Texts Are a Product of Their Contexts

Advanced English Assessment Task 2 – Texts and Context – Poetry
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Texts are a product of their contexts. (How the same story can have a different meaning based on their context)

Texts are a product of their contexts, but to what extent is this statement true? To investigate the truth behind this statement we explore the poets John Donne and William Wordsworth in the Metaphysical and Romantics movement. The context of these different movements heavily influenced the texts produced by the poets, through the different values these movements possess, such as the belief of logic and rationalism in the metaphysical period, and the deep respect of nature and spirituality in the romantics.

Romanticism was an intellectual, literary movement that began in Germany and England in the late 18th century. This enlightenment brought upon change to many different forms of art, from poetic literature and music (opera), to painting and sculpturing. The contexts of the poems created in this era were deeply influenced by the ideas and emotions that came from the romantic sensation, which further manipulated the poets of this time, and their style of writing. Poets, during this time, created text with a background of deep respect for nature, self-reflection, beauty in the simplistic, isolation, exploration and spiritualty. William Wordsworth was one of the most influential poets of this time, born in England, Cockermouth, the heart and birthplace of where the romantic’s movement began. The Romantics movement and Wordsworth’s life influenced much of the context of his later works, with his mother dying when he was just eight years old, and his father dying only years later, leaving him and his siblings orphans. Wordsworth attended St. John’s College in Cambridge, where, on his final semester, he set out on a walking tour along Europe, another experience that further on influenced much of his writings context.

In William Wordsworth’s “The Solitary Reaper”, we witness the impacts of the romantic’s movement and Wordsworth’s life in the context of the poem. We first witness the romantic characteristic of isolation at the introduction of the poem, where we are introduced to a workingwomen singing by herself amongst the cornfields of Scotland, “Behold her, single in the field, Yon solitary Highland Lass! Reaping and singing by herself.” We further witness the influence of romanticism on Wordsworth with the focus of beauty in something that seems simplistic in the woman. The idea of spirituality and self reflection than comes into hand when the sweet but miserable air of the woman’s voice enchants the spiritualist poet, isolating him into a lonely atmosphere brought upon by his spiritual being, “Alone she cuts and binds the grain, and sings a melancholy strain; O listen! For the Vale profound is overflowing with the sound”. The deep valley the reaper is singing at, continues to fill with the echoing voice of her song, as the poet continues to watch on questioning why no one takes notice of her, which ends up being a call for us to explore for the perfect voice within nature, and an appeal for self-reflection, both values of the Romantic Movement. Once again, Wordsworth finds much beauty in the simplistic when he compares the voice of the reaper being greater than that of a nightingale, a bird which chants a beautiful, melodious song, “No Nightingale did ever chaunt more welcome notes to weary bands”. The sound of the bird also brings into detail the value of respect for nature, as it conveys news of winter being over and springtime approaching, bringing new life to the valley. Overall, the influence of the romantic’s movement can be seen considerably throughout the context of the poem.

Similarly, the metaphysical movement of the 17th century in England, a bit earlier than that of the romantic’s movement, was a very influential period for all forms of literary arts. It brought upon much change for the writing styles of many poets during the time, creating poems with values of rationalism, awareness of faith using biblical allusion, exaggeration in the small things and arguments about emotional topics using logic and reason. The movement continued until the 18th century, ending when William Blake connected the gap between metaphysical and romantic poetry. John Donne, one of the most influential poets of this time, created many poems that successfully incorporated the values of the romantic period, and it is his works that will be analysed and examined in the following.

In John Donne’s “The Flea”, similar to that of Wordsworth’s “The Solitary Reaper”, we once again observe the setting of the poem being influenced by the context of the movement. In the poem, we are presented with a flea, which seems so insignificant, but ends up being the vehicle and drive for the whole argument, using logic, of the poets love being rejected by the woman. The values of arguments about sensitive topics using logic and the exaggeration of the flea are both very clear impacts of the metaphysical context. At the beginning, John Donne questions the woman “Mark but this flea”, which has bitten and sucked the blood of the woman as well as the man trying to gain her love. He further states that the woman has denied something so small that the flea has acquired, being the close union of their bodily fluids. This central statement, that is frequently mentioned to is the source for the poet’s rational argument. This value of rationalism, evident in the text, is another trait poems of the metaphysical era have infused within them.

Progressing through the poem, we further witness the poet contending with the woman, for the life of the flea. The man exaggerates the value of the flea’s life by saying to the woman that this flea represents their marriage and relationship, and killing the flea will be killing them, “O stay, three lives in one flea spare, where we almost, yea, more than married are”. As well as representing their relationship, the flea also symbolises the Holy Trinity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in the Christian faith. The use of biblical references is appropriate for the time of the metaphysical movement as there was a strong belief of Christianity. The poet continues to argue his point, stating that the flea holds the essence of the man and woman, with their blood uniting together like the bride and groom on their wedding day, “This flea is you and I, and this, our marriage bed, and marriage temple is”. The use of biblical allusion, as part of the values of the metaphysical era, is once again evident, when the poet refers to the flea’s body as being a temple where their marriage will be blessed. Overall, the exaggeration of the flea and its life has arisen because of the context of the metaphysical movement, with the exaggeration of the seemingly insignificant. In the third stanza, the woman finally kills the flea, which we think to be a major act of sin, killing something so significant as stated by Donne earlier in the poem. The poet than regards his original argument as to being insignificant, and the death of an innocent flea has sought out to be worthless and meaningless. The woman has than come into realisation that she has not gained any strength, but feels the same after killing the flea. John Donne’s argument has ended up being a way to prove that having sex with him would not have been such a big deal, and now when she feels the need for love by him, it will make her feel weak and ashamed. This whole argument in the poem further reflects the impact of the metaphysical context and values with the decisions about emotional topics being made by logic and reason.

As such, the contexts of the metaphysical and romantic movements, and to some extent the life of the poets, greatly influenced the texts of these eras, in relation to their concepts and impressions on certain matters of the time. This proves that texts are most indefinitely a product of their context. Through the use of different movements incorporating their own values and ideas, such as deep respect for nature in the Romantic Movement and the exaggeration of the insignificant in the Metaphysical period, the poems of the distinctive eras have shown substantial differences in the portrayal of the subject matter in the poem.

Wordcount = 1187 words
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Bibliography:

* Cole, RC. 2007. Lines to Time. 4th ed. Port Melbourne, Victoria: Pearson. * Poets.org. 1997. William Wordsworth. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/296. [Accessed 14 May 13]. * Advanced English Class Workbook + Worksheets

Bibliography: * Cole, RC. 2007. Lines to Time. 4th ed. Port Melbourne, Victoria: Pearson. * Poets.org. 1997. William Wordsworth. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/296. [Accessed 14 May 13]. * Advanced English Class Workbook + Worksheets