nalysis of "Resolution and Independence"

William Wordsworth?s poem ?Resolution and Independence

? was first published in 1807 in a collection titled Poems in Two Volumes.
The poem is written in stanzas composed of seven lines each, with the rhyme scheme
ababbcc.
The first six lines are iambic pentameter, and the last line contains one extra
iamb.
The first two stanzas set up the mood of the narrator through a description of
nature.
We are given a scene on the moors that was stormy the previous night, but has
cleared up through the morning and now proves to be a cheerful day.
The first appearance of the narrator comes in line 15; where he identifies himself
as a traveler on the moors who has been seduced by this scene.
He says, ?The pleasant season did my heart employ? (line 19). We see him as bright
and cheerful as the moors appear to be.
Wordsworth?s use of nature as a means of description continues throughout the
poem.
The narrator?s attitude changes by line 26, where he tells us that for an unknown
reason his mood suddenly sank as low as it had been high.
It is here that the narrator presents himself as a ?happy Child of earth? (line
31), once again tying the world of man into the world of nature.
At line 55 the narrator comes across ?the oldest man? leaning over a pond.
Once again, Wordsworth draws from nature to give us a description of this man: ?
Motionless as a cloud the old Man stood? (line 75).
This description lasts for two stanzas, emphasizing the narrator?s first
impression.
Stanza 9 shows how out of place the man appears on the moor, and stanza 10
describes his body position through the appearance of a great weight upon him;
?A more than human weight upon his frame had cast? (line 70).
In the twelfth and thirteenth stanzas the narrator approaches the old man and
begins a conversation.
He takes great care in describing the speech of the old man, ?Choice word and
measured phrase, above the reach/of ordinary me

a stately speech? (line 95,96). However, in line 119, the narrator repeats his
question to the old man,
?How is it that you live, and what is it you do," revealing that he has not really
been listening to the words.
This could indicate that Wordsworth had a great interest in language. This time, we
are given parts of the man?s answer.
It is learned that he is a leech-gatherer, and though he is old, he still
perseveres in his profession.
In the final stanza the Leech-gatherer becomes an exemplar of Resolution and
Independence for the narrator.
In stanzas six and seven the narrator goes through a series of thoughts in which he
describes some of things he is afraid of facing later in life:
poverty, madness, solitude. He has expressed a fear that because he is a poet, his
life will end in ?despondency and madness? (line 49).
He mentions Chatterton, ?the marvelous Boy? (line 43), who killed himself at age
18 because of his failure as a poet. The narrator fears a similar fate.
Through his meeting with the Leech-gatherer, he is able to see that one can
persevere through life and remain sharp.