The pecularities of english romanticism: two trends-progressive and regressive. The poets of the "lake school"- w. Wordsworth, S. Coleridge, R. Southey

CHAPTER II. THE POETS OF THE “LAKE SCHOOL”- W.WORDSWORTH, S. COLERIDGE, R. SOUTHEY
2.1. Poets of the “Lake School”.
The first stage of English romanticism (90s of the 18th century) is most fully represented by the so-called lake school. The term itself originated in 1800 when Wordsworth was announced head of the Lake School in an English literary journal, and in 1802 Coleridge and Southey were named members. The life and work of these three poets are connected with the Lake District, the northern counties of England, where there are many lakes. Leukist poets (from the English lake - lakes) sang this land magnificently in their poems. Born in the Lake District, Wordsworth forever captured some of the scenic views of the Cumberland - the River Derwent, Red Lake on Helwell , yellow daffodils on the shores of Alswater Lake, a winter evening on Lake Estate .
The first joint work of Wordsworth and Coleridge , "Lyrical Ballads" (1798), was a program part in which the old classical ideas were outlined and the democratization of problems was proclaimed, the thematic framework was expanded, and the system of elements was broken.
The preface to the ballads can be seen as a manifesto of early English romanticism. It was written by Wordsworth, most of the works in the collection also belonged to him, but Coleridge 's presence in it is noticeable, even if his work demonstrated the rich possibilities of the new school that were contained in Wordsworth's theoretical declaration.
Poets of the "Lake School"\
Wordsworth, Coleridge and Southey had much in common. All three first welcomed the French Revolution, then, frightened by the Jacobin terror, retreated from it. Wordsworth and Southey became poets laureates. In the last years of their lives, the Leucists noticeably weakened their creative activity, stopped writing poetry, turned either to prose ( Sauti ), or to philosophy and religion ( Coleridge ), or to understanding the creative consciousness of the poet ( Wordsworth ).
At the same time, the role of representatives of the lake school in the history of literature is great; for the first time they openly condemned the classical principles of creativity. The Leikists demanded that the poet depict not great historical events and outstanding personalities, but the daily life of humble workers, ordinary people, thereby continuing the traditions of sentimentalism. Wordsworth, Coleridge and Southey appealed to the inner world of man, were interested in the dialectics of his soul. Reviving British interest in Shakespeare, the poets of the English Renaissance turned to national identity, emphasizing, in contrast to the universal classical canons, the original, the original in English history and culture. One of the main principles of the new school was the extensive use of folklore.
The depiction of everyday life, everyday work, the expansion of poetry, the enrichment of the poetic language through the introduction of colloquial vocabulary, the simplification of the poetic construction itself brought the poetic style closer to everyday speech, helped Wordsworth, Coleridge and Southey more convincingly and truthfully reflect the contradictions of reality.
Opposing the laws of bourgeois society, which, in their opinion, increased the suffering and suffering of people, violating the established order and customs over the centuries, the Leukists turned to the image of the English Middle Ages and England before the industrial-agrarian revolution. Like eras characterized by seeming stability, stability of social relations and strong religious beliefs, a solid code of ethics. In recreating pictures of the past in their writings, Coleridge and Southey , although they did not call for its restoration, nonetheless emphasized its enduring value compared to the fast-moving present.
Wordsworth and his associates managed to show the tragedy of the fate of the English peasantry during the industrial revolution. True, they focused the reader's attention on the psychological consequences of all the social changes that have affected the moral character of the humble worker. With a certain political conservatism and fear of a possible revolution in England, the poets of the Lake School played a positive role in the history of English poetry. Having formulated the aesthetic principles of the new romantic art, introducing new categories of the sublime, sensitive, original, they resolutely opposed the obsolete poetics of classicism, outlined ways to bring poetry closer to reality through a radical reform of the language and the use of a rich national poetic tradition. Following the English sentimentalists Thomson and Gray, they used the so-called vague, mixed vision, born not of reason, but of feeling, significantly expanding the range of poetic vision as a whole. The Leukists were in favor of replacing the syllabic system of the poem with a tonic system more in line with the norms of the English language, they boldly introduced new lexical forms, colloquial intonations, detailed metaphors and comparisons, complex symbolism caused by poetic imagination, and abandoned traditional poetic images.
