The Affliction of Margaret

1. The Affliction of Margaret By William Wordsworth H

2. William Wordsworth • William Wordsworth (1770-1850) is one of the most popular English poets. • He is credited with beginning the Romantic movement in English poetry • Romantic poets sought pastoral subjects not urban and tried to use ‘real’ rather than formal language [Romanticism is] the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings composed by a man [who has] also thought long and deeply H

3. Themes: Loss/Grief Religion Parent/child (family) relationships Nature Love Key terms: Rhyme structure Personification End-stopping Simile Alliteration Juxtaposition Monologue First person The poem H

4. The poem • Was included in a volume of poetry which Wordsworth described as “founded on the affections” • It has echoes of the prodigal son parable in the Bible (Luke) • First person monologue (Wordsworth assuming the voice of Margaret) • It is the story of a woman who has not heard from her son for seven years H

5. The Affliction of Margaret This is a long poem with eleven, seven line stanzas Generally, the language is simple and direct It has an ABABCCC rhyme structure Wordsworth wrote this in "the very language of men" in the style of everyday speech. Although he does not use dialect words or abbreviations ABABCCC rhyme structure + Simple language = ? Does it make this sound like a nursery Rhyme? If so, what effect does this have? H

6. A question is repeated to let the reader know what Margaret’s “affliction” is: her son is missing Wordsworth has her addressing him directly. Why? The Affliction of Margaret Wordsworth writes about a woman in the first person so we understand her story from her own perspective. Where art thou, my beloved Son,Where art thou, worse to me than dead?Oh find me, prosperous or undone!Or, if the grave be now thy bed,Why am I ignorant of the sameThat I may rest; and neither blameNor sorrow may attend thy name?Seven years, alas! to have receivedNo tidings of an only child;To have despaired, have hoped, believed,And been for evermore beguiled, - Sometimes with thoughts of very bliss!I catch at them, and then I miss;Was ever darkness like to this? Margaret wants to know where her son is whether he is successful, poor or even dead. It is Margaret’s only child and he has been missing for seven years Margaret describes the mixture of emotions that she has felt which has ultimately left her with sadness and despair. Is there a self-pitying tone to this or do we feel genuine sympathy? H

7. Wordsworth rarely uses one word when several will do The son is described as a valuable possession. His qualities are listed and then Margaret says how proud she is. The tone is one of pride as Margaret tells of how well brought up her son was He was among the prime in worth,An object beauteous to behold;Well born, well bred; I sent him forthIngenuous, innocent, and bold:If things ensued that wanted grace,As hath been said, they were not base;And never blush was on my face.Ah! little doth the young one dream,When full of play and childish cares,What power is in his wildest scream,Heard by his mother unawares!He knows it not, he cannot guess:Years to a mother bring distress;But do not make her love the less. Margaret talks of how a son will always bring worry and stress to his mother, yet she still remembers him fondly. The innocence of childhood doesn’t understand the affects on a parent they have Is this a wistful praise of youth or a lament on the worries of parenthood? She also absolves her son of blame “he knows it not”. Is she excusing just her son or the callowness of youth in general? H

8. She believes that she does not deserve this torment as she has been a kind mother; what tone is suggested by this? Emphasises the volume of tears she has shed and the daily nature of them Margaret (ironically) tells us how she has suffered in silence. Why is this ironic? What is she doing? Neglect me! no, I suffered longFrom that ill thought; and, being blind,Said "Pride shall help me in my wrong:Kind mother have I been, as kindAs ever breathed:" and that is true;I've wet my path with tears like dew,Weeping for him when no one knew.My Son, if thou be humbled, poor,Hopeless of honour and of gain,Oh! do not dread thy mother's door;Think not of me with grief and pain:I now can see with better eyes;And worldly grandeur I despise,And fortune with her gifts and lies. “Pride” what does this suggest about the mother? She loves her son better than any fortunes or gifts. Unconditional maternal love? OR… Addressing her son directly, Margaret appeals for her son to come home regardless of his situation. “Fortune” is personified and shown to be fickle. Margaret naturally despises fortune because it has not been good to her. H

