Unlike...previous poems [read in this course] "Reverie" is pastoral in nature and simply recounts the state in which the poet gathers his or her best inspiration: during the quiet and peaceful night....The poem's thorough description of the nighttime scene as well as its use of simple language...herald in the beginning of the Romantic age in a way that none of the other poetry...has done yet.
Dustin elaborates on Liz's point:
She invokes imagery of horses, owls, sheep, and curlews....Finch's addition of these woodland critters breathe a quaint vivacity into her simple pastoral language. Although her structure is neither floral nor Latinate, the presence of wildlife animates her words. I almost imagined this poem being the inspiration for some of the expository scenes in Walt Disney's Bambi.
Her language is incredibly sensually appealing, for as Finch speaks of "the torn up forage in his teeth," the reader can literally hear this beautiful beast consuming the delicate night. A parallel position is created where we become one with these animals, immersed into this reverie. We consume alongside the creatures and take in the scene until "a sedate content the spirit feels."
It is often said of C18 poetry that it is difficult to read because all our habits and expectations of reading poetry date from the Romantic era; our post-Romantic assumptions make pre-Romantic poetry seem less appealing or powerful to us.
If Liz and Dustin are right, then is the enduring power of "Nocturnal Reverie" simply quirks of Finch's style and subject matter that lock onto our post-Romantic assumptions about what "good" poetry does and sounds like? Or does "Nocturnal Reverie" function both as a "good" C18 poem (as you are beginning to understand that concept) and as a "good" poem in post-Romantic terms?
Offer your thoughts, informed opinions, reflections here.
Deadline: Monday (2/16), noon.
1 comment:
We might not place a lot of importance on pre-Romantic literature because we've studied Romanticism and we know how great it is supposed to be. However, as the C18 is pre-Romantic, I think we should be reading "The Nocturnal Reverie" as a build up to the 'magic' of Romanticism. For example, the sensual sounds in this poem that Dustin refers to are also a popular trait of Romantic poets like Keats. However, because "Nocturnal Reverie" was written before the Romantic era started, it is easy to critique it using post-Romantic terms. With everything we've read so far, it seems like all the poems have an immediate thought they are conveying usually through the sense of satire or humor. "Nocturnal Reverie" is different in that like a Wordsworthian poem, it is a reflection on a subject and almost like a meditation on the night. "Nocturnal Reverie" is hard to compare to C18 poems because of the poems we've read, not one has been of the same depth.
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