Both Wordsworth and Coleridge , at the time of the creation of ballads (1798), were united by the desire to follow the truth of nature (not just copy it, but supplement it with the colors of the imagination), as well as the ability to evoke compassion and sympathy among the reader . According to Wordsworth and Coleridge , the task of poetry is to address the lives of common people, the image of common people. “The life of the most uneducated class of society is full of the same sufferings and joys as the life of all other classes. Their main passions of the heart are finding the best nutritious soils. These people have elementary feelings with more simplicity and primitiveness. "
Wordsworth and Coleridge viewed the universe as a manifestation of absolute spirit. The task of the poet is to comprehend the absolute in the simplest phenomena of modern life. Intuitive perception of surrounding things leads to the most complete knowledge of their inner meaning, expands the boundaries of knowledge in general. The poet must maintain a connection between man and the Creator, showing the visible, sensually perceived world as an imperfect reflection of the supernatural other world. Following E. Burke , the most prominent theorist of pre-romanticism (“Reflections on Beauty”), Wordsworth and Coleridge declared the advantages of the sublime in art over the beautiful, which the brothers Wharton , Price, Gilpin had seriously developed before them . , Like Burke , they believed that the poet should be able to evoke feelings of fear and compassion in readers, thanks to which faith in the sublime increases. The triumph of intuition over reason becomes a symbolic embodiment of unfettered human passions. "It is a noble characteristic of poetry that it finds its materials in any subject that may interest the human mind."
Both poets tried to use the imagination as a special feature of the mind, stimulating the creative active principle in man. But already with the "Lyrical Ballads" there were also differences between the two poets. Coleridge was interested in supernatural events, to which he sought to give features of routine and probability, while Wordsworth was attracted by ordinary prose writing, who elevated him to the rank of incredible, interesting, unusual. Moreover, he set himself the goal of “giving a charm of novelty to everyday phenomena and evoking a feeling similar to the supernatural, awakening the consciousness from lethargy and revealing to it the charm and wonders of the world around us.” Wordsworth takes characters and events straight from life. On his poetics of everyday life there is an imprint of naturalism, albeit a slight one. He sets as his task to determine the language of poetry and prose, to transfer the size of the verse to the true language of people who are in a state of excitement, emotional upsurge.
William Wordsworth (1770-1850)
The first poetic works of William Wordsworth (1770-1850) were created in the early 90s of the 18th century. The poet's worldview was formed during the rise of the radical democratic movement in England and the revolutionary events on the continent. Wordsworth was in France during the Revolution. However, the first enthusiastic impressions of the events were replaced by cold disappointment in the era of the Jacobin terror.
Born in Cumberland to a provincial lawyer, Wordsworth spent most of his life in the Lake District, home of the poet's museum in Grasmere .
He studied at Cambridge, traveled a lot in France, Switzerland, Germany. Wordsworth awakened his poetic talent very early when, at the age of fourteen, he saw the silhouette of trees against a clear evening sky - a picture very ordinary, but forever etched in his mind.
"Guilt and Sorrow" (1793-1794) is the first known work of Wordsworth, in which he reflected the tragic course of the industrial and agrarian revolution for the peasants and the whole people. The most terrible consequence of these events for the poet is the spiritual impoverishment of a person embittered by poverty and lawlessness. The gloomy coloring of the poem enhances the dramatic nature of the story, which is centered on the villainous murder of a fugitive sailor, a man who is essentially as poor and powerless as himself.
Wordsworth's poetry often gives rise to the image of a beggar walking on endless roads. Undoubtedly, this image suggested to the poet a harsh reality, when the entire social structure changed radically: the yeomanry class, the free peasantry, disappeared, many rural workers were forced to leave their homes in search of work. Hence the image of the "abandoned village", which repeatedly appeared in the writings of Wordsworth's predecessors - Goldsmith , Cowper. Sometimes the image of a beggar, a vagabond in Wordsworth is clearly romanticized, Wordsworth paints every detail of the portrait, believes that the wanderer is so merged with nature that he is already a part of it and is admired. Sometimes the image of the beggar is filled with Wordsworth with a special philosophical meaning. At the very beginning of his career, the poet was interested in the problem of human self-consciousness, which creates an artificial barrier between man and nature. A wanderer, a vagabond, a beggar, instead of restoring the lost harmony, further contributes to its destruction.