9. She imagines her son trumpeted into heaven if he’s dead. Arrogance? Wishful-thinking? Self-comforting? Margaret uses figurative language to suppose that her son may be an angel in heaven but unable to visit her as she is tied to the earth. Alas! the fowls of heaven have wings,And blasts of heaven will aid their flight;They mount -how short a voyage bringsThe wanderers back to their delight!Chains tie us down by land and sea;And wishes, vain as mine, may beAll that is left to comfort thee.Perhaps some dungeon hears thee groan,Maimed, mangled by inhuman men;Or thou upon a desert thrownInheritest the lion's den;Or hast been summoned to the deep,Thou, thou, and all thy mates, to keepAn incommunicable sleep. Is this the only possible reason for him not visiting? The tone becomes depressing as Margaret assumes the terrible fates that could have befallen her son Wordsworth juxtaposes the tone in these two stanzas; first the mother is despairing that her son is dead but imagines him in heaven, then she lists his possible grisly fates. Why? The alliterative ‘m’ sounds emphasise the mother’s vivid imagination running away from her as she labours over this image H

10. This verse explains how Margaret does not believe in ghosts as she would have surely been visited. Does this contradict or confirm her Christian beliefs? An everlasting love? Wallowing in self-pity? I look for ghosts; but none will forceTheir way to me: 'tis falsely saidThat there was ever intercourseBetween the living and the dead;For, surely, then I should have sightOf him I wait for day and night,With love and longings infinite.My apprehensions come in crowds;I dread the rustling of the grass;The very shadows of the cloudsHave power to shake me as they pass:I question things, and do not findOne that will answer to my mind;And all the world appears unkind. What attitude does the mother show here? Her fears and apprehensions are personified and are said to be “in crowds” which overwhelm her. Should she, could she, “take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing, end them”? The loss of a son could be said to be “against nature” and Wordsworth describes no joy in nature Margaret (is he exploiting the romantic form and, if so, to what effect? Margaret has lost her faith in all that is good in the world. H

11. The poem ends with a summary of what Margaret wants: either her son returned or some news of his whereabouts. She is beyond help/can’t help herself Beyond participation lieMy troubles, and beyond relief:If any chance to heave a sigh,They pity me, and not my grief.Then come to me, my Son, or sendSome tidings that my woes may end;I have no other earthly friend! Most lines in the poem are end-stopped Find the lines that aren’t; what might Wordsworth be trying to convey by allowing these lines to ‘run-on’? Has her loneliness become her company? The reader cannot help but feel sympathy for Margaret as she reveals how lonely she is. Was she a good mother? What is your opinion of the son? Why has he left and never returned? The poem is a Monologue. It has one speaker who tells her own story. What other poems use this form? H

12. Comparisons Loss of a loved one: Digging, Storm on the Island Mid-term Break Heaney On My First Sonne Jonson Monologues: The Song of the Old Mother, On My First Sonne The Affliction of Margaret Nature: Storm on the Island, Death of a Naturalist; Heaney A Difficult Birth, The Field Mouse Clarke Patrolling Barnegat, The Eagle, Inversnaid, Clare's Sonnet Family relationships: Digging, Mid-Term Break, Catrin, On the Train, Cold Knap Lake Clarke On My First Sonne, The Song of the Old Mother, H

13. Review • Sorting out Margaret's hopes and fears • Working through the poem, try to find all the different things that Margaret says may have happened to her son - you may find that she repeats some. As you go, note them down. When you have finished, organize them into a list. In each case, • write down her hope or fear, as far as possible in your own words; • state what are her reasons (if she has any), or note that she has no reason for what she thinks, and finally, • say how far you think this idea of hers is likely to be true. H