Artifact 1: What Can I Believe In: Searching For Faith Through Poetry
William Wordsworth’s poem “We Are Seven” from the collection Lyrical Ballads, uses unorthodox style and rhetoric to capture his audience’s intrigue. Stylistically, Wordsworth draws the audience in through such literary devices as repetition and a structure built upon rhyme and rhythm. Through his rhetoric, Wordsworth challenges the audience’s opinions on life and death and makes the audience choose between logic and happiness. Simplistic poems from this collection such as this one received much backlash from critiques of the era, however this poem has the power to persuade its audience both rationally and emotionally.
The poem “We Are Seven” focuses on a choice encounter between an older gentleman and a young girl. The man asks the girl whom she lives with and how many siblings she has. The girl responds by saying she has six siblings, two of which are at sea, two in another town, and two of which are buried in the churchyard. The rest of the poem (about forty-four lines) shows the man and the girl rallying back and forth over the logic of her having six siblings, if two of them are deceased. This brings up the first and most prominent literary device Wordsworth unveils in “We Are Seven”, and that is repetition. Throughout the poem, the man makes several attempts through different justifications to convince the girl that she only has three siblings because two have passed away and shall never return. One example of the man attempting to sway the child’s opinion comes when he references the afterlife (beyond the churchyard). He says “ ‘How many are you then,’ said I, ‘If they two are in Heaven?’ The little Maiden did reply, ‘O Master! we are seven!’ ” (lines 61-64). Yet, the little girl remains adamant in her outlook often repeating “Nay, we are seven.” This clashing of opinion between an adult and an emphatic child is an experience most people can relate to. One of the main reasons Wordsworth composed this collection of poems was to adapt poetry to the abilities of the lower and middle classes of his period. Through the repetition and ease of relating to story such as “We Are Seven” Wordsworth successfully captures the imagination and memory of a wide audience. Readers of all skill levels, in his period and in ours, can remember fondly the imagination and stubbornness of youth.
Another literary device Wordsworth incorporates into “We Are Seven” is an amazing use of the simple yet elegant ABAB rhyme scheme. This rhyme strategy is perhaps the one of the most identifiable factors associated with the art of poetry nowadays. One exemplary passage that shows its flowing nature comes when the little girl describes the death of her sister. She says “The first that dies was little Jane/ In bed she moaning lay/ Til God released her of her pain/ And then she went away” (lines 49-52). One reason Wordsworth could have used such a simple yet memorable series of expression is to appeal to a wider audience. Music and song was one of the best forms of expression for all socioeconomic classes of Wordsworth’s time, but an especially important one for the mostly illiterate lower classes. Perhaps this flowing and melodic poem was meant to create an appeal of familiarity to the lower classes. The Industrial Revolution that occurs right before Lyrical Ballads is released brought with it a surge of new readers. Perhaps the lower classes’ intimacy and understanding of prose through music made poems such as “We Are Seven” a manageable base for them to build upon in the new world of poetry they had been exposed to through Wordsworth. The poet even received criticism because of his attempt to appeal to a wider, less educated crowd. Shortly after Lyrical Ballads was released, the New London Review wrote a criticism of the poems stating that “The language of conversation, and that too of the lower classes, can never be considered as the language of poetry” (New London Review 1799). The success of such an endeavor remains subjective, however it was undoubtedly a new response to a changing society.
Wordsworth also uses amazing rhetoric that creates deep meaning and challenges the audience’s views on logic, happiness, ignorance, and what happens after death among other factors. It becomes clear as the poem progresses that the man and the child are looking at the same picture and yet one sees green as the other sees yellow. Or in other words, they have alternative views that are so differing foundationally, that neither person can really change any aspect of his/her position. On one hand, the man sees the two deceased siblings as just that, dead and gone. He makes clear his logically sound conjecture that the girl’s siblings are physically and spiritually absent from their surroundings. He tries to reason with the girl saying that perhaps they are in Heaven, but eventually concedes to her argument saying that he is simply “throwing words away” trying to argue with the young girl (line 67). This rational approach to death and whatever may come thereafter brilliantly connects the story to the adult audience that would most likely read it. This is done by taking daily influences in adult life such as the popular religious view of what happens to a person after death. In this way Wordsworth connects to the audience on a rational basis. However, we also see a rational response from the girl who attempts to justify her reasoning. For instance, she points out the spot where her siblings rest stating “Their graves are green, they may be seen” (line 33). She also points out the activities she still engages in with them saying “And there upon the ground I sit/ And sing a song to them” (lines 39-40). Through these very observant justifications of her siblings whereabouts and how she still connects to them, the little girl creates a logical rebuttal to the man’s rationalizations.
It is easy to initially regard the little girls denial of her siblings’ absence as adolescent misgivings, as the older man certainly does. However the clash between the two has deeper connotations that really attach themselves to the reader’s emotional senses and leave the audience with new insights, questions unanswered, and an overall sense of shock. The first inexplicit theme throughout the story that can be blurry at first glance is one of morality. The man seems insistent on making the girl see the rationality of the situation. He fervently attempts to strip the girl of any remaining sense of immediate presence she may still have with her deceased siblings and to have her move past their deaths. At first the audience may agree with the logic of the man’s purpose simply labeling the child’s familiarity with her dead siblings as a youthful, foolish folly. However taking a more objective stance, it can be argued that the man is unjustly stripping the girl of her innocent and happy state of mind she escapes to with her relished memories of her dear family. The girl explains to the man that she still plays with her siblings near their graves as she sings to them, knits next to them, and even eats her dinner near their resting spot (lines 41-48). The audience must consult their emotions and question whether the man truly has the right to deprive the girl of her happiness and innocence in this manner. These themes of morality and emotion are relatable to both audiences of Wordsworth’s era and contemporary audiences. It is always a responsibility of adults to not interfere with the fragile state of mind that children hone and develop in their childhood and throughout their lives. An adult must carefully and delicately address the facts of life to children as they grow, whether it be questions regarding death, the Easter bunny, or Santa Claus. However, the audience’s emotional takeaway must be further examined in this poem, as the questions of life and death are far more ambiguous as it is when it comes to mortality. Children have always been revered and noted when it comes to their ample imaginations that seem to lose depth as one becomes older. The question of what comes after death has been a long debate that began far before Wordsworth’s time and is still very present and very unclear today. In fact, it is fair to say that there has been no real progress in human rationale of any afterlife since this poem was written. Perhaps this goes beyond logic and emotion and falls in the category of faith. The man believes that his faith in God or a higher power is his logical explanation to the girl, and the girl’s logical response is justified through her continued encounters with her siblings. Consequently, both parties only true evidence is based on their faith. Therefore, if anything the young girls faith in her siblings continued presence after their death should be considered on equal footing as that of the man’s argument of them being in Heaven, if not further regarded for her creativity and commitment.
Wordsworth’s release of Lyrical Ballads, a new perspective on poetry, during a time of literary growth in England is nothing short of remarkable. His unorthodox style and rhetoric helped usher in a new generation of poetry aficionado’s through his appeal to emotion, logic, and faith. No poem better characterizes these three elements in his collection of poems than “We Are Seven” does.
Works Cited
Wordsworth, William, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Michael Mason. “We Are Seven.” Lyrical ballads. 2nd ed. Harlow, England: Pearson Longman, 2007. 59-61. Print.
New London Review. New London Review Jan. 1799: 33-35. Print.