In the interpretation of rural plots, the outstanding skill of the poet, who was concerned about the fate of the peasantry, was manifested. The poems "Alice Fell , or Poverty", "The Last of the Herd", "The Sailor's Mother", "The Old Cumberland Beggar Woman" (narrative poem), "Dreams of Poor Susanna" testify to the terrible poverty and ruin of the peasants. The poet admires the worldly wisdom of his heroes, their dignity, vitality in the face of many adversities, the loss of loved ones. He is touched by the highest wisdom that is contained in the untouched life experience of the child's consciousness ("Stupid boy", "We are seven").
In the ballad “We are seven”, the poet meets a girl who tells him about the death of her brother and sister, but when asked how many children are left in the family, he replies that there are seven of them, as if thinking they are alive. The understanding of death is inaccessible to the child's consciousness, and since the girl often plays on the grave of the dead, she believes that they are somewhere nearby. Among the poems on a rural theme, “The Ruined Hut” (1797–1798) should be especially noted. Literary sources for this work include Goethe's Wanderer and Goldsmith 's Deserted Village . In the center of the story is the story of the soldier's widow Margarita, in whose arms children die one after another. Margarita's confession resonates in the soul of a lonely wanderer who seeks refuge, wants to share loneliness and sadness with someone. The work "Dreams of Poor Susanna" clearly presents another theme that is characteristic of Wordsworth's poems about the fate of the village. Having lost contact with nature, breaking off natural ties with it, a person, as it were, loses most of his vital energy. Nostalgic memories of past happiness in the bosom of nature begin to torment him, and, finding himself in urban conditions, he does not find a place for himself, like poor Suzanne, remembering his native hills and a house that looks like a pigeon's nest, where she was not so lonely and scary.
Excellent mastery of the ballad form, poetic vocabulary, conveying the meaning of ordinary phenomena in high artistic images, allows the poet to remain true to the principles proclaimed in the Preface to Lyrical Ballads. Thus, in Old Cumberland, Beggar Wordsworth poeticizes the wanderer because he is free, in the midst of the "mighty loneliness" of nature, which exists only for him, he does not belong to the house erroneously called industry. The destroyed hut is a generalized image of all the abandoned inhabitants swept away by the industrial revolution of villages and hamlets. Wordsworth sees the tragedy of the nation not so much in changing the habitual centuries-old path as in its psychological incompatibility with the new order.
Among the poetic female images created by Wordsworth and connected both with rural issues and with his patriotic moods, it is necessary to highlight the image of a simple peasant girl Lucy Gray, who lived "among the sun and rain", next to a small purple violet , among picturesque streams and green hills. The image of Lucy runs through many of the poet's poems ("Lucy Gray", "She lived among invisible paths", "Strange flashes of passion that I have ever known") and others. Most often, the appearance of Lucy is associated with Wordsworth with home, homeland, home. Lucy's character emphasizes beauty, spirituality, poetry - traits inherent in the beloved sister of the poet Dorothy. Perhaps that is why the poems inspired by the image of Lucy are distinguished by warmth, penetrating lyricism and persuasiveness.
Of particular note is Wordsworth's landscape lyrics. He knew how to convey colors, movements, smells, sounds of nature, knew how to breathe life into her, make him worry, think, talk with a person, share his grief and suffering. "Lines written near Tintern Abbey ", "Cuckoo", "Like a cloud of a lonely shadow", "My heart rejoices", "Yew tree" are poems in which the most beautiful views of the Lake District are forever captured and celebrated, Yew tree, lonely towering among green meadows, is a symbol of the history of native places. From its branches in the Middle Ages, warriors made bows to fight the Goths and Gauls. The poet perfectly conveys the rhythm of the movement of the wind, the vibrations of the heads of golden daffodils, the emotional mood that evokes in the author’s soul the answer of joy and possession of the secrets and power of nature:
Like clouds, a lonely shadow I wandered gloomily and quietly And remembered that happy day A crowd of golden daffodils In the shade of branches near the blue waters They led a round dance.
