An Evolution to Conciliation

Since its initial appearance in 1797, William Wordsworth?s The Ruined Cottage has grappled with human suffering and death with ever-changing approaches. Its subject matter never fails to be distressing, and over four major manuscripts, Wordsworth proves that there is no immediate way to consider it. The poem?s focus is upon Margaret, an impoverished woman whose fate worsens slowly as her husband enlists in the army and leaves her and her children behind, ultimately to their deaths. Her demise is the subject of an interaction between the poem?s wandering narrator and an aged pedlar he encounters in the woods outside the ruins of Margaret?s home. Attempting to ?mediate the abject content of Margaret?s life ?, each text of the poem presents a different interaction between the two men, a different way in which the story is told, and a different reaction of the narrator to Margaret?s tale. As the subject of grief is complex, it is apparent through the thematic evolution of the poem that Wordsworth is continually unsatisfied with his reconciliation of this tale of desolation. His initial writings view life as an arbitrary part of nature and its course, but as time goes on, he subscribes to the authority of a morally driven higher force as the determinant of man?s fate. Over the years, the audience is presented with both psychological and philosophical considerations about Margaret?s story and its retelling. Early manuscripts approach the story with an optimistic, pantheistic point of view, yet later, a more grieving voice arises. As time goes on, it appears that Wordsworth becomes unsatisfied with the pantheistic idea that everything is insignificant in the scope of the world, and that death and suffering are part of earth?s ebb and flow.

The poem?s first form, presented to Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1797, is ?a short bare narrative of unrelieved distress. ? Reconstructions of pieces of this original manuscript show that it concentrates primarily on the old pedlar's account of Margaret's abandonment and suffering. It offers the abrupt and distressing ending of "and here she died/last human tenant of these ruined walls. " Textually, the poem commences with a description of a beautiful home and shows both the fall of the house and of the family into desolation and deterioration after Margaret's husband enlists in the army and leaves the family behind. Margaret's psychological torment is the poem's focus; Wordsworth elaborates her "sick and extravagant mind " that results from the trauma she undergoes. She is "unutterably helpless " and her story is framed with no consoling device. This first version, referred to as MS A, keeps an objective, detached tone characterized by the line "she is dead and in her grave " as the poem ends. Further, the diction Wordsworth chose for this draft is harsh and reflective of Margaret's fight for survival with references to the "hardships of that season," "dark nights," and "storms." The audience sees Margaret and her family wasting away in their deteriorating home of "cold bare walls" in this "starkly tragic narrative without any final consolation. "

In early 1798, Wordsworth added a number of sections that provided a philosophical reconciliation to the story. The story of Margaret is now framed with three major additions. The first is an introductory passage presenting the wanderer's solitary interaction with nature, and his first encounter with the pedlar. He greets the pedlar in MS B as "a friend as dear to me as the setting sun, " as opposed to MS A's reference to him as "a stranger," bestowing upon him an important narrative influence. The pedlar is described as though he is a part of nature himself, intermixed with "breezy elms" and "running streams." Here we see the first signs of pantheism and the unity of all things on earth, a theme very important to this version of the poem. In the introductory section added before Margaret's tale begins, Wordsworth uses very natural imagery characterized by opposites in nature representative of the ebb and tide of the "one life" in nature; the interconnectedness between all things on earth. Contrasting clouds with sunshine, and shadows with clarity, he creates a balance between everything that happens in nature. The second addition, mid-poem, speaks to the same idea. The pedlar pauses mid-story and comments upon the peace of his natural surroundings. He counters the grief of Margaret's story by saying, "why should we?thus disturb the calm of Nature with our restless thoughts? " Finally, the additions to the end of the poem after the account of Margaret's death bring a form of closure. While the poem's narrator speaks of the "impotence of grief " he experiences, the pedlar immediately proclaims that Margaret "sleeps in the calm earth, and peace is here, " to which the narrator remarks that he "felt the sweet hour coming on. " In this version of the poem, the notion of nature's balance makes grief seem an "idle dream. " Wordsworth seeks to convey that there is no way to explain life's tragedies aside from the fact that everything is in equilibrium on a larger scale.

