English 242: The Romantic Audience
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Wordsworth's Snow-Drop Poems

Created by kmasters. Last edited by kmasters 2496 days ago. Viewed 3915 times.
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William Wordsworth's "Snowdrop" poems were composed much later, both around 1820, although the exact date of composition is unknown. Unlike Coleridge, Wordsworth utilizes the same symbolism as Mary Robinson throughout both poems. That is, if he is discussing Robinson in these poems, he does so obliquely. Still, when one examines both poems, it's easy to see that the Robinson reference is a logical interpretation. The versions reproduced below are from Paul D. Sheats's Cambridge edition of The Poetical Works of Wordsworth:

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To a Snowdrop

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, 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
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!

On Seeing a Tuft of Snowdrops in a Storm

When haughty expectations prostrate lie,
And grandeur crouches like a guilty thing,
Oft shall the lowly weak, till nature bring
Mature release, in fair society
Survive, and Fortune's utmost anger try;
Like these frail snowdrops that together cling,
And nod their helmets, smitten by the wing
Of many a furious whirl-blast sweeping by.
Observe the faithful flowers! if small to great
May lead the thoughts, thus struggling used to stand
The Emathian phalanx, nobly obstinate;
And so the bright immortal Theban band,
Whom onset, fiercely urged at Jove's command,
Might overwhelm, but could not separate!

See for comparison:
The Snow-Drop
Coleridge's The Snow-Drop

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