(Translated by A. Pokidov )
In The Sonnet Written on Westminster Bridge (1803), the reader is presented with a majestic morning panorama of the city, where "the morning - as if in vestments - everything around was dressed in beauty", "everything is immersed in a blue spark ", and "peace reigns in a powerful heart.
Wordsworth's philosophical texts (poems "Lost love", "To a distant friend", "Venice, England and Switzerland", "London, 1802") are characterized by elegiac moods, caused by images of the past, youth, from which the poet parted , having lost all illusions and hopes, faith in the future, cloudless happiness. In "Descriptive Essays" (1791-1793) and political sonnets, Wordsworth welcomes freedom, the liberation of the human spirit and praises the fighters for the revolution. The narrative poem "Prelude" (1805), entitled "An Autobiographical Poem", explores the evolution of creative consciousness, evaluates many delusions and enthusiasm for revolutionary changes, which, as it seems to the poet, did not bring tangible results. In Sonnets of Liberty (1802-1816), Wordsworth described the transition to the camp of those who were disillusioned with the French Revolution and did not believe in its creative possibilities. However, in them he sang the Negro leader, the leader of the uprising in Haiti, Toussaint-l'Ouverture , condemned the Napoleonic wars, glorified the Republic of Venice.
In 1843, after the death of Southey , Wordsworth took over as Court Poet Laureate. At this time, tendencies towards reconciliation intensified in his work, which indicates a change in his political and civic position. Wordsworth dreamed of a peaceful resolution of social conflicts in the spirit of democratic transformation of society.
In "The Walk", a descriptive poem written in the form of a conversation between four characters - a poet, a wanderer, a hermit and a pastor - who met in the countryside, Wordsworth wanted to summarize his long and painful search for ways to renew poetry, the essence of artistic knowledge and the specificity of romantic imagery. The poem has strong philosophical motifs related to the problems of human existence, the position of man in the world and the universe. The poet has great respect for a person who delves into the secrets of nature and tries to find harmonious contacts with her. A special place in this work is given to the category of imagination, materialized, for example, in ancient mythology, which for Wordsworth is of particular importance as an antithesis to bourgeois entrepreneurship and practicality .
Wordsworth's poetry is a whole era in the development of not only English, but also world lyric poetry. He was the first major Romantic poet to show the tragedy of an entire class destroyed by the Industrial Revolution. Expanding the thematic range of poetry, Wordsworth proclaimed the end of the dominance of good taste, brought into his work the most unpoetic subjects from rural life, thereby confirming its special high morality and poetic significance, making it the very subject of poetry. He used the folk language in poetry, the revolution of the living colloquial language of the rural worker, proving the naturalness of the poetic expression of prosaic thoughts in nature. Poetry has become a natural and unsophisticated expression of the world of feelings surrounding reality. The poet also transformed some poetic genres, for example, messages, elegies, sonnets, giving them lightness and simplicity thanks to the introduced graphic details of everyday life.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834)
Another representative of the Lake School was Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834), whom W. Scott called "the creator of harmony." Coleridge was born in Ottery (Devonshire), the son of a provincial priest. During his school years, Coleridge was fond of studying philosophy, read Voltaire, E. Darwin, Plato, Plotinus, Proclus , Iamblichus .
Extremely impressionable and nervous by nature, he lived a rich inner spiritual life. He responded to the events of the French Revolution with the poem "The Destruction of the Bastille", which has not been fully preserved. The seventeen-year-old poet writes enthusiastically about "joyful freedom" and dreams of uniting all people under his banner.
In 1793 Coleridge met R. Southey and carried him away with his bold plans. Together they dreamed of leaving for America, creating a community of free people, workers and humanistic intellectuals who were not subject to any authorities. The poet's fascination with socially utopian ideas was reflected in the poems " Pantizocracy " and "On the prospect of establishing pantisocracy in America." Since the friends did not have enough money to go to America, the plan to create a pantisocracy failed, which Coleridge deeply regretted because he was too passionate about his idea. Together with Southy Coleridge , he writes the drama The Fall of Robespierre. Coleridge 's next dramatic work , the Osorio tragedy , was inspired by Schiller's "robbers". In this tragedy, the author largely borrowed the theatrical style of D. Bailey , fashionable in the days of early romanticism "passion drama".
