This week, we enjoyed an interesting talk by Dr Jessica Fay at the University of Cumbria, the final talk in the series for this academic year.
Dr Fay spoke about Dorothy Wordsworth and the Poetry of the Seasons. She is currently editing an edition (the first) of Dorothy Wordsworth's poetry. Dorothy Wordsworth's poems, in total she wrote approximately 30 poems, are all rooted in place and time, and were often circulated as tokens of affection to friends and family. In the words of Pamela Woof the most important thing about Dorothy was that "she was there and she looked about her". This is such a brilliant description of the diaryist and poet.
Dr Fay focussed on three of Dorothy Wordsworth's poems, all seasonal verse, representing Spring, Summer and Winter. The first poem she discussed was An Address to a Child in a High Wind (1805) (Winter); next was Lines Addressed to Joanna Hutchinson from Gwendovennant (Summer) and finally, Thoughts on my Sick-bed (1832) (Spring).
What way does the wind come? What way does he go?
He rides over the water, and over the snow,
Through wood, and through vale; and o’er rocky height,
Which the goat cannot climb, takes his sounding flight;
He tosses about in every bare tree,
As, if you look up, you plainly may see;
But how he will come, and whither he goes,
There’s never a scholar in England knows.
The analysis of these poems was interesting, personally I felt that Dr Fay over-analysed the poems, but it served to explore the importance of the seasons, place and the cycles of renewal in the natural world. Close analysis also revealed some of the similarities between Dorothy's poetry and Lyrical Ballads.
The three poems certainly show that Dorothy matured as a poet, and found a voice that is distintly her own. She clearly takes comfort from the changing seasons and has an affecting ability to understand emotions in a particular time. This reminded me of William Wordsworth's "spots of time".
A very interesting talk and an excellent finale to this year's Cultural Landscapes series.