Ode to Duty William Wordsworth

1. Ode to DutyWilliam Wordsworth By: Rehu, Hari, Theunissen & Rumold-Oldfield

2. Stanza 1 Stern Daughter of the Voice of God!O Duty! if that name thou loveWho art a Light to guide, a RodTo check the erring; and reprove;Thou who art victory and lawWhen empty terrors overawe;From vain temptations dost set free;From strife and from despair; a glorious ministry. • Line 1 Personifies and addresses 'Duty' as the 'daughter of the voice of god'. • Line 2 Either nobody quite knows her proper name or she is known by many names...'if that name you love' • Lines 3 & 4 Wordsworth views 'Duty' as a beacon of hope for those who are prone to error ('erring') someone who can steer them in the right direction • Lines 5-8 Describes how in difficult and desperate times, 'Duty' will present herself so as to allow the self to fall away from 'vain temptation'.   Summary: Basically, Wordsworth is just telling us a bit about 'Duty', personifying her and illustrating how close she is to God and the purity surrounding Heaven and the like. This being because she is apparently the daughter of God. I think that 'Duty' could just be another name for 'Nature' or 'Mother Nature' to create a personified image.

3. Stanza 2 There are who ask not if thine eyeBe on them; who, in love and truth, Where no misgiving is, relyUpon the genial sense of youth:Glad Hearts! without reproach or blot;Who do thy work, and know it not:May joy be theirs while life shall last!And Thou, if they should totter, teach them to stand fast! • Lines 1-4 These lines are referring to children who do not know that ‘Duty’ has her eye on them. ‘Ask not if thine eye be on them’ confirms that WW is referring to children because children don’t stop to think about external forces that may or may not be playing a part in their lives because of their innocent and naïve minds. • Lines 5-8 Drive home the relationship between purity, heaven, and goodness to the ‘genial sense of youth’ or the ‘child mind’ as in the line ‘Who do thy work, and know it not’. Summary: This stanza is talking simply about children. Wordsworth says that 'There are who ask not if thine eye be on them' which could be referring to how their mind is so innocent that they don't even stop to think of any higher power around them. Also, he refers to an innocent mind a second time: 'who do thy work, and know it not'. In the last 2 lines, Wordsworth says that he wants the children to have the same joy that they have now throughout their entire lives, and he hopes that 'Duty' will save them if they falter i.e. so protect their innocence and help them to resist the 'vain temptations' of the adult world.

4. Stanza 3 Serene will be our days and bright,And happy will our nature be,When love is an unerring light,And joy its own security. And blessed are they who in the mainThis faith, even now, do entertain:Live in the spirit of this creed;Yet find that other strength, according to their need. • Lines 1-4 WW is saying that those who follow Duty’s ways will sleep peacefully and their personality will reflect happiness • Lines 5-8 WW writes that those who are now older still maintain a connection to their innocent and natural child minds whilst attaining other strengths according to their lives should be blessed.   Summary: WW seems to be trying to bridge the gap between childhood and adulthood by saying that all though the physical self is an adult, the mental self can still revert back to its childlike state.

5. Stanza 4 I, loving freedom, and untried;No sport of every random gust,Yet being to myself a guide,Too blindly have reposed my trust:Resolved that nothing e’er should pressUpon my present happiness, I shoved unwelcome tasks away;But thee I now would serve more strictly, if I may. • Lines 1-4 These are describing WW’s attitude in the past. He has been relying on his feelings as a means of guidance but they have lead him astray. • Lines 5-8 WW just wants to live his life the way he wants to, however, he previously believed that nothing could affect his happiness so he shunned ‘Duty’ and her ways. But now he is willing to listen to ‘Duty’ if she will talk to him. Summary: This stanza paints us a more distinctive picture of why WW is telling us about ‘Duty’. He seems to be requesting the help of ‘Duty’ because something in his life has thrown him off course.

6. Stanza 5 Through no disturbance of my soul,Or strong compunction in me wrought,I supplicate for thy controul;But in the quietness of thought:Me this unchartered freedom tires;I feel the weight of chance desires:My hopes no more must change their name,I long for a repose which ever is the same. • Lines 1-4 WW wants to control his own life and not be controlled emotions that lead to his loss of peace. He is looking for a new start. • Lines 5-8 These are a continuation and further confirmation of WW’s desperation to turn his life around with the help of ‘Duty’. Summary: This stanza is WW’s further cries for help from ‘Duty’. He is begging for her help because he is desperate and because he is unsure if ‘Duty’ will provide help because of his past.

