Analyzing William Wordsworth’s “There is A Bondage Worse, Far Worse, to Bear”

“There is A Bondage Worse, Far Worse, to Bear” by William Wordsworth

THERE is a bondage worse, far worse, to bear
Than his who breathes, by roof, and floor, and wall,
Pent in, a Tyrant’s solitary Thrall:
‘Tis his who walks about in the open air,
One of a Nation who, henceforth, must wear
Their fetters in their souls. For who could be,
Who, even the best, in such condition, free
From self-reproach, reproach that he must share
With Human-nature? Never be it ours
To see the sun how brightly it will shine,
And know that noble feelings, manly powers,
Instead of gathering strength, must droop and pine;
And earth with all her pleasant fruits and flowers
Fade, and participate in man’s decline.

 Personally, I’ve always struggled with analyzing poetry. It’s so difficult to understand how the different stanzas and sentences contribute to the main idea when each word of the actual poem has more than one meaning! This leaves me trapped in a state of constant self-doubt in my analysis. With this poem, it was the same- initially, I was at a loss for what the controlling idea of the poem was. What really gave me a foothold towards understanding was the annotations of my fellow presenters, Areeb and Nilave. When I was able to subjectively view their take on the poem, I was able to analyse the text by springing off of my interpretations to their annotations. The positive about poetry, for me, is that once I’m able to comprehend it to an extent, my ideas are able to flow as a result of the significance of each and every word in a poem. In my analysis of this particular poem, I was able to explore the idea of mental limitations being superior to physical limitations in terms of restriction; out of what I have learned, I will display the annotations which have allowed me to reach an overall clear understanding of the poem itself.

Image result for imprisoned person

The poem begins with a rather mysterious line, “There is a bondage worse, far worse, to bear”, which is the exact same as the title, automatically entitling it to a high level of importance. The singular noun “bondage” refers to enslavement, which immediately brought forth ideas of human imprisonment to my head; this specific use of diction guides the reader towards the next two lines. This serves to already establish an idea in the mind of the audience: imprisonment and restriction. The repetition of “worse” serves to convey the severity of the Wordsworth’s supposed “bondage”. The ambiguity within this line is what allows the reader to envision the bondage that Wordsworth may be referring to. I thought that the bondage may be referring to entrapment by one’s own circumstances, mainly due to the connection that it would have with Wordsworth’s life (for example, when he was forced to leave his lover, Annette Vallon, due to a war between France and England in 1793). The next two lines, “Than his who breathes…solitary Thrall”, reinforced this belief of mine; the comparison of the two forms of imprisonment was an idea that was appealing to me. By offering a form of bondage as a  source of comparison, the poet plays forward on the ambiguity of the first line, as the reader is left guessing as to the bondage that the poet is referring to. This allows the words of the poet to better guide the reader, and it makes it so that the poet’s idea has a resounding effect on the reader’s thinking. Human imprison is often seen to be the epitome of restriction on an individual; what could possibly be worse?

Image result for trapped soul

  The lines that follow the description of physical imprisonment completely contradict the bondage that the reader (me, in this case) was thinking of, “‘Tis his who…fetters in their souls”. With this structure, the poet has first chosen to depict the most common form of restriction first (physical imprisonment), and then state that an individual who is free from such imprisonment is burdened with a greater bondage. The soul of an individual is their very essence: it can be thought to be the core of the individual. The word “fetters” refers to chains and shackles used to restrain an individual, and so, the individuals who walk free instead carry their chains in their souls, and from that, they cannot escape. Specific use of diction is evident, as the word “fetters” refers to physical imprisonment (as the poet has depicted earlier in the poem), yet the word is being used to describe restraint of the soul. The specific use of this word made the bondage appear much more open, as it was not simply isolated in the sense of only involving non-physical objects. The broadness of this concept is what allows the poet to tie this bondage, self-reproach, to human nature. The final two lines, “And earth with…participate in man’s decline”, connect human nature and the natural world. Restraint and the natural world are opposites, as the world outside of areas inhabited by humans is thought to be one of freedom; relating it to restriction would only cause the two to contradict one another. However, in this case, it is the structure of the poem, along with its controlling theme, that allows the two to effectively coexist at the end, and in doing so, makes the theme of the poem appear as a universal truth.

Image result for shackles on brain

  I am in complete agreement of the poet’s main idea, as disappointment in oneself often creates self-doubt. Sometimes people can become afraid to fail as a result of the “fetters in their souls”! I know this to be true for myself: my own self-doubt is the worst form of entrapment I face. It often only leads to regret, as I wish that I had done things which I was too doubtful in myself to attempt. Physical boundaries can be escaped from, but you carry the shackles of your soul with you. Analyzing this poem in terms of literary techniques has allowed to interpret what I perceive to be the poet’s intention while writing the poem; with an understanding of a perceived intention on the poet’s part comes a greater understand of the poem itself, as well as greater appreciation of the poem itself. Analyzing the literary techniques that the poet utilizes has also allowed me to overcome the doubt I usually have when annotating poetry. The fear of disappointment often limits the thoughts and actions of an individual, much more so than any physical limitation would; this disappointment becomes the shackles that restrain the soul of the individual, as the individual is unable to escape the fear of their own failure.

Sources For Images:

Granof, Eric. “How To Decide If You Should Bail Someone Out Of Jail When Arrested”. ExpertBeacon. N.p., 2017. Web. 21 Jan. 2017.

“Living Word”. Pinterest. N.p., 2017. Web. 21 Jan. 2017.

Lamb, Robert. “Living In The Shackles Of Memory”. Stuff to Blow Your Mind. N.p., 2017. Web. 20 Jan. 2017.

 

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