Along with MS B of "The Ruined Cottage," Wordsworth included two additional addendums. The first, an account of the pedlar?s background and philosophical convictions, appropriately titled "The Pedlar," was composed shortly after the original "The Ruined Cottage" and was published in conjunction with MS B. The pedlar, who the audience sees as the predominant voice in MS B of the poem, is described in ?The Pedlar? as pantheistic and in touch with the ?ebbing and flowing mind? in nature. ?In all things/He saw one life, and felt that it was joy. ? He himself feels a part of nature, and finds a calm peace in that when Wordsworth writes, ?with bliss ineffable/he felt the sentiment of being, spread/o?er all that moves, and all that seemeth still. ? As an individual who has no relation to the social world, he is given a sort of philosophical prowess and higher understanding by Wordsworth. In this version of the poem, this is the conciliation that is provided for the suffering of Margaret and her family. The second addendum to MS B adds to this idea. As a concluding thought, Wordsworth attaches an excerpt that commences ?Not useless do I deem these quiet sympathies with things that hold an inarticulate language. ? The inarticulate language he references is the ?mental language spoken by God?that all natural things are a part of. ? The passage speaks of a kindred love amongst the entire world and a ?chain of good ? that connects everyone. Thus, Wordsworth argues, a love of the world leads to a love of mankind. In that principle, the acceptance of nature, life and death is essential. With the pedlar as the guiding force in this version of the poem, Margaret?s death is calmly accepted as part of the equilibrium of nature.

Conversely, by late 1799, Wordsworth?s re-issuing of the poem excluded both ?The Pedlar? and the ?Not useless do I deem? excerpt. The changes in the text reflect more of a need from the narrator for a rhyme and reason to life, and a need for reconciliation after hearing Margaret?s tragic story. This third edition of the poem, MS D, is edited with a greater emphasis on her suffering. Descriptions of her deterioration are lengthened, and the peace of her resting in death does not seem a sufficient justification for her death. Wordsworth begins to introduce other forms of closure. The most obvious is the psychological need to grieve, and the interaction of the two men as the poem ends leaves them solemnly pondering the tragedy they have just considered. With no concluding addendums providing philosophical reconciliation as in MS B, the camaraderie of the two men as ?impartial interpreters ? is what they have to resolve their grief and the loneliness of confusion. Additionally, Wordsworth explores the need for an explanation of suffering by adding religious imagery into MS D. Critic William A. Ulmer writes, ?Wordsworth?s dissatisfaction with death conceived as assimilation to an immanent Universal mind explains changes he made in the 1799 Ruined Cottage. There, he not only deleted ?Not useless,? and the Pedlar narrative but inserted these reflections: ?my spirit clings/to that poor woman?so deeply do I feel/her goodness?I seem to muse on one/by sorrow laid asleep or borne away/a human being destined to awake/to human life/or something very near/to human life, when He shall come again/for who she suffered. ? The addition of religious references in this version of the poem shows that the characters need reassurance to move forward from their grief, and the idea of the one-ness of the world is waning. The increased importance in emotional resolution indicates Wordsworth?s decreasing pantheism.

Interestingly, ?The Pedlar? and ?Not useless? are reunited with a refreshingly lyrical and romanticized ?The Ruined Cottage? for its final 1814 publication in Wordsworth?s epic ?The Excursion.? Their function is changed, however, making ?The Excursion? accessible to a broader audience. Instead of their pantheistic explanation of Margaret?s fate, the two addendums expand upon the religious undertones introduced in MS D, including a ?suitably Christianized version of the Pedlar narrative in book 1. ? This combination of texts reconciles life?s traumas with faith, and further suggests that morality has a bearing on one?s fate. ?The Excursion? itself resists pantheistic control over all the earth and says that ?We?conscious that the will is free/shall move unswerving, even as if impelled/by strict necessity, along the path/of order and of good. ? This rejects the predetermination of life inherent in pantheism with its reference to free will and allows for one to determine their own outcome. In Sally Bushell?s Re-reading ?The Excursion,? she writes ?the purpose of ?The Excursion? is to show how the higher faculty reveals a harmony which we overlook. ? In other words, it shows the work of God over the events of the world. Therefore, framing ?The Ruined Cottage? in ?The Excursion,? subscribes it to this more appeasing spiritual conclusion that makes it available to a larger audience.

