The Aardvark Review The Review is made possible by funds from the Associated Students of Weber State College, under the supervision of the Media Board, the guidance of the Office of Publications, and by gifts from the Office of Cultural Affairs and the College Development Office. Special thanks go to Dr. Jean B. White, Dr. Gordon Allred, and to Edith Hester, for their efforts, advice, and co-operation. Editor Dave Clark Nielsen Assistant Editor Penelope Armstrong 1978 1979 Associate Editors Russell Burrows Frank J. Cook Marcia Parisi The Review welcomes submissions in the categories of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. Submissions should be typed on white paper, double spaced, and accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope. Send submissions to: Weber State College, do WSC Signpost, 3750 Harrison Blvd., Ogden, Utah 84408. Weber State College AN ANALYSIS OF WORDSWORTH'S "A NIGHT PIECE" by Russell Burrows The solitary traveller within William Wordsworth's poetic work entitled "A Night Piece" communicates magnificently a feeling of amazement and stupefaction with the phenomenal natural world transfixing him during an experience of momentous personal discovery. Through the traveller's constantly rising level of mental awareness Wordsworth is able to effectively portray the acquisition of the admirable and necessary human capacity of appreciating the wonders of nature. The mysteries of nature in turn emblematically harken back to the divine force behind all creation. Accordingly, that the traveller's discovery is significant can be seen in the powerful emotional impact the work possesses, despite the author's otherwise simple, innocuous choice of language. To adequately develop the traveller's remarkable breakthrough Wordsworth skillfully combines both physical and emotional images, which would not have the strength of poetic expression to stand alone, but when joined together produce an imaginative synergism of massive power. Light is the main element of nature which Wordsworth employs for the structural development of the poem. Initially, the first two lines of the work suggest a darkened setting into which the traveller is introduced. There is no immediate reference to any light, and the term "overcast" shifts the emphasis to murkiness, even blackness. However, the third line of the poem changes and advances the growing scene by indicating the sky is slightly "whitened by the moon" in a strange and rare iridescence. Nevertheless, the balance of the evidence suggests that, although the sky is partially illuminated, the ground remains quite dark. Somber sunlessness is evident in the "heavy and wan" blanket of ground fog which causes the traveller to slither falteringly along, for he is described as being "pensive," and "bent earthward" in an effort to safely make his uncertain way. Moreover, the hugging cloud cover comes to acquire a latent "texture" which appeals to the sense of touch, as well as the sense of sight. This unique example of physical description generally connotes substances with far more density than common, ubiquitous water vapor; but under Wordsworth's masterful handling the dark, thick atmosphere actually becomes a neutral foundation, completely devoid of all illumination, into which various lights can be added in gradual and regular stages as is required to successfully cultivate the poem's germination. Therefore, the first dim introduction of light in the poem increases in its candle-power intensity until reaching an effulgence symbolic of a pantheistic universe showing off its finest and most noble attractions. From "feebly spread" beams of light diffused through vapor that fails in producing even faint "shadows," to a "clear moon and stars" enjoying irresistable illuminative power, the divine light gradually escalates. Moreover, nothing can highlight and artistically contrast the "sharp bright" points of light in the night sky setting of the poem as does Wordsworth's use of the term "unfathomable depth" which is made even more graphic by a description of a "blue black vault." This expression appeals directly to the phantasmargorical capacity of the human mind to contemplate conditions of absolute purity and clarity existing in the nether world of the imagination. This mental capacity is required to adequately gain some sort of perception regarding the higher realms a pantheistic heaven holds, for it is set amid the distant stars and planets of the universe. Therefore, it is seen that Wordsworth initially began at one extreme end of a spectrum by suppressing light, and thereafter moved to a position of stark brilliance. Wordsworth thereby made the fullest use of the spectral distance available to him, and consequently invested his poem with the maximum degree of power and attraction possible for an artist working with an element of nature. While the star light communicates the power and magnitude of a God inexorably linked to nature, the neat, well defined aperture formed by the cleft in the clouds creates a stage front where the theatrics of the universe can appropriately be performed. This structural device is important to the poem in terms of perspective and aesthetic distance. The sense of the moon and stars' "immeasurably" faraway location is thus emphasized because of the added depth perception available when contrasting the difference between the clouds and the more distant astronomical bodies. Also, the action of the moving astronomical objects becomes framed into one distinct arena which effectively concentrates the reader's field of vision. Therefore, in a real sense, the brief glimpse of the moon and stars does become a pantheistic "vision" sent through benevolence, and received by inspiration communicating the goodness and moral nobility of God. This artistic focus on light is no happy accident on Wordsworth's part. Characteristically, the Romantic poets on the whole, and especially the close friends and confidants Wordsworth and Coleridge, consciously tried to develop simple natural elements into poetic statements. For example, in Coleridge's "Biographia Literaria" he acts as a spokesman for Wordsworth in recounting a conversation the two poets had concerning this very topic. Coleridge writes: During the first year that Mr. Wordsworth and I were neighbors, our conversation turned frequently to the two cardinal points of poetry, the power of exciting the sympathy of the reader by a faithful adherence to the truth of nature, and the power of giving the interest in novelty by modifying the colors of the imagination. The sudden charm which accidents of light and shade, which moonlight or sunset diffused over known and familar landscapes appeared to represent the practicability of combining both. These are the poetry of nature. As can be seen from this excerpt of Coleridge's writing the specific dictates of an agreement Wordsworth and Coleridge entered into directed Coleridge towards the supernatural elements of the human imagination; while Wordsworth took up with scenes of idealized nature, in a two pronged attack aimed at offering their reading audience works of high spiritually regenerative power and comfort. The fact that Wordsworth was relegated to what would seem the more mundane, and even trite, field of endeavor, in comparison with the more obviously exciting realm of necromancy, might rank him a little lower in the critical estimation of history, but his enduring literary achievements and attending fame stands as a just testimony of his innate genius and pluck. Thus, having noted the environmental stimulus Wordsworth enjoyed bending his considerable talents towards the elements of nature, it becomes interesting to trace his ability in linking emotional qualities to the development of the poem. The work begins, and continues all the way through the first stanza, with very little concrete indication of the emotional tone Wordsworth ultimately wishes to convey. Only in the descriptions of the physical settings can some emotional feeling be deduced, because diction harkening directly to sentiment is notably absent. However, the one sure deduction possible from Wordsworth's first stanza is that oppressive and overcast weather is universally gloomy, and it generally precipitates correspondingly oppressive dispositions in all those individuals obliged to travel in it, just as Wordsworth's traveller is doing. The fact that this first stanza has strong Gothic elements within it, also suggests a feeling of melancholia. Indeed, a low spiritual ebb, or level, is indicated in the first part of the poem solely by the conspicuous absence of anything connotatively brighter than the terms "heavy," "wan," or "dull." All of these terms tend to be emotionally on the negative side. Volume 2, Number 1 The Aardvark Review 1