In 1796 Coleridge met Wordsworth, with whom a poetic collaboration led in 1798 to a joint collection of Lyric Ballads. After the success of Lyrical Ballads, Coleridge traveled to Germany, where he spent a year seriously studying philosophy and literature. Returning to his homeland, he settled in Kesuika , near Wordsworth, where he met Sarah Hutchison , who played a significant role in his future destiny. Feeling the tragic impossibility of happiness, he, having fallen in love with Sarah, glorifies her with poems that amaze with depth, beauty and perfection of form. Azra - the poetic name of Sarah Hutchison - will constantly accompany Coleridge in his further wanderings and painful search for truth and beauty. This image haunted the poet during his two-year stay in Malta, where he served as secretary to the English governor, Alexander Ball .
In 1816 Coleridge moved to London, where he was mainly engaged in literary, critical and educational activities. Here he publishes a literary biography, secular sermon: addressing the upper and middle classes on urgent problems and grievances, Sibylla leaflets , and lectures on the philosophy and history of English poetry.
Coleridge 's early poems , Chatterton 's "Monody of Death" should be noted . Characteristically, Coleridge turned to the genre of monody, which made it possible to discover the outstanding skills of a psychologist in a peculiar poetic interpretation of the tragic fate of an English poet of the 18th century. Coleridge reproduces with particular bitterness the last moments of Chatterton 's life , which were destroyed not so much by necessity as by the cold neglect of light.
In "Sonnet to the River Otter" joyful and at the same time sad moods prevail when parting with childhood, in " Genevieve " Shakespeare's features - a portrait of a dark-skinned lady and a juicy palette of sensual bliss of Byron's future "Jewish melodies" are clearly visible. The love lyrics of the young Coleridge are presented ​poems* dedicated to his fiancée Sarah Fricker . Here, the joyful expectation of happiness, given in a bizarre baroque form, is overshadowed by a vague sense of its impossibility.
A special emotional atmosphere of Coleridge's early youthful poetry is created by the poet's amazing ability to immerse himself for some time in his own world, to see the complex, bizarre, changeable and mysterious appearance of the artist, endowed with a tender and vulnerable soul ("Pain ", 1789; "Sonnet of farewell to the school") .
The most attractive poetic form for Coleridge in his youth was the sonnet. In 1794-1795. he creates a whole series of "Sonnets dedicated to prominent figures" (Priestley, Sheridan, Godwin , Kosciuszko). During the period of the most active work of correspondent societies, Coleridge approaches prominent representatives of the democratic movement in England - Teluol , Holcroft . The views of the English Jacobins were undoubtedly reflected in the political views of Coleridge , who were still busy with the ideas of correcting social vices and evils, despite the first bitter disappointments in reality and the possibility of radical changes.
The poet's democratic sympathies were very noticeable, as evidenced by the fact that the poem "John Thelwal ", in which he glorified the civil courage, perseverance and patriotism of the poet and journalist, a member of correspondent societies, was published only in 1912. For some time, Coleridge was under police surveillance, he was threatened with arrest.
However, the mood and emotional state of Coleridge himself at that time was extremely complex and contradictory. In letters to his brother (1794-1798), he reports his disappointments, confusion, and pain. The pessimistic sound of a number of works of these years (“Ode to the Outgoing Year”; “Religious Reflections”; “The Fate of Nations”) is explained not so much by the poet’s pessimism as by his extraordinary demands on himself, his desire to realize his creative ideas and plans as soon as possible, as well as the impossibility of their full implementation. The style of these works is solemn, the epithets are colorful, the poetic images are complex, underlined by philosophical ones, permeated with biblical symbolism.
Oh, the spirit rumbles the harp of time! Whose courageous spirit, without flinching, will take over Your harmonies of the black- woven course! But, looking into the eternal horizon, I listened for a long time, throwing off mortal oppression, In the silence of the soul, the mind humbles the earth, And in a whirlwind of magnificent clothes in front of me Rushed last year!
(Translated by V. Bryusov)
The personal participation of the romantic prophet poet in the misfortunes of people is overshadowed by the desire to focus on himself, to concentrate his will and energy of a strong personality in order to overcome the hustle and bustle of worldly life. However, a life full of anxieties and worries captures the bright, iridescent world of the poet-dreamer and dreamer. The punitive actions of the British troops in Ireland aroused the indignation of many thinking people of that time. Coleridge , who was particularly sensitive to cruelty and any form of despotism, reacted to these events with the magnificent military eclogue "Fire, Famine and Massacre."
