PreIB POEM ANALYSIS

PreIB POEM ANALYSIS: TO MY SISTER BY WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

Before you read on, I would like to remind you that this was written in PreIB and I WOULD NOT recommend you approach a text in the same way I do here in later poem analyses in IB1 and IB2. However, I found that organising my notes in this way when analysing really helped me get a very basic understanding of the structure of the poem and the writer's possible underlying message.

I'd like to say, though, that I haven't included any notes really on the impact on the reader of the poem, which arguably is one of the most important parts of analysing a poem. However, for some type of knowledge about what type of analysis I started with and how I organised it, read on:

THE POEM ITSELF  TO MY SISTER BY WILLIAM WORDSWORTH
IT is the first mild day of March:
Each minute sweeter than before,
The Redbreast sings from the tall larch
That stands beside our door.
There is a blessing in the air,	5
Which seems a sense of joy to yield
To the bare trees, and mountains bare,
And grass in the green field.
My Sister! (’tis a wish of mine)
Now that our morning meal is done,	10
Make haste, your morning task resign;
Come forth and feel the sun.
Edward will come with you;—and pray,
Put on with speed your woodland dress;
And bring no book: for this one day	15
We’ll give to idleness.
No joyless forms shall regulate
Our living Calendar:
We from to-day, my friend, will date
The opening of the year.	20
Love, now a universal birth,
From heart to heart is stealing,
From earth to man, from man to earth,
—It is the hour of feeling.
One moment now may give us more	25
Than years of toiling reason:
Our minds shall drink at every pore
The spirit of the season.
Some silent laws our hearts will make,
Which they shall long obey:	30
We for the year to come may take
Our temper from to-day.
And from the blessed power that rolls
About, below, above,
We’ll frame the measure of our souls:	35
They shall be tuned to love.
Then come, my Sister! come I pray,
With speed put on your woodland dress;
—And bring no book: for this one day
We’ll give to idleness.	40

(pssst, if you don't know some of the words I mention below, don't worry, I've got you covered: click here for a comprehensive list of definitions you'll need when breaking down an analysis)

External structure: pastoral poem (glorification of country and religious life)

Rhyme structure: abab cdcd

Setting: country-side, religious household, first day of March, Spring time

Significance of setting:
- first day of Spring paired with religious upbringing=strong appreciation for rebirth and renewal in the world
- countryside allows for trees and mountains, surrounding nature to be fully appreciated

Tones:

• enthusiastic/eager
• optimistic
• appreciative
• compassionate
• celebratory

Approach to text:

• inclusive (constant usage of 'we' and 'us')
• what the world has to offer is for all people to appreciate
• connection between ie. 'earth and man' (stanza 6) and its comparison of 'heart to heart' when referring to 'love' has been written by the author to signify that feeling should not be limited to only people-to-people, but it should also be all-inclusive of those things on Earth that are inanimate
• inclusivity and connectedness between all things on Earth is experienced in the 'hour of feeling' (possibly universally experienced hour, similar to 'earth hour')
• Love owed to earth
• 'our minds shall drink at every pore/the spirit of the season' --> suggests that there is nature was previously unappreciated and now we should take advantage of this unappreciated force during the 'hour of feeling'
• Religious
• mentions 'to pray' twice, paired with 'and bring no book' (stanza 4 and 10 respectively)
• 'book' mentioned thus should refer to bible, signifying further the importance of the religious context
• repetition of stanza 4 at end pushes enthusiastic tone when summoning the sister to go outside
• mentioned unchanged 'idleness' in referencing 'bring no book'
• this 'idleness' could refer to a sense of laziness, perhaps the religious nature of their household is strict and overriding and thus observing nature without book in hand is considered lazy practice

1ST PARAGRAPH: religion, its restrictions

2ND PARAGRAPH: imagery, tone

3RD PARAGRAPH: love, inclusivity, love owed to earth, circle back to religious restrictions

MENTION TONE IN EACH PARAGRAPH

MENTION PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED POINT IN EACH PARAGRAPH

ROUGH THESIS: Through a religiously affiliated perspective, Wordsworth highlights -with the usage of imagery and a celebratory, compassionate tone- the beauty of nature and the inclusive disposition of universal love, of which is owed to life on Earth without restriction.

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