7. Stanza 6 Yet not the less would I throughoutStill act according to the voiceOf my own wish; and feel past doubtThat my submissiveness was choice:Not seeking in the school of prideFor ‘precepts over dignified,’Denial and restraint I prizeNo farther than they breed a second Will more wise. • Lines 1-4 In the past WW would rationalize his actions by claiming that he was in fact properly asserting free will. • Lines 5-8 Now, WW no longer wants to be prideful but rather he wishes to seek ‘a second will more wise’. Summary: WW tries to rationalise his actions by saying that he was only putting his free will to use. However, WW has seen the error of his ways and he wants to make it right by using ‘Duty’s’ opinion. Which should be the right one.

8. Stanza 7 Stern Lawgiver! yet thou dost wearThe Godhead’s most benignant grace;Nor know we any thing so fairAs is the smile upon thy face;Flowers laugh before thee on their beds;And Fragrance in thy footing treads;Thou dost preserve the Stars from wrong;And the most ancient Heavens through Thee are fresh and strong. • Lines 1-4 WW informs us that ‘Duty’ makes/has made the laws on how we should live, and although she is strict, she represents the naturally beneficial grace of God. These laws are only able to be read by the human heart. So only by listening to one’s heart can one truly be following the natural laws set down by ‘Duty’, and the only way to do that is by following ‘Duty’. • Lines 5-8 The flowers and stars are evident of this quality in that the flowers produce fragrances and the stars don’t roam about the heavens. Summary: WW is saying that ‘Duty’ made all of the natural laws that humans should abide by. Evidence of this is the flowers and stars who remain wherever ‘Duty’ is.

9. Stanza 8 To humbler functions, awful Power!I call thee: I myself commendUnto thy guidance from this hour;Oh! let my weakness have an end!Give unto me, made lowly wise,The spirit of self-sacrifice;The confidence of reason give;And in the light of truth thy Bondman let me live! • Line 1 In order to follow ‘Duty’, one must be humble. • Lines 2-4 This is WW’s plea to ‘Duty’. He wants her to guide him so that she can bring his weaknesses to an end. He is self-sacrificing himself. • Lines 5-8 WW wants to live in the ‘spirit of self-sacrifice’, and he wants the ‘confidence of reason’ and he finally wants to live in the ‘light of truth’. Becoming a Bondman to ‘Duty’ frees the heart and mind and allows one to follow one’s true self, the soul. Summary: WW is declaring his allegiance to ‘Duty’ so that she can let his weaknesses have an end. With ‘Duty’s’ help he will be able to find and follow his true self in his soul.

10. Background Info • WW wrote ‘Ode to Duty’ in 1805. Some say that writing this poem was the turning point in WW’s career as it acts as the start of a new state of mind for him. Events before and after writing this poem confirm this. Thus WW is the narrator. • It was written during the peak of the French Revolution lead by Napoleon Bonaparte, so WW was exposed to the poor treatment of the French people by Bonaparte. This sparked a new conservative political view. • In February 1805, WW’s brother John drowned in a shipwreck. This hit him very hard and further influenced a change in his mindset.

11. Form • There are 8 stanzas, with 8 lines in each • All the lines are of similar length, however the last line of each stanza seems to be the longest in the stanza. This may be because the last line in each stanza, generally helps to summarise the stanza, and leads it onto the next one. • The rhyme scheme is ABABCCDD throughout the whole poem • There are 8 syllables in each of the first 7 lines of each stanza, however the last line of each stanza has either 12 or 13 syllables. This is a rather clear pattern and fits in with the fact that the last line in each stanza is summarising the stanza, and leading it onto the next one.

12. Themes • There are 2 prominent themes in this poem. • Freedom • Childhood/Youth • They are connected in that they relate to WW’s beliefs in God & Heaven and all that they represent. • They also connect to each other in that the youth mindset is such that they feel they are immortal and have an ultimate freedom.

13. Freedom • There is no such thing as freedom without obedience. • Previously, WW had been an enthusiast of ‘unchartered freedom’, known as ‘the dungeon of Ignorance’, in which he simply did as he liked.

14. Childhood/Youth • WW’s ‘unchartered freedom’ seems to be a mindset that is most prevalent in youth: unsuspecting, unbiased and naïve.