of her works. It is clear through her work that she enjoys nature and spends a significant amount of time observing nature. I thought you did a great job explaining her appreciation for nature in your post.
I really enjoyed you entry about Dorothy Wordsworth. Her journals were loaded with beautiful and exquisite imagery. It takes great skill and patients to write about nature. I for one could not accomplish it, and I don’t particular like to read stories, or in this case journals that describe a scenery for pages on end. Wordsworth was different for me, it was the type of writing that takes you out of your element and appreciate the world around you. I agree with Karen in that the most beautiful aspects of nature are often destroyed by the human touch.
Mike,
I enjoyed reading Dorothy Wordsworth, too. Her appreciation for nature is so evident in all of her writings. I wrote in one of my blogs that takes personification of nature to another level. I almost feel as if I am there when she describes nature. Nice post.
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