While Wordsworth?s initial constructions of ?The Ruined Cottage? take on an extremely philosophical point of view, the evolution of the poem indicates a certain dissatisfaction with faith in just the one-ness of nature as a justification for death and suffering. Whether it was a reflection of his own evolving beliefs or a desire to appeal to larger, predominantly Christian public, the poem loses its controversial pantheistic edge between the first and last manuscripts. For whatever reason, the evolution of the poem is reflective of human nature as well; needing a certain reassurance, reason, and explanation for what happens in life. The Ruined Cottage over time proved to have one of the more complex histories of the Romantic canon, and certainly one of the most fascinating.

Butler, James. The Ruined Cottage and The Pedlar. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1979. p. 16

Faflak, Joel. ?Analysis Interminable in the Other Wordsworth.? Romanticism on the Net. (November 1999) {April 16, 2005}. http://users.ox.ac.uk/~scat0385/otherww.html#anchor15.

Darbishire, Helen. The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth, vol. 5. Oxford: Clardendon Press, 1959. p. 365.

Wordsworth, William. "The Ruined Cottage," MS A. Butler, James. The Ruined Cottage and The Pedlar. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1979. p. 87

Wordsworth, MS A.

Ibid. line 255.

Ibid. line 158.

Ulmer, William A. ?Wordsworth, the One Life, and The Ruined Cottage.? Studies in Philology. 93 (1996) 304-331. p. 314.

Wordsworth, William. "The Ruined Cottage," MS B. Wu, Duncan. Romanticism, an Anthology. Malden: Blackwell Publishers, Inc. 1994. p. 278.

Wordsworth, MS B. 193-8.

Ibid. 500.

Ibid. MS B. 511.

Ibid, MS B. 530.

Ibid, MS B. 522.

Wordsworth, William. ?The Pedlar.? Wu, Duncan. Romanticism, an Anthology. Malden: Blackwell Publishers, Inc. 1994. p. 294. line 218-9.

Wordsworth, ?The Pedlar.? 207-9.

Wordsworth, ?Not useless do I deem (extract)? Wu, Duncan. Romanticism, an Anthology. Malden: Blackwell Publishers, Inc. 1994. p. 298. 1-3.

Wu, Duncan. Romanticism, an Anthology. Malden: Blackwell Publishers, Inc. 1994. p. 298

Wordsworth, ?Not useless do I deem (extract)? 40.

Faflak.

Ulmer, William A. ?Wordsworth, the One Life, and The Ruined Cottage.? Studies in Philology. 93 (1996) 304-331. 325.

Ibid, 326.

Ibid, 324.

Bushell, Sally. Re-Reading The Excursion. Burlington: Ashgate Publishing. 2002. 9.

Gill, Stephen. The Cambridge Companion to Wordsworth. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.

This book gave interesting thematic information about ?The Ruined Cottage, ?The Pedlar,? and ?The Excursion.?

Butler, James. The Ruined Cottage and The Pedlar. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1979.

This text provided each of the full manuscripts of the poem, as well as notes on their editing.

Wu, Duncan. Wordsworth: An Inner Life. Malden: Blackwell Publishers, Inc. 2002.

This book gave insight as to Wordsworth?s ideology, and helped me look at how that would translate into his writing.

Bushell, Sally. Re-Reading The Excursion. Burlington: Ashgate Publishing. 2002.

This book helped me look at how the framing of ?The Ruined Cottage? within ?The Excursion? influenced it thematically.

Butler, James. ?The Chronology of Wordsworth?s The Ruined Cottage After 1800.? Studies in Philology 74 (1977): 89-112.

This source documented major changes within each of the manuscripts of the poem.

Ulmer, William A. ?Wordsworth, the One Life, and The Ruined Cottage.? Studies in Philology. 93 (1996) 304-331.

This article was a great help in exploring the pantheistic elements that dwindled over time in ?The Ruined Cottage.?

Faflak, Joel. ?Analysis Interminable in the Other Wordsworth.? Romanticism on the Net. http://users.ox.ac.uk/~scat0385/otherww.html#anchor15

This article gave psychoanalytic insight into Wordsworth?s writings and helped me consider the evolution of the poem.

Darbishire, Helen. The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth, vol. 5. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1959.

Darbishire?s comments on the poem were insightful and gave excellent thematic insight.