Simon Lee Essay Sample

‘Simon Lee. The Old Huntsman. With an incident in which he was concerned’ is a verse form by William Wordsworth. Written in 1798 ( Anthology p420 ) . ‘Simon Lee’ was one of the verse forms included by Wordsworth in his Lyrical Ballads. The intent or significance of this verse form is problematic. but in his ain Foreword to the Lyrical Ballads. Wordsworth says that he wishes to ‘follow the fluxes and refluxes of the head when agitated by the great and simple fondnesss of our nature’ in the instance of Simon Lee. ‘by puting my reader in the manner of having from ordinary moral esthesiss another and more good feeling than we are accustomed to have from them’ ( Anthology. p85. l122 & A ; 133 ) . Wordsworth uses a assortment of poetic techniques to guarantee that his reader receives these ‘moral sensations’ and to help them in understanding his intent when composing Simon Lee. The verse form is about an old hunter. Simon Lee. he is aged. handicapped and struggles through life with his married woman Ruth. Once. Simon ‘all the state could outrun’ ( ‘Simon Lee’ l41 ) . and he was known ‘four counties round’ ( 19 ) . Now. they are the ‘poorest of the poor’ ( 60 ) . their ‘hut of clay’ ( 57 ) has a little piece of land which they must labor on every twenty-four hours to seek and last. even though there is ‘very little. all Which they can make between them’ ( 55 ) .

The talker in the poem one twenty-four hours happens across Simon fighting to cut through a tree root. he helps Simon and is so saddened by the deep gratitude that he is shown in return. Wordsworth wanted to expose countrified or state life in his verse form ; he believed that there was honestness in the Black Marias of the hapless that the more educated categories could larn from. To this terminal he employs ‘language truly being used by men’ ( Anthology p84 l66 ) . Countrified footings are littered throughout the verse form ‘shire’ ( 1 ) . ‘husbandry’ . ’tillage’ ( 38 ) . ‘mattock’ ( 85 ) . this lends the talker a existent sense of genuineness. the reader can truly believe that someplace there lives a adult male like Simon Lee. and the individual stating us of him has lived in the same environment. The verse form ‘Simon Lee’ is made up of 13 stanzas. it is written in a variant signifier of the traditional lay. Conventionally a lay is formed of quatrains. the 2nd and 4th lines riming. the lines are iambic. an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed 1. with four emphasiss on the first and 3rd lines and three on the 2nd and 4th lines. The stanzas in Simon Lee are eight lines long. or eights. nevertheless there is a differentiation within each stanza dividing them into two quatrains.

The first set of four lines in each is written in riming pairs. the first three lines in iambic tetrameter. and the 4th cut short in iambic trimeter. The natural intermission created by the missing pes at the terminal of the 4th line. offprints this first quatrain from the 2nd set of four lines within the stanza. These are written in the more conventional ballad riming signifier CDEDABCB. Again they are written utilizing iambic poetry though with some exclusions. the first and 3rd lines have 8 syllables but the rhyming lines have seven each. iambic trimeter with an extra syllable at the terminal of the line. This complicated and intricate model. which is carried throughout the verse form. has many effects on the manner a reader moves through the poetry. The first four lines of each stanza flow easy. the natural beat of the iambs and the comparatively short length of the lines. impart them a sing-song quality. This is partnered with the riming strategy to make a sense of simpleness. like a children’s vocal or baby’s room rime. After the intermission created by the terminal of the 4th line. the 2nd subdivision of each stanza seems to hold a more grave and staid air.

The ABCB strategy does non perpetuate the sing vocal quality of the riming pairs. and the losing syllable at the terminal of the 6th and 8th lines creates an unnatural intermission. While the words at the terminal of these lines do non complete with such an impact. because there is no distinguishable emphasis on the last syllable. the intermission creates an accent on the line before it doing the reader to see these lines with greater idea. In general the concluding four lines of each stanza have a much more plaintive air than the four predating them. This dichotomy of simplistic natural beat and a sombre lay creates an interesting duality which is mirrored in many other facets of the verse form. The first eight stanzas of the verse form seem designed to raise a wrenching. emotional reaction in the reader. Simon is ‘sick’ ( 33 ) . he has ‘but one oculus left’ ( 15 ) . his maestro. and all other members of the Hunt are dead. ‘he is the exclusive survivor’ ( 24 ) . Clearly he is old and infirm and besides he is hapless. In two stanzas the concluding word of the 4th line is hapless. this chorus is reinforced by the internal repeat ‘poorest of the poor’ ( 60 ) .