Unlike the ancient eclogues , which recreate the conversations of a peaceful shepherd, Coleridge's dramatic poem includes three witch sisters: Fire, Famine and Slaughter, who declare Pitt the mastermind of all the misfortunes, atrocities and torments that befell the common Irishman. “All of him! all this! He is branded with four letters - the witches repeat the refrain spell, telling how they communicate with people and enjoy seeing their torment. It is no coincidence that the infernal, diabolical forces of darkness and inhuman cruelty appear in this work by Coleridge in the plastically convincing images of three witches doing Pitt's will . Naturalistic details and details in the stories of the three witches completely destroy the poetic shell of the ancient idyll.
Robert Southey (1774-1843)
The third representative of the Lake School was Robert Southey (1774-1843), who shared many of the aesthetic quests of Wordsworth and Coleridge . Southey from the very beginning of his career was closely associated first with Coleridge , then with Wordsworth. The first work of the poet - the drama "The Fall of Robespierre" - was published under the name of Coleridge , although two of the three acts were written by Southey .
Southey 's political views , radical in nature, were replaced by reactionary ones in the early 40s, which caused not only sharp criticism from his enemies, but also ridicule from his like-minded people. Byron noted Southey 's perfect prose style , but denounced the poet's renegade:
Bob Southey ! You are a poet, a laureate And a representative of the bards - excellent! You are now certified as an excellent Tory: it is fashionable and profitable. Well, how do you live, venerable renegade!
(Translated by T. Gnedich )
In 1812, Shelley wrote in a letter to Godwin : " Soutey , the poet, whose principles were once pure and sublime, has now become an obsequious advocate of all absurdity and obscurantism." Shelley was referring to Southey 's political program of 1811-1812, his opposition to the granting of Catholic civil liberties, parliamentary reforms and the struggle of the Irish for independence.
Robert Southey was born into a merchant's family in Bristol and studied at Oxford University. After a short stay in Spain (1795-1796), which made a strong impression on him and served as an impetus for a serious study of the culture and history of this country, he settled in Keswick , near Wordsworth. Having become close to Wordsworth and Coleridge , he becomes acquainted with the main provisions of their aesthetic program, set out in the preface to the collection of ballads, and almost completely accepts them. Unlike Wordsworth and Coleridge Southey showed little interest in Romantic theory. In 1813 he received the title of poet laureate, which W. Scott refused.
Southey 's work can be divided into two periods: the first, 1794-1813, which is characterized by the predominance of poetry and dramatic works; the second - after 1813 until 1843, when mostly prose works were created.
Southey began his creative activity in the late 90s, turning to the folk ballad genre. His first works are permeated with sympathy for the poor and impoverished vagabonds. In a number of works - "The Soldier's Wife", "Complaints of the Poor", "The Burial of a Beggar" - the poet opposes the lawlessness and oppression of the people, although he does not have direct condemnations of bourgeois relations and the contemporary world order. He states the facts more than he is indignant, showing pictures of poverty, but not drawing any conclusions from what he saw.
So, in the ballad "Complaints of the Poor", in the form of a detailed answer to the question of the rich man - the poet's interlocutor about what the poor people grumble about, the author displays a whole gallery of the poor, forced on a frosty cold night to beg for alms from random passers-by. A gray-haired old man, hunched and frail, asking for a bundle of firewood, a boy in rags, whose father is dying, and there is no bread at home; a woman with two babies, whose husband is a soldier, and she has to get bread by alms, a hungry street beauty. Each portrait in the ballad is strictly individualized, everyday sketches are true, but the picture of poverty and lawlessness of the people is softened by a moralizing ending.
Stronger critical intonations directed against wars, the entire burden of which is borne by the common people, sound in the poem " Blenheim Battle". As in the ballad "Complaints of the Poor", the narration on behalf of the protagonist is framed here by an interrogative construction. Children ask their grandfather to tell about the war, why it started, what it was for. Unlike the first ballad, the answer of the old man, who did not find the answer to this question for himself, is ironic: