Differences/Similarites Of Dorothy And William Wordsworth

Alison McWeeny

Midterm Question #1

William and Dorothy Wordsworth not only have a connection through marriage, but also through Literature. Both have their own significant way with their own writing containing few similarities, but also a few differences. In reading over their material, you see that they both have written on the topic of daffodils next to a lake. After reading these two poems thoroughly you will start to notice that they are writing about the same time and place, but in total opposite ways. Dorothy approaches the subject in a journaling form, as if she's just writing in her daily journal. William, on the other hand, writes with a flowing poetic outlook, creating a poem out of his experience.

In Dorothy's journal entry she is writing as if it is just a normal day, but she adds a little more fantasy towards it making the entry abnormal in a way which is extremely more interesting instead of just saying," I walked down to the lake and saw a bunch of beautiful flowers." She goes more into depth with it:

"some rested their heads upon these stones as on a

pillow for weariness & the rest tossed & reeled &

danced & seemed as if they verily laughed with the

wind that blew upon them over the Lake,"

Just that short little excerpt is more graphic than if she were to just say some of the daffodils laying there as the others blew in the wind. So Dorothy knows how to bring more quality ideas to the table to make an entry interesting, but her husband is another story.

William's literary material is extremely different in multiple ways compared to his wife. He focuses more on poetry, not always rhyming or flowing, but many different types of poetic writing. Not only does he bring an