However the tone of the verse form is non every bit plaintive as you would presume. Language like ‘thin and dry’ ( 36 ) . ‘weakest’ ( 40 ) . ‘few months of life’ ( 65 ) is balanced out by footings such as ‘merry’ ( 14 ) . ‘pleasant Ivor-hall’ ( 2 ) and ‘dearly loves’ ( 48 ) . Even the description of where they live. the ‘moss-grown hut of clay’ ( 57 ) . ‘near the waterfall’ ( 31 ) . is more appealingly phrased than you would usually impute to poverty. The scene seems beautiful. and the sad events happening in it are tinged with the joy of the life go oning around them. The happier life that Simon led earlier as a ‘running hunter merry’ ( 14 ) besides contrasts aggressively with his life now. fighting to work his land. Often Wordsworth uses the dichotomy of his stanza signifier to foreground this. In the 3rd stanza. the first four lines tell us of Simon’s art in past. ‘No adult male like him the horn could sound’ ( 17 ) . the meter and rime do these lines seem lilting and joyful like their content. The 4th line. which finishes with the name ‘Simon Lee’ ( 20 ) returns us to the current clip. the usage of his name. alternatively of the anon. ‘man’ ( 18. 19 ) in the old lines. reminds us of the individual we are discoursing and that now he is but a shadow of this former ego. The 2nd half of the stanza. in the more staid signifier. tells us that Simon’s co-workers and maestro are all dead and merely he is still alive.

The repeat of ‘dead’ ( 21 23 ) . reinforced the 2nd clip by ‘all’ ( 23 ) . accentuates the air of melancholy. The first stanza of the verse form is set out in a similar manner. the first four lines seem happy and guiltless with linguistic communication like a fairy narrative or children’s narrative. ‘little man’ ( 3 ) . ‘once’ ( 4 ) . ‘sweet shire’ ( 1 ) . Whereas the 2nd portion slows down. and Tells of the heavy load of old ages on the man’s back. However sometimes the signifier of the verse form does non look to suit with the words or linguistic communication used which creates a jarring and uncomfortable affect. In the 5th stanza. Wordsworth uses the first four lines to depict the physical province of his topic. ‘and he is thin and he is sick’ ( 33 ) . The perennial usage of ‘he’ and ‘his’ . and besides the many monosyllabic words make these lines run quicker. and besides assist to stress the sing vocal beat. The linguistic communication here profoundly contrasts with the feel of the quatrain. while the words trip lightly off the reader’s lingua. the state of affairs they are depicting is unpleasant and would certainly do intermission and commiseration in the reader. Half manner through the 8th ten percent stanza is the turning point of the verse form. ‘My soft reader’ ( 69 ) . Here the talker negotiations straight to the reader. he is puting down an debut to the interaction between himself and Simon.

The talker. and besides poet. is cognizant that these events may non be considered notable plenty for concern by the intended reader. but he asks that in ‘silent thought’ ( 73 ) the emotions and feelings that this word picture has invoked are considered. In making this the talker hopes the reader will happen ‘A narrative in everything’ ( 76 ) . Theses 12 lines create a interruption in the verse form between the initial descriptions of Simon Lee and the events that follow. this helps to underscore the importance of the mundane nature of these events and besides gives the poet an chance to fix the reader mentally for the ‘moral sensations’ ( 133 ) that will come with them. The unhappiness and edginess of age seems to be the implicit in characteristic of this verse form. The partnering of uplifting and plaintive linguistic communication. and the two contrasting signifiers. make a existent sense of dichotomy. the past with the present. the immature with the old. the reader. talker and Simon Lee. Wordsworth creates a powerful feeling of understanding for and guilt towards his topic. Simon seems forgotten and outcast by society. particularly at the stopping point of the verse form. The old man’s gratitude for so simple and effortless an act is intended to be as bosom breakage for the reader as it is for the talker. This commiseration. for one so disregarded. is possibly the ‘salutary impression’ ( 133 ) Wordsworth wished us to have.