To A Snowdrop By William Wordsworth

 

To A Snowdrop

By William Wordsworth

Lone Flower, hemmed in with snows and white as they
But hardier far, once more I see thee bend
Thy forehead, as if fearful to offend,
Like an unbidden guest. Though day by day,
Storms, sallying from the mountain-tops, waylayThe rising sun, and on the plains descend;
Yet art thou welcome, welcome as a friend
Whose zeal outruns his promise! Blue-eyed May
Shall soon behold this border thickly set
With bright jonquils, their odours lavishing
On the soft west-wind and his frolic peers;
Nor will I then thy modest grace forget,
Chaste Snowdrop, venturous harbinger of Spring,
And pensive monitor of fleeting years!

 

William Wordsworth

William Wordsworth is the founder of the Romantic Movement of English literature.  He is one of the most remarkable English Poet.  He is a poet of nature. He is known as Lakeland Poet because he lived in that area.  This place is full of beautiful landscapes, green pastures and numerous lakes.  He is called as nature poet.  For he focusses the relationship between the nature and the humans.  He became the Poet Laureate of England in 1843.  His lyrical Ballads are well
known in the literature world.  His “Slumber did my Spirit Seal is another successful work of William Wordsworth which brings out the Universal truth to the world.  He was a great poet and Poet Laureate from 1843 until his death from Pleurisy on 23 April 1850.

 

Sonnet

 A Sonnet is defined as arranged set of verse form of Italian origin.  It consists of 14 lines.  They are five-foot iambic and rhymes according to the pattern of the verse.

Characteristics of Sonnet

·         All sonnets have two main parts such as problem and solution, question and answer or proposition and reinterpretation. 

·         It contains 14 lines.

·         It could be separated into four sections.

·         The rhyme scheme of a Shakespearean sonnet is ABAB/CDCD/EFEF/GG.

·         Sonnets are written in iambic pentameter with stressed and unstressed syllables.

 

Summary of the poem

The poem is about the nature and its transformations.  It says about the short life and temporary existence of nature.  It has been personified as snowdrop and as a guest.  The transformation of the nature is expressed through the changes of the seasons.  The poet concludes that the life too undergoes various changes.

 

Detail Analysis

“Lone Flower, hemmed in with snows and white as they
But hardier far, once more I see thee bend
Thy forehead, as if fearful to offend,
Like an unbidden guest. Though day by day,”

The poem has been divided for a proper understanding and deep analysis.  The first four lines describe the sufferings of the nature.  The lonely flower suffers with the weather condition of the winter period.  The snow starts to bind with its harsh weather. The poet compares the flower to an uninvited guest who could not bear the weather.  The climate is not suitable for its survival.  Day by day the flower struggles to cope up with the weather.  The poet has a hidden message behind this suffering of the flower.  It may be conveyed as the hard life and struggle of people in the social system.  The poor people suffered immensely in the hands of the rich.  Every day they struggle with pain to survive.

 

“Storms, sallying from the mountain-tops, waylay
The rising sun, and on the plains descend;
Yet art thou welcome, welcome as a friend
Whose zeal outruns his promise! Blue-eyed May”

 

Here again the poet feels for the suffering of the flower. He says the flower withstands all the harsh changes of the weather condition which is not favorable for the flower.  The nature has no capacity to tolerate its own changes till the arrival of the spring season. The poet describes the

movements carefully to bring out the quality of patience of the flower and the harshness of the winter. Even though it welcomes the flower as a friend, it longs for the spring and tries to survive till the spring. The hardship of the underprivileged is brought out by the description of the suffering of the flower. The Social differences divide the society into upper and lower classes.

“Shall soon behold this border thickly set

With bright jonquils, their odours lavishing
On the soft west-wind and his frolic peers;
Nor will I then thy modest grace forget,
Chaste Snowdrop, venturous harbinger of Spring,
And pensive monitor of fleeting years!”

 In these few lines the flower Jonquils which is similar to daffodil flower is brought here. The thick border of winter is about to break to welcome the spring.  The readers could sense the great nature changes.  Jonquils are warmly welcomed by the bright nature with lavishing odors.  The

poet makes a deep thinking over the chaste qualities of the Snowdrop and praises its worthiness and he could not get over its modest grace and its adventurous herald of spring.  The poem ends with philosophical thought of transformation in nature and life.  Life moves on irrespective of its social difference and reaches its end.  The flower which undergoes various changes could be similar to the life which too faces changes and challenges and modifications.

Literary Devices

The title says the miseries of life through the seasonal changes and the challenges of flowers which faces such challenges.

It is written in Petrarchan sonnet form and follows an Iambic pentameter with ABBAABBA CDECDE Rhyming pattern.

The theme is about the nature and its complications due to its changes.  The message behind the nature is the complication among the society due to several social differences. Also

impermanence of life.  The poet uses second person narration

Alliteration is repeating the same sound or letter.

“Thy forehead, as if fearful to offend”

“Storms Sallying…..

Visual imagery the readers could see the description of the nature by the poet.

“With bright jonquils, their odors lavishing
“Lone Flower, hemmed in with snows” “But hardier far, once more I see thee bend” This shows the harshness of the climate.

 

Personification comparison of human or natural character to non-human quality.

Flower is addressed to a person. The suffering both undergo due to certain changes.

Simile comparison of one thing with another. “Unbidden guest”

Symbols gives meaning to poets description “harshness of the climate” is shown in “Storms, sallying from the mountain-tops, waylay….The rising sun, and on the plains descend;

Blue eyed may is a Metaphor which compares to clear sky. “Frolic peers – the visitors of flowers such as bees and butterflies. “Chaste snowdrop”- very pure of the flower. Venturous

harbinger of spring means the announcement of the arrival of spring. Pensive monitor of fleeting years. Challenges of life.

Thus the poem gives the values of emotional challenges of human life cycle.  The poet expresses the social differences and the challenges of the victims of such differences.

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