語り手の老人への共感 : ウイリアム・ワーズワース「カンバーランドの乞食の老人」,「決意と自立」への一考察

概要

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In 1798, William Wordsworth wrote "The Old Cumberland Beggar (OCB)" included in The Lyrical Ballads, and in 1802, he composed "Resolution and Independence (RI)". There poems show some similarities. The first similarity pertains to the figure of the main character. In these poems, Wordsworth depicts an old man who belongs to a lower class. In spite of their class, these men have an honorable spirit and merge with the nature of the Lake District. The second similarity of these poems is the context of the narrator. The character of both narrators is not detailed by Wordsworth, but they are projected by the poet himself. In addition, the narrators differ in their sympathy for the old. The narrator of OCB tries to protect the beggar's freedom from the Poor Laws, although he never speaks to him nor does he interact with him directly. On the other hand, the narrator of RI tries to speak to the leech gatherer, being inspired by him. When readers compare the narrators of the two poems, they can understand the change in Wordsworth's attitude to the old men as the characters of his poems. In OCB, he is only an observer, but in RI, he learns to participate in the poems and speak with the character created using the power of his imagination